New-York tribune., 1920-05-09

I, direct the attention OF ene lovers Oh
.dt,sug to the work which is doing
;. .,s French field Of that fascinating
-.,,., study. Nine. Yvette Guilbert,
..xo,yh the Diesons (0liver Ditson
r.-snv. Boston, and Charles H. Dit
.,rA Co.. New York;, has published
vo,ume Of twenty French pastou-
A ,.,l., Of the fifteenth century, and
company, regrettably small, gathered
toes.Aer by Miss Lorraine Wyman, has
,..p entertained by two folksingers
b,ousht from their native habitat in
r.rasa who sang songs and told tales
!, N. unsophisticated manner which
,,hl,,hes the true character Of these
.,,nhr creations. 1t is upon naive
,t,.r,ncss Of this nature, as has fire.
cn.nly been pointed out, that musi-
"a, art rests, especially il. the national
,h.ss which has come into great prom
,,.rcs within the last few decades.
That the peoples utterances have al
WAYS supplied the foundation of the
AZ. need not be said to students, but
Consciousness of the fact Is, after all,
q comparatively new phenomenon, and
,nouisitive musical psychologists are
nerhsps buster than they need be in
trseinc the music of classical masters
20 subconseious influences-in proving
that Hsydn had g Croatian voice with
on. knowing it and Beethoven an Aus
:risn. though he was Flemish by an
cs,try, Rhenish By birth and Austrian
only By reason that Vienna provided
him with an environment during the
p.riod Of his great artistic glory. The
rssl significance of folksong lies deeper
than these scratchers of the surface
think However, to pursue this
thought would lead US too far from
the road which we have in view.
We do not know how much serious
thought Nine Guilbert's recitals have
stirred up. Her aims have been lofty,
but, though there has been ample ap-
probation of her remarkable art, We
fancy that the majority Of those who
nave heard her have thought more OF
the momentary pleasure which she has
provided than Of the significance Of her
lsbors on the platform. For students
she has provided material IN more per-
nsnent form by such q publication as
that recently put forth By the Ditsons.
There are fourteen OF the pastou-
relies, and they appear with French
text, English translations and piano
forts sccompaniments made by Maurice
Eisner That directness and naIvet6
have been dissipated in making the YER
nacular versions was to have been ex-
pected, of course. If il is hard to find
English equivalents for artistic poetry,
II is many times more difficult to find
them for expressions taken from the
popular tongue. Here is an iilustra-
ton: A pastourelle is not q pastoral
but an irregular lyric form which was
popular in France as early as the
twelfth century. Practically all Of the
songs collected in the volume by Nine.
Guilbert are love songs, but two al
east are satirical, and one OF these
might we'll stand as a common type Of
French folk melody. 1t found its way
long ago into Tiersot's comprehensive
study, "Histoirs de Ia Chanson Popu-
lsirs en- France" Its original text and
the translation run thus:
Lourdaut, lourdant, lourdant, garde que
tu ferasl
Gar 81 tu te maries I'll TEN repentiras,
III ia prends une vielle ellie rechignera,
81 sO prends ieuns femme, jamais men
Ellie ira q Pegiise. lie cure la verra;
"a nenera en- chambre, Ia confessera.
1ourdant, lourdant, lourdant, garde que
tu feras.
Ellie dsviendra mere, e. rien tn MEN
lo paieras la nOurrice, l'ecole, ct
ID nourriras fenSant qui risn no te
A"' tu sourtras d'aise s'll t'appelIe
papa,
Lourdant, etc.
simple, simple simpleton. beware
rs and have. a care,
IL unto thee thou take wife ssv be-
=. ware, bewarel
she be old and wrinkled then
w. Grabbed she shall be.
ns~are, thou simple, simnIe s;rc,s+o,
beware and have a carei
u the church thou weddest . a,d-
~, en- young and fair.
Aas priest himself shall see her. soa;r
" say beware, e"'-N
'H'o MS cell hell call her. confession
give her there.
sne shall be mother before thou
-, art aware, O~
ana thine shall be the hprdsr .,a
thine shall be the care anu
s' 'hou shalt keep the infant nov
Ana .,he nurse and school and fare. pay
aug when he calls thee fotban u.,.
Bsv.vsa cal him "son and heir" ~
a. simple, simple simpleton.
French Folksongs in Canada
~ ". 1'nd considerable monotonv or
wm 0ay IN the twenty songs which
uEue. Gpflh.. "hASu
sor.. eu'ioers has collected from
.A sss which she neglects to ment,on
s.ls 'aey cannot be products Of tho
c.n,a. 80 such as Is now doing in
,..,~ uA oy DR.. c. NJ. Barbeau and h;s