Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Simplified Genealogy of the Massenet Family
- Foreword
- Dedication
- Translator's Preface
- I Years of Apprenticeship and Roman Adventure
- II The Steps of Quai Conti
- III Notebooks and Sketches
- IV Sybil Sanderson—“The Unique”
- V Massenet's Students
- VI Summer Solitude
- VII The Last Years—Posthumia
- VIII Conclusion
- Massenet: Biographical Chronology
- Bibliography
- About the Author
- Translator's Notes
- About the Translator
- General Index
- Index of Massenet's Works Cited
- Index of Letters Cited
VI - Summer Solitude
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Simplified Genealogy of the Massenet Family
- Foreword
- Dedication
- Translator's Preface
- I Years of Apprenticeship and Roman Adventure
- II The Steps of Quai Conti
- III Notebooks and Sketches
- IV Sybil Sanderson—“The Unique”
- V Massenet's Students
- VI Summer Solitude
- VII The Last Years—Posthumia
- VIII Conclusion
- Massenet: Biographical Chronology
- Bibliography
- About the Author
- Translator's Notes
- About the Translator
- General Index
- Index of Massenet's Works Cited
- Index of Letters Cited
Summary
Starting in May 1896, Massenet took advantage of his new-found freedom to spend the rest of the year far from Paris. He accompanied Ninon first to Néris-les-Bains, then in August, they traveled to Murat.
According to the Massenet family tradition, the authenticity of Massenet's Souvenirsis questionable. Nevertheless, it is worthwhile to quote some of its contents.
I had left for the mountains with a light heart … I wroteSapho with an enthusiasm that I had rarely before experienced.
We lived in a house where I felt myself far from everything—the noise, the confusion, the incessant agitation of the city and its feverish atmosphere. We took walks, drove around the beautiful Auvergne countryside, so often ignored in spite of its varied landscape. We traveled in silence. The only accompaniment to our thoughts was the murmur and cool freshness of the water flowing along the roadside. Occasionally, the sound of a gushing spring interrupted the calm of this magnificent setting. Eagles descended from their rocky escarpments, the air resounded with their high and piercing cries. As we traveled, my mind continued its work and, once home, I wrote many pages of music … I was impassioned by this work.
According to research by the late Patrick Gillis, Massenet asked Gérard Bauer to help write his memoirs.The future critic also later admitted that Massenet had confided in him. According to family tradition, this “autobiography,” whose style differs in every respect from that which Massenet used in his correspondence, his articles, or his speech, must be taken with a grain of salt. As long as the reader maintains a critical and objective perspective, it can sometimes contribute important information.
The texts constituting Souvenirshad been published in installments in the newspaper L'Echo de Parisduring winter 1911. Massenet's illness was probably the reason for his lack of interest in this project, and there is no proof that he endorsed their publication as a book of memoirs. The articles were published in book form by Laffitte after the composer's death. This process explains why ellipses are found in the text in book format.
Everyone must draw his own conclusion concerning the authenticity of these texts. The 1992 edition of Massenet's Souvenirs, abundantly annotated by Gérard Condé, nevertheless corrects many mistakes and inaccuracies.
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- Information
- Massenet and His LettersA New Biography, pp. 153 - 186Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2015