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The musical traditions from County of Nice: Music introduction - Cross-over
Popular songs - Animal songs - Racy songs - Work songs
Political, social and satirical songs - Contemporary songs
Carnival tunes - Circumstance tunes - Close couple dances - Characters dances - Farandole - Feasts - Round dances of May
Music for children
Chimes & knells - Sacred & religious music - Christmas carols from County of Nice - Sanctuaries
Brief survey of the traditional musics from the South of France: The Occitany - Limoux’ carnival tunes
The Piedmont - The Provence - Christmas carols from Provence
Other countries
| Legend (click icons, on the left side of tunes title, to access to corresponding files): | | |  | “fife & drums” MIDI file (a)(b)(c). | |  | “brass band” MIDI file (a)(b)(c). | |  | “other instruments” MIDI file (a)(b)(c). | | |  | score: PDF file (b)(c). | |  | lyrics. | | | | | You may download MIDI and scores files as a whole from the Download page.
(a) Tunes will sound better if your computer is connected to a high-fidelity amplifier.
(b) Without any further observation, arrangements and harmonizations by J.-G. Maurandi.
(c) These files and their content are © 2001-2020 Jean-Gabriel Maurandi. |
1. Circulation of the musical ideas
2. Tune Adieu, pauvre Carnaval
3. Tunes Li Courdelli, El Desembre congelat (La Nit de Nadal), Allons, bergers, partons tous...
4. Interpenetration of the musical genres (cross-over)
| Circulation of the musical ideas |
The circulation of the ideas is not a notion only contemporary: all along centuries, the County participated in the western musical melting pot. Like farandole or the monferrina from Piedmont which spread to Brittany, the “timbres” (1) travelled from countries to regions, and also from kinds to kinds.
With some variations, the “timbre” (1) of the Farandole niçoise is well knowned all along Mediterranean littoral, from Languedoc to County of Nice. Within his Manuel moderne de fifre traditionnel, Jean-Michel Lhubac publishes two versions: the Farandole du Clapas issued from South-Catalan fund, and the Cornards’ branle, a carnivalesque song from Bousquet-d’Orb (Hérault).
The tune of the chorus in Lou Festin dei verna is reproduced exactly in Saint Fiacre aux artichauts (Saint Fiacre of the artichokes), a traditional song from South of Wallonia (Belgium).
As for the tune of the farandole provençale, it is still perceptible within an Alsacian Christmas carol.
| Example: Adieu, pauvre Carnaval (Farewell, poor Carnival) |
So, the timbre (1) of Adièu paure Carneval is known in Auvergne under the name of Albanese’s air dated from the XVIII-th century, as well as in Brittany where it is used by the hymn O soñjal en hon pec’hejoù... Attributed either to Giovanni Battista Pergolesi or to the French castrat soprano Egide Joseph Ignace Antoine Albanese, composers of the XVIII-th century. The County of Nice appropriates it as a Christmas carol. The latest manifestation of this tune is found in the ending theme music of the television broadcast Bonne nuit, les petits (Good night, kids).
| Example: Li Courdelli - El Desembre congelat (La Nit de Nadal) - Shepherds, Let’s All Go... |
An other example, from Provence: the timbre (1) used by Li Courdelli, also known as El Desembre congelat (or La Nit de Nadal) in the Catalan folk heritage, is met at the French Revolution time in several revolutionary songs, for instance Le Grand Projet (The Great Project), as well as in several French carols of the XVII-th and XVIII-th centuries:
Où s’en vont ces gais bergers ? (Where are going away these cheerful shepherds?) (Claude Balbastre, Marc-Antoine Charpentier),
Quand Jésus naquit à Noël (When Jesus was born in Christmas) (Claude Balbastre),
Noël n°10 (Christmas n°10) from Livre d’orgue (Organ Book) (Louis Claude Daquin, or d’Aquin),
Bon Joseph, écoute moi (Good Joseph, listen at me) (Nicolas Chédeville),
or in regional traditional carols:
Allons, bergers (Let’s go, shepherds) (Béarn, Gascogne),
Les Bergers de Bethléem (The Shepherds from Bethlehem) (Québec, Canada),
Que chacun s’arme soudain (Let everybody arm suddenly),
and even, after having served as medium for an hymn, in a drinking song!
A Norman cod-fishermen working song uses also this timbre. Last, but this list is not exhaustive, this timbre is employed for the tune « Le saint, craignant de pécher » (The saint, afraid of doing wrong) in the secular cantata La Tentation de saint Antoine (The Temptation of Saint Anthony).
See also The movies.
 Allons, bergers, partons tous (Shepherds, Let’s All Go!) or Quand Dieu naquit à Noël (When God Was Born at Christmas), carol.
Li Courdelli (The Little Cords).
El Desembre congelat (The Cold December) or La Nit de Nadal (Christmas Eve), Catalan villancico (Christmas carol).
Le Grand Projet (The Great Project).
Lyrics by François Marchant, MIDI scheduling by J.-G. Maurandi.
« La Guillotine » (The Guillotine).
Nouvé grassenc (Christmas carol from Grasse).
La Pêche à la morue (The cod fishing).
Traditional from Normandy.
Quand la mer Rouge apparut (When the Red Sea appeared), drinking song.
Sachez que mon goût... (You should know that my taste...), a song extracted from the comedy Les Républicains français (The French Republicans).
Lyrics by Joseph Quesnel.
Le saint, craignant de pécher (The Saint, afraid of doing wrong), part of the cantata La Tentation de saint Antoine (The Temptation of Saint Anthony).
| Interpenetration of the musical genres |
To this geographical circulation, it is of course necessary to add the interpenetration of the various genres (cross-over, already!). For example, extracts of operas or operettas are crossed in the traditional music of the County of Nice: | | so, L’Elisir d’amore (The Elixir of love, 1832) by Gaetano Donizetti has supplied the theme of a polka, extracted from the barcarole Io son ricco, e tu sei bella (Dulcamare/Adina), and from aria Ei corregge ogni difetto (Dulcamara) ;an aria from the D.F.Esprit Auber’s light opera Le Cheval de bronze (The Bronze horse, 1835) is found within the song La miéu bella Nissa (My beautiful Nice-city) (aria “Quand on est fille, hélas!”);the last theme of the Offerte des festins (Offertory of the feast) would be, according to Georges Delrieu, a borrow to “Robert Wallace”. |
L’Elisir d’amore (The Elixir of love), act II, scene 1 (n° 7 to 10): barcarole a due voci Io son ricco, e tu sei bella “I’m rich, and you are beautiful” (Dulcamare, Adina).
Music by Gaetano Donizetti, MIDI scheduling by J.-G. Maurandi.
L’Elisir d’amore (The Elixir of love), act II, last scene: aria Ei corregge ogni difetto (Dulcamara).
Music by Gaetano Donizetti.
Poulkà (Polka), according to L’Elisir d’amore (The Elixir of love) by Gaetano Donizetti.
Conversely, popular motifs from the County of Nice or Provence are used in the academic music: | | to compose the “farandole” of his Arlésienne, Georges Bizet has borrowed from theme for the chivau-frus (“petticoats-horses” or “dashing-horses”) – musical support for the Corpus Christi games in Aix-en-Provence –, to which he has superposed in the final fugue the Provençal Christmas carol La Marcho di rèi (The March of the Three Kings);the collection Chants d’Auvergne (Songs from Auvergne) by Joseph Canteloube contains the Souòn, souòn (Sleep, sleep) lullaby;the Christmas carol La cambo me fai mau (My leg does harm myself) attributed to Nicolas Saboly (17th century) is reused by Émile Goué in his Noël languedocien (Trois pièces faciles pour quatuor à cordes, op. 28) composed while he was in captivity during year 1941;the Catalan composer Miguel Llobet transcribed for guitar the tune El Desembre congelat (The Cold December) in his opus Canciones populares catalanas (Catalan popular songs) under the title La Nit de Nadal (Christmas Eve);in his Humoresque opus 10-2, Tchaikovsky employed the theme semplice ma espressivo from Lou roussignòu que vola (The nightingale who flies), whom he heard during his stay in Nice in winter 1871-1872. |
L’Arlésienne (The Girl from Arles), Suite n° 2 (#4 “Farandole”). Music by Georges Bizet, MIDI scheduling by J.-G. Maurandi.
Li Chivau-frus (The “petticoats-horses” or “dashing-horses”).
La Marcho di rèi (The March of the Three Kings).
The light music is not indebted: the accordion music waltz Dédé de Montmartre (Andrew from Montmartre, from the movie Dédé la Musique, music by Roger Dumas, lyrics Gaston Montho) has come into the dance repertory of the County of Nice.
1. Timbre or “hum”, wellknown tune which could receive different and exchangeable lyrics.
| Legend (click icons, on the left side of tunes title, to access to corresponding files): | | | | “fife & drums” MIDI file (a)(b)(c). | | | “brass band” MIDI file (a)(b)(c). | | | “other instruments” MIDI file (a)(b)(c). | | | | score: PDF file (b)(c). | | | lyrics. | | | | | You may download MIDI and scores files as a whole from the Download page.
(a) Tunes will sound better if your computer is connected to a high-fidelity amplifier.
(b) Without any further observation, arrangements and harmonizations by J.-G. Maurandi.
(c) These files and their content are © 2001-2020 Jean-Gabriel Maurandi. |
© 2001-2020 Jean-Gabriel Maurandi.
The musical traditions from County of Nice: Music introduction - Cross-over
Popular songs - Animal songs - Racy songs - Work songs
Political, social and satirical songs - Contemporary songs
Carnival tunes - Circumstance tunes - Close couple dances - Characters dances - Farandole - Feasts - Round dances of May
Music for children
Chimes & knells - Sacred & religious music - Christmas carols from County of Nice - Sanctuaries
Brief survey of the traditional musics from the South of France: The Occitany - Limoux’ carnival tunes
The Piedmont - The Provence - Christmas carols from Provence
Other countries
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