Fight for a song: Claude Debussy. Gustav Mahler

Claude Debussy: Processus lyriquesGustav Mahler: Lieder eines fahrenden gesellen

Marion Grange SopranAnne Le Bozec piano

Gustav Mahler's “Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen” and Claude Debussy's “Proses lyriques” are less than a decade apart — the first cycle was written between 1884 and 1885, and the second between 1892 and 1893 — both show how the romantic song and its way of telling about the relationship between the external world and the inner experience of man changed at the end of the 19th century. What is also characteristic, the authors of the lyrics, in both cases, are the composers themselves.

In “Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen” Mahler talks about unhappy love through the figure of a lonely wanderer. The road leads him through a world full of birds, flowers and sun, but the beauty of nature only sharpens the feeling of loss. Only the finale brings momentary solace — under a blossoming linden tree, the protagonist finds peace and allows everything to become “good again”.

Debussy in “Proses lyriques” is already closer to the world of symbolism. It blurs the line between a particular image and a dream, a memory or an impression. Instead of a linear story, a more elusive reality arises, in which meanings change with the musical timbre. The juxtaposition of the two cycles allows us to observe two different paths leading from romanticism to music of the 20th century.

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Marion Grange photo by Franck Morel