In the same way that Rimbaud found inspiration in Baudelaire, transforming and reworking existing works into more modern forms, the 1949 publication of Les Illuminations also played on this theme of renewal and inspiration, when the French artist Fernand Léger created illustrations to several of Rimbaud’s poems. Fernand Leger (French, 1881 – 1955) | Untitled (Illustration for “Les Illuminations” by Arthur Rimbaud, Publisher: Roth & Sauter, Lausanne, Switzerland, 1949) | 1949 | lithograph | 33 x 25 cm | Fred & Isabel Pollard Collection (1969.128.0.128.011) The poems in Les Illuminations demonstrated Rimbaud’s rebellious protest but he also paid homage to Baudelaire by developing Baudelaire’s poetry into prose form. Rimbaud’s writing drew inspiration from the poet Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867), one of the very few literary writers he admired. The poems were partially published by La Vogue, a Paris literary review, in the May-June 1886 issue, and later reprinted in book form in October 1886 by Les Publications de la Vogue under the title Les Illuminations. Illuminations comprised an incomplete suite of forty-two poems said to have been written between 18 (according to Paul Verlaine, Rimbaud’s former lover). He began writing at a very young age and by the age of 20 had completed the bulk of his literary compositions, whereupon he stopped writing after completing a major work, Illuminations. Fernand Leger (French, 1881 – 1955) | Untitled (Illustration for “Les Illuminations” by Arthur Rimbaud, Publisher: Roth & Sauter, Lausanne, Switzerland, 1949) | 1949 | lithograph | 33 x 25 cm | Fred & Isabel Pollard Collection (1969.128.0.128.001)Īrthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) was a French poet whose works have contributed greatly to the genre of modern literature and arts. It could also refer to the idea of elucidation, as Rimbaud was known to have borrowed words from English in his works written in his native French. The title of Rimbaud’s original publication Les Illuminations (1886) has artistic and illustrative connotations, referencing the medieval art of illuminating or illustrating a manuscript or text. Although poet and artist never met and were in fact from different generations, the influence of one on the other is a story not uncommon. Booklet contains the sung texts and liner notes.The intertwining of art and literature is beautifully illustrated in the publication, Les Illuminations (1949), featuring poetic prose by Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) and modern lithographs by Fernand Léger(1881-1955). Recording of 1967, from the Berlin Classical catalogue. These German performances by the superb Peter Schreier and 20th century music champion Herbert Kegel prove that the understanding of Britten does not stop at the English border, but, as with all great music, the music’s universal message will find a ready ear and a susceptive heart all over the world. In celebration of the Britten Centenary Brilliant Classics presents two of Britten’s best known song cycles, the Illuminations and the Serenade for tenor, horn and orchestra. Schreier may best be known for his unique authority as a Bach performer, but he brings the same laser-like clarity of thought, diction and tuning to Britten's settings of French and English poetry, and Herbert Kegel was, until his tragic suicide, a conductor of uncommonly wide sympathies and powerful convictions about the music of today these are, then, not recordings nurtured within the native tradition of Britten performance, but they possess an authority all of their own. And so these East German recordings of two early song cycles belong to their own tradition. To the Germans and the Italians, Britten was quickly recognised as a vital continuing link in the now almost-defunct lyric tradition that could produce new operas on contemporary themes that would catch the public imagination and exploit the full resources of an opera house a quality Britten shares with a vanishingly small number of composers, all of whom (Mozart, Wagner, Verdi, Puccini and Richard Strauss) belonged to one or other of their musical cultures. In this centenary year full of celebrations of Britten's contribution to British life and music, as composer, performer, impresario and public representative of serious music that could yet reach and touch a vast number of people beyond the usual circle of new-music mavens, it can be forgotten how well his music has always travelled, not just to other Anglophone countries but in Europe far more so than the self-consciously English Edwardians and pastoralists.
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