Sources for the Versions of Chausson’s Poème
Discussions about the origins of Chausson’s Poème as a musical work are generally concerned with the long compositional gestation period prior to its premiere in 1896. However, the work evolves long after receiving its premiere performance. Furthermore, Ysaÿe’s influence affects the many subsequent versions of the work. Here’s a look at the difference sources. This is not an exhaustive list, but detail the most important sources of use in performances of the different versions.
Ysaÿe’s Arrangements as Notated Performance Instances
In his writings from 1897, Ysaÿe emphasizes the capacity of scores to encode how an artist would have played or approached an interpretive or technical problem, using the example of Paganini.
“Paganini left us a much better portrayal of himself in his Caprices than the finest painter on earth could have produced and that the nature of his work as an interpreter comes through to anyone reading his compositions, which, because of his curious and highly personal style of writing, intended entirely for his own use, throw a good deal of light on his genius and help to elucidate certain technical problems.”
Interpretation requires the discernment of the prescriptive and descriptive aspects of a composer’s notation. Notation can simultaneously prescribe a performer’s choreography and describe the audible result. For instance, a notated chord can simultaneously prescribe a performer to play all the notes at the same time and describe that a chord should be heard.
In the following example from Ysaÿe’s arrangement (referred to as Version V), it is clear that both the pianist and organist should each play the notes of their chords at the same time. However, if the pianist and organist truly pressed the keys at the same time, the sounds produced would not sound simultaneously as the organ sound would be slightly delayed. The notation of the score not only prescribes the choreography of each instrumentalist’s performance of the chords but suggests that the piano and organ should simultaneously; successful performance of this passage requires the pianist and organist to coordinate in an off-set way. This is a fairly straightforward example of interpretive decisions on the part of the performer.
All versions of Chausson’s Poème were undoubtedly influenced by Ysaÿe. Discrepancies in the solo violin part across the different versions illustrate the dichotomy of notation’s dual nature. The manuscripts in the Jeannette Dincin Ysaÿe Collection at Juilliard are also a marvelous study in the art of notation.
In the next update at the end of April, comparisons of changes in the violin part across different version sources will be discussed.