Description:
Arthur Honegger - Jeanne D'Arc Au Bucher (2007) [DVD9 NTSC]
Video: 16:9 NTSC
Audio: Dolby Stereo
# Actors: Sylvie Testud, Eric Ruf, Alain Altinoglu, Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Isabelle Cals
# Directors: Jean-Paul Scarpitta, Don Kent
# Writers: Paul Claudel, Arthur Honegger
# Producers: Festival de Radio France de Montpellier, Fabienne Servan Schreiber
# Number of discs: 1
# Studio: Arte/Accord
# DVD Release Date: October 30, 2007
# Run Time: 139 minutes
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Born Oscar-Arthur Honegger (the first name was never used) in Le Havre, France, he initially studied harmony and violin in Paris, and after a brief period in Z¸rich, returned there to study with Charles-Marie Widor and Vincent d'Indy. He continued to study through the 1910s, before writing the ballet Le dit des jeux du monde in 1918, generally considered to be his first characteristic work. In 1926 he married AndrÈe Vaurabourg, a pianist and fellow student at the Paris Conservatoire, on the condition that they live in separate apartments. They lived apart for the duration of their marriage, with the exceptions of an attempt at living together in 1935, which lasted less than a year, and the last year of Honegger's life, when he could no longer live alone. They had one daughter, Pascale, born in 1932. Honegger also had a son, Jean-Claude (1926ñ2003), with the singer Claire Croiza.
In the early 1920s Honegger shot to fame with his "dramatic psalm" Le Roi David ("King David" , which is still in the choral repertoire. Between World War I and World War II, Honegger was very prolific. He composed the music for Abel Gance's epic 1927 film, NapolÈon. He composed nine ballets and three vocal stage works, amongst other works. One of those stage works, Jeanne d'Arc au B?cher (1935), a "dramatic oratorio" (to words by Paul Claudel), is thought of as one of his finest works. In addition to his pieces written alone, he collaborated with Jacques Ibert on both an opera, L'Aiglon (1937), and an operetta. During this time period he also wrote Danse de la ChËvre (1921), an essential piece of flute repertoire. Dedicated to RenÈ Le Roy and written for flute alone, this piece is lively and charming, but with the same directness of all Honegger's work.
Honegger had always remained in touch with Switzerland, his parents' country of origin, but with the outbreak of the war and the invasion of the Nazis, he found himself unable to leave Paris. He joined the French Resistance and was generally unaffected by the Nazis themselves, who allowed him to continue his work without too much interference. However, he was greatly depressed by the war. Between its outbreak and his death, he wrote his last four symphonies (numbers two to five) which are among the most powerful symphonic works of the 20th century. Of these, the second, for strings, featuring a solo trumpet which plays a chorale tune by Johann Sebastian Bach in the final movement, and the third, subtitled Symphonie Liturgique with its three movements evoking the Requiem Mass (Dies Irae, De profundis clamavi and Dona nobis pacem), are probably the best known. Written in 1946 just after the end of the war, it has parallels with Benjamin Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem of 1940. In complete contrast with this work is the lyrical, nostalgic Symphony No. 4, subtitled "Deliciae Basilienses" ("The Delights of Basel" and written as a tribute to days of relaxation spent in that Swiss city during the war.
Honegger was widely known as a train enthusiast, and once notably said: "I have always loved locomotives passionately. For me they are living creatures and I love them as others love women or horses." His "mouvement symphonique" Pacific 231 (a depiction of a steam locomotive) gained him early notoriety in 1923.
Many of Honegger's works were championed by his long time friend Georges Tzipine, who conducted the premiere recordings of some of them (Cris du Monde oratorio, Nicolas de Fl¸e).
In 1953 he wrote his last composition, A Christmas Cantata. After a protracted illness, he died at home of a heart attack on 27 November 1955 and was interred in the CimetiËre Saint-Vincent in the Montmartre Quarter of Paris.
The principal elements of Honegger's style are: Bachian counterpoint, driving rhythms, melodic amplitude, highly coloristic harmonies, an impressionistic use of orchestral sonorities, and a concern for formal architecture. His style is weightier and more solemn than that of his colleagues in Les Six. Far from reacting against German romanticism as the other members of Les Six did, Honegger's mature works show evidence of a distinct influence by it. Despite the differences in their styles, he and fellow Les Six member Darius Milhaud were close friends, having studied together at the Paris Conservatoire. Milhaud dedicated his fourth string quintet to Honegger's memory, while Francis Poulenc similarly dedicated his Clarinet Sonata.
Honegger is currently featured on the Swiss twenty franc banknote.
Jeanne d'Arc au b?cher is an oratorio by Arthur Honegger originally commissioned by Ida Rubinstein. The title translates to, "Joan of Arc at the Stake." The drama takes place during the heroine's trial and execution, with flashbacks to her younger days. It premiered on 12 May 1938 in Basel, with Rubinstein as Jeanne, with the Basel Boys Choir singing the children's chorus part, and Paul Sacher conducting. The work was first performed in Canada at the Montreal Festivals in 1953 under conductor Wilfrid Pelletier.[1]
Arthur Honegger entitled his work as a dramatic oratorio, adding speaking roles and actors. The work has an important part for the ondes Martenot and some productions have included film clips.
The librettist of the work was Paul Claudel. The principal roles are spoken.
A 'multi-media' production, beginning with film footage of the devastation of France after WW1, featuring actress Sylvie Testud as Jeanne d'Arc and Eric Ruf as Dominic, in speaking roles, plus assorted singers on and off stage, two choirs in costumes and masks on stage, and an occasionally visible orchestra! And yet, it feels and sounds quite static. Honegger's score is barely more than dramatic fragments. Paul Claudel's poetic libretto is plainly intended to express the rapture of purification through martyrdom, but unless you are already a rapt believer, you're unlikely to be swayed by such static characterization along with such overwrought symbolism.
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