A message about one of the French chansonniers. List of chanson singers from different periods

Chanson in French means song. At first glance, the frivolous musical genre has quite a long history. As early as the 10th century, poems and epic songs (chanson de geste) appeared that sang of the brave and valiant knights who defended France. And the founders of this musical genre are the Franco-Flemish composers of the Dutch school.

Already in the 16th century, music in a style that can be considered a prototype of the classical chanson was created by French Renaissance composers such as Janequin, Sermizi, Mulu, Serton, Cotelet, Lejeune, Gudimel, and at the beginning of the 17th century these compositions were gradually squeezed out by song and romance genres . At the end of the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th centuries, pop songs appeared in France, the authors of which are chansonniers - French pop singers, performers of verses and genre songs in the "à la Montmartre" style.

After the First World War, the rhythms of overseas foxtrot and tango came into fashion. In the songs of French performers, notes of these incendiary melodies are also heard. But the French have always remained original, and the singers of that time - Mistenguet, Maurice Chevalier, Josephine Becker - worked in the style of a revue - a small theatrical and circus performance close to a cabaret, British music hall or American vaudeville. The 30-40s of the 20th century were marked by the appearance of Edith Piaf, who is rightfully considered in France to be the founder of modern pop song. Piaf's songs reflected her own life and the life of every Frenchman, which is why the songs themselves are so loved in France, and far beyond its borders. Piaf's songs were distinguished by sincerity, emphasized by a bright voice and sensual performance. More than one generation of French performers grew up on songs such as " Non, Je ne regrette rien », « padam, padam », « Milord », « La Vie En Rose"(You can listen to songs online by clicking on the link).

After the Second World War, a galaxy of such chansonniers appeared on the scene, such as: Georges Brassens, Jacques Brel, Charles Aznavour, Leo Ferpe, Boris Vian, Yves Montand. Their work combines the best traditions of the French author's song: lyricism of performance, a certain intimacy and elusive musicality.

But it is difficult to talk about French chanson in general, in order to try to understand it, it is worth touching the work of the most prominent representatives of this genre.

Charles Aznavour immediately after the end of the war, together with his friend and accompanist Pierre Roche, in search of work, they hung around the thresholds of Parisian nightclubs and variety shows. Sometimes they were allowed to go on stage, sing a few songs and earn a few francs. Sometimes it turned out to sell a song or two. Friends composed them in Roche's huge apartment in the center of Paris. One of these songs - "I'm drunk" - became a hit performed by Georges Ulmer.

Once, Piaf herself visited one of their concerts in a Parisian restaurant. After meeting the musicians, she invited them to perform in the first part of her tour. However, the tour turned out to be very short, Piaf flew to America, and Aznavour and Roche remained in Paris to collect money for the journey across the Ocean. With difficulty reaching the United States, and finding Piaf there, the musicians realized that there would be no joint tour, and on the advice of the singer, they went to Canada, where unexpected success awaited them. The legendary singer influenced the work of Charles in many ways, he wrote several songs for her: “ Jezebel"," Compagnons de la Chanson ". After breaking up with Piaf, Aznavour began a solo career. His songs are performed by many talented chansonniers of that time: Juliette Greco, Gilbert Beko, Patasha. Song " J "ai bu”, recorded by Georges Ulmer, was awarded the Grand Prix as the best disc of 1947. Subsequently, Aznavour wrote more than a dozen songs that became not only the pearls of French chanson, but also world-famous hits, among them: "Sa jeunesse", "Parce que", "Sur ma vie", "Apres l "amour", "La boheme" , « Comme ils disent », « She and, of course, immortal Une Vie D'Amour", sounded in the Soviet film "Tehran-43" and sung by Aznavour himself in Russian ("Eternal Love").

Another well-known chansonnier far beyond the borders of France is Yves Montand. It can also be attributed to the discoveries of Edith Piaf. “When he sang,” Edith Piaf recalled, “I immediately fell under his spell. The original personality of the artist, the impression of strength and masculinity, beautiful artistic hands, an interesting expressive face, a soulful voice ... ". Edith Piaf gave him a piece of her talent. She taught Yves Montand the beauty of singing that made him great. International hits are associated with the name of Yves Montand " Sous Le Ciel" "De Paris", "Les feuilles mortes », « C'est si bon », « Les grands boulevards », « A Paris”and many, many more amazingly melodic and lyrical songs characteristic of the French chanson of the 40s - 60s of the last century.

Another prominent representative of the French chanson is Jacques Brel, who was born in Belgium. He made his first recordings in 1953. Recorded and went to conquer Paris. For about a year, Jacques spent the night in attics and unsuccessfully knocked around the thresholds of concert halls and cabarets in Paris. However, despite the merciless criticism of his songs, he continued to write songs. He was supported by the musician Brassens, the singer Juliette Greco, who included his songs in her repertoire, and, of course, by Jacques Canetti, who did not heed the voices of the Philips skeptics and nevertheless insisted on recording Jacques Brel's first disc in 1954. Among the songs of this album, only one stands out - “Useful video

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Born on the cabaret stage, chanson remains today a unique national way to speak confidentially and vividly with the listener about the essential and essential

In the early 2000s, when the Radio Shanson FM station took off, the Russian intellectual was jarred by the use of a familiar and beloved word for other purposes. Over the next 11 years, the legitimization of the genre, which was previously honestly called the “blatny song” or simply “blatnyak”, has come to pass: the protests subsided, the “Russian chanson” became one of the indisputable realities of the country's cultural landscape. And yet, before this thieves' triumph, there was a whole century, during which the word "chanson" sounded completely different music to the Russian ear.

Everyone knows that this word itself - chanson - and simply means "song". It is less known that modern French chanson, which became one of the main symbols of the country's culture in the 20th century, traces its ancestry back to the Middle Ages. The starting point is the work of the trouveurs, singing poets of the late 11th - early 14th centuries, in particular the great Guillaume de Machaux, who was highly valued by the author of the Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer, and contemporaries referred to as "the god of harmony". However, that chanson had its own, rather complex, canon and is, to put it mildly, in indirect family relations with the current one.

The chanson that we know was formed at the end of the century before last within the walls of cabaret theaters. Then they not only danced the cancan, but also sang. And then the main principle of chanson took shape: this is a song performed by the author, as a rule, in a chamber room, a song in which the music is inseparable from the text, usually the plot. Chanson became the song embodiment of the "ideal Gallic character" - romantic and explosive, caustic and maximalist, sensitive to any injustice.

The first chansonniers in our current understanding were Aristide Bruant (1851-1925) and Mistingett (1875-1956). The first, an artistic loafer from Montmartre, sang caustic anti-bourgeois songs in Parisian slang, went on stage in a spectacular "outfit": a velvet jacket, black trousers tucked into high boots, a red scarf around his neck. This is how Toulouse-Lautrec portrayed him on the posters (and Theophile Steinlen, also an artist, illustrated collections of his songs). The pseudonym of the second, oddly enough, was originally "English" (Miss Tengett), but, having merged into one word, it sounded Francophone. The beautiful daughter of a handyman and a dressmaker, she started with humorous songs, acted in films, performed on the same stage with Jean Gabin, sang in tandem with Maurice Chevalier (they were lovers for 10 years), and in connection with parting with him she sang the song Mon homme, and this song remained in the history of chanson forever. It was she who invented the feather headdress for which the Moulin Rouge is still famous today. Mistengett died at 80 and retired from the stage at 75.

The jazz era also changed the French song, which in pre-war Paris was personified by Charles Trenet, who performed in a duet with jazz pianist Johnny Hess. Trenet's manner seems to be something completely new: he brings jazz rhythms and gags from American comedies to the French music hall. Still the flesh of the flesh of the music hall, comedian, entertainer, after the Second World Trenet conquers America with ease. And when, in 1990, Bernardo Bertolucci in the film "Under the Cover of Heaven" requires a musical color that characterizes a happy pre-war life, the composer of the electronic age, Ryuichi Sakamoto, stops at Charles Trenet, on his famous Je chante. After the war, chanson becomes more serious. He no longer needs comedy and beauties in feathers, he wants an honest conversation with the listener (or rather, the listener wants such a conversation). Real poets and writers come to chanson - Boris Vian, for example, is also not the last chansonnier, although he is known more as a jazzman and prose writer. An introvert Jacques Brel arrives from Belgium - the only non-French who has become one of the main icons of chanson, a great poet who wrote and lived on an aortic rupture. Georges Brassens takes up the guitar (during the war, he fled from forced labor in Germany, immediately after becoming an anarchist). He composes songs to other people's poems - and to whose: Francois Villon, Pierre Corneille, Victor Hugo! it is impossible not to imagine such a degree of historical continuity of a changing culture. All the roads of Russian chanson, alas, lead maximum to Yesenin.

The world of French chanson is immensely diverse - both at the level of cultural ties and at the level of individuals. Jew Jean Ferrat, whose father died in the fires of the Holocaust, is an uncompromising defender of the working class, a staunch communist and, at the same time, a subtle stylist. The favorite and songwriter of Edith Piaf herself, the Parisian Armenian Vahinak Aznavourian, aka Charles Aznavour, is gentle and artistic. He seems to be more of an entertainer than a chansonnier, but still his own, anyway from here. Piaf herself, the “Parisian Sparrow”, the legend and pain of France… All of them - and many others - are people of chanson, representatives of a single poetic brotherhood-sisterhood, to which characters a generation younger easily adjoin, seeming strangers at first. The second Belgian in our history, Italian by blood Salvatore Adamo, for example. He was accused of being pop, until it became clear that Tombe la neige is not just notes of a phenologist, but a song that is not inferior to the great Brel's Ne me quitte pas. Serge Gainsbourg, the "brilliant hooligan" who played "Marseillaise" in reggae rhythm, is almost a freak, "quasimodo", but a woman's heartbreaker, who changed the canon of love chanson with his phrase Je t'aime ... moi non plus ("I love you ... I don’t either”), close in spirit and way of life (alcohol and smoking without measure) rather to rockers, - and he is also from the chanson brotherhood.

The frames are getting wider and wider. Today's chansonnier Benjamin Biola uses electronics. Recently deceased Mano Solo, the subtlest poet, played punk rock. In the 1970s, it never occurred to anyone to classify the main rock legend of France, Johnny Hallyday, as a chanson - today it seems natural. The new chanson has no stylistic restrictions, it absorbs drum and bass and bossa nova, the rhythms of Latin America (like Dominik A) and the Balkans (like Têtes Raides). Emily Simone, for example, now generally sings in English and performs canonical electropop, but what she has in French is chanson, period.

And the Russian chanson ... if anyone is remembered here, the result is predictable: Okudzhava and Vysotsky. And not even because the first one sang about Francois Villon, and the second one was translated into French by one of the main chansonniers of the 1970s, Maxime Le Forestier, - it’s just that they are the closest in terms of the quality of the verse, the degree of sincerity and relevance, the distance between the author and the listener to the French pattern. But even they are a different story. Chanson, "the property of the republic", is inseparable from the culture of its country, in which philosophical currents matured in the bistro, and the "new wave" of cinema was born at the bar counter. This is an exclusively Gallic way of talking about life, love, politics, happiness and unhappiness. And no matter how rhythms and fashions change, it will not disappear as long as at least someone on this planet speaks French.

Soviet Universities of French Song

In 1972, the Melodiya company released two monophonic vinyl records with songs by French chansonniers under the general title "Under the Roofs of Paris". This collection was extremely representative - there were songs by Yvette Guilbert, Mistingette, Charles Trenet, Jacques Brel, Charles Aznavour (pictured above) and Georges Brassens. The roles of singers here were known to us primarily as actors Fernandel and Bourvil. There was not a single intelligent home in Moscow in the 1970s that did not have at least one of these records.

The word "chanson" is translated from French as "song". Today this term is called the vocal genre. But in the Renaissance in France, this was the name of a secular polyphonic song. This continued until the end of the 19th century. In the 80s, pop songs performed in a cabaret also began to be called "chanson". They were small life stories that were told to the music. It flourished in the 1950s. It was then that in France and others, many talented chanson singers entered the musical arena. The list of these performers is inscribed in golden letters in the history of French music.

early chanson

Before the advent of chanson - polyphonic secular songs - there were trouvers - monophonic vocal works. The founder of this genre was the 14th century composer Guy de Machaux. Following him, his colleagues from Burgundy G. Dufay and J. Benchois created three-part songs. Since the 16th century, the “Paris School of Chanson” emerged, headed by C. de Sermisi, P. Serton and others. Later this style spread throughout Europe.

Modern chanson

The period of modern chanson begins at the end of the 19th century. The first singers of this genre were Astrid Bruant, Mistinguett and others. They performed in a cabaret. Later, in the early years of the 20th century, a modified chanson - "realistic song" (chanson réaliste) - rose to the professional stage. The names of performers of compositions in this genre are included in the first list of chanson singers: Edith Piaf, Ferel, Damia, etc. A little later, in the middle of the same century, 2 main directions of modern French-language song were formed: classical chanson and pop song.

Genre of classical chanson

A prerequisite for songs of this genre is a poetic component. As a rule, the author and performer of these vocal works is the same person. The list of chanson singers of this period is also headed by the inimitable Edith Piaf. Other performers in this genre were M. Chevalier, C. Trenet, J. Brassens and others. The famous French singers S. Adamo and C. Aznavour, despite the fact that their work is closer to pop music, are also included in the list of chanson singers.

Performers of this poetic-musical genre of that time began to be called "chansonnier". For them, the most important thing was the lyrics, their content and meaning. The singers of the new chanson used elements of various genres in their performances: from rock to jazz.

In France, there have always been many pop singers who perform songs of their own composition. However, their works, due to the ease of content, are not considered chanson, therefore such celebrities as M. Mathieu, J. Dassin, Dalida, Lara Fabian and Patricia Kaas are not included in the list of chanson singers of the 20th century. Perhaps outside of France they are considered chansonniers, but on French soil there is a conditional border between these two genres: pop and chanson.

Chanson in the 21st century

With the advent of the new millennium, public interest in this has not faded. Popular chanson singers appeared. The list, which has been maintained for almost 100 years, has been replenished with new names: O. Ruiz, K. Clementi, K. Ann, and others.

Conclusion

The French song differs from other European musical trends in many ways. It is more melodic, romantic, tender. She is eternal. Songs are listened to by more than one generation of music lovers all over the world. His compositions "Belle", "La Boheme", "Eternal Love" and others have become immortal masterpieces of world art. Despite the fact that modern French music has lowered the bar in recent years, the hope does not fade that the lists of chanson singers will be replenished with new names that will raise this genre to a new level.

Agree, no one can sing about feelings and love for life better than the French. They have a melodic language and Paris, which many consider to be the most romantic city in the world. In France, a special vocal genre appeared - chanson, translated into Russian as "song".

Unfortunately, the word "chanson" is rather scary for a Russian-speaking person. In fact, the lyrical songs of Edith Piaf, Charles Aznavour and Joe Dassin are chanson in its main meaning.

We have diligently collected the best and most touching songs that remind us of beautiful and controversial love. This music can be listened to endlessly.

Edith Piaf

"No, I do not regret anything" was written in 1956 and became popular performed by Edith Piaf. The text echoes the tragic fate of the singer, but it contains the typical French joy of life and agreement with their fate.

Joe Dassin

"Champs Elysees" made Joe Dassin popular. The mood of the song is quite consistent with the name, which comes from the Greek Elysium - a beautiful garden. Anything is possible on the Champs Elysees - random strangers fall in love and walk the streets of Paris.

Yves Montand

The song "Under the sky of Paris" was written for the film of the same name. It was first performed by Edith Piaf, after which Juliette Greco, Jacqueline Francois and other singers sang many times. Paris is simply impossible to imagine without this light waltz.

Danielle Licar & José Bartel - Les Parapluies de Cherbourg

Song from the film "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg". For those who are familiar with the plot, the words of the song are clear even without translation - it sounds at the moment of parting of Genevieve and Guillaume. “A whole life is not enough to wait for you, my life is lost if you are not. You are in a distant land, do not forget me, wherever you are, I am waiting for you.

Claude Francois - Comme d'habitude

Claude Francois wrote the song "As usual" in 1967. Many people know it in the English version called "My way" - this is one of the most popular pop songs of the middle of the 20th century, which is famously performed by Frank Sinatra.

Mireille Mathieu - Pardonne moi ce caprice D'enfan

“Forgive me this childish whim” - like many French songs, it speaks of love. “Forgive me this childish whim. Forgive me, come back to me as before.

Dalida & Alain Delon

In the summer of 1972, the song "Paroles" in Italian, performed by the duo Alberto Lupo and Mina, was heard by Dalida's brother and producer and invited her to record a French version. Dalida performed it in a duet with Delon. The success of the song exceeded all expectations and the French version became much more popular than the original. A few weeks after the release, the single became the top seller in France. Moreover, the title of the song (Words, Words...) has become a common colloquial expression.

Yves Montand

This song, better known as the jazz standard "Autumn Leaves", was actually written in 1945 and performed by Yves Montand a year later. One of the most touching songs about past love.

Edith Piaf - Padam Padam

October 15, 1951 the song "Padam, padam" was recorded on a record. Edith Piaf remembered a melody with a pulsating motif that the composer Norbert Glanzberg played to her back in 1942. She called the poet Henri Conte: “Henri, here is a melody composed by Norbert that follows me everywhere. My head is just buzzing with it. I need a wonderful text quickly.” Conte lit up: “Here it is! There is no more beautiful story for chanson! Edith's words just need to be turned into poetry! Padam, padam - like the beating of the heart. Padam, this motive haunts me day and night, it comes from afar and drives me crazy!”

Joe Dassin

This is a song from the summer of 1975. Although it is better known as a performance by Joe Dassin, it was actually written by the Italian singer Toto Cutugno and given the name "Africa". They changed the name for Dassin, added French lyrics and aired it, the song quickly became popular. It has since been translated into several other languages. In Russia, she is known in the performance of Valery Obodzinsky.

Joe Dassin

Toto Cutugno wrote the next song especially for Joe Dassin. “The first bars of the song“ If it were not for you ”appeared immediately, and the continuation was collectively searched for three months,” recalls Joe Dassin. The main idea of ​​the song was to be a promising assumption: "If there was no love ...". But then the poets came to a stupor. It turned out that if there is no love in the world, then there is nothing to write about. Then they changed the line to "If it weren't for you," and the text got off the ground.

Charles Aznavour - Une Vie D'amour

The original version of "Eternal Love" sounds in the film Tehran 43, jointly filmed by several well-known studios in the USSR, France and Switzerland. After the release of the film, the song became a tragic love ballad, which was translated into several languages ​​and is popular with many artists.

Leo Ferré - Avec le temps

Unlike Charles Aznavour and Yves Montand, Leo Ferret is less known outside of France. Despite this, his songs are considered classics of French music of the mid-20th century.

Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin

Favorites of France Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin in their own spirit: with this song they angered many moralists. In some countries, the composition was banned due to the obvious sexual overtones.

Danielle Darrieux - Il n'y a Pas d'amour Heureux

Incredibly lyrical "There is no happy love" on the verses of Louis Aragon sounds in the film "8 Women". “Man has no power in anything: neither in his strength, nor in his weakness, nor in his heart.”

Virginie Ledoyen - Toi Mon Amour, Mon Ami

Another song from Francois Ozon's comedy "8 ​​Women". At first it was performed by Marie Laforet, but the version that sounds in the film is better known.

Yves Montand

The song from the film "Man and Woman", without which one cannot imagine French music either.

Catherine DeneuveToi Jamais

"You Never" song by the widow Marcel from the movie "8 Women" performed by Catherine Deneuve. “I love all your flaws, and your virtues are well hidden. You are a man, and I, I love you, and it is impossible to explain.

Salvatore Adamo

Strictly speaking, Salvatore Adamo is a Belgian singer, but the song "Snow is Falling" is strongly associated with France. The author performed it not only with the original French text, but in other languages.

Patricia Kaas

A 1988 song that Patricia Kaas has been singing in concert for over ten years. By the end of the 20th century, French music became more energetic, but did not lose its lyricism and tenderness.

Mylene Farmer - Innamoramento

Released in 2000 on Mylene Farmer's fifth studio album. The words were written by the singer herself, and the love ballad was favorably received by critics.

Alizee

Singer Alizee uses the image of Nabokov's Lolita, and in the words there are references to the work of Mylene Farmer. Popular in many countries, including Russia. Appears on the soundtrack to Ridley Scott's A Good Year.

Vanessa Paradis

A 1988 song about Joe, a taxi driver in Paris. This romantic image of a taxi driver who knows all the nooks and crannies of Paris simply could not fail to appear in French music. The song became so popular that translated versions appeared in Japan and China.

Zaz—Je veux

The voice of Isabelle Geffroy, better known under the pseudonym Zaz, is immediately recognizable and memorable. A few years ago, a video of a cheerful girl appeared on Youtube, performing her songs with a group of musicians on the street. Now she goes on world tours and is known to many. Isabelle mixes many genres in her work: folk, jazz, French chanson. So we can say that this is a worthy continuation of the genre, which began in the middle of the twentieth century. This is a real anthem of youth and joy, we recommend watching the translation.

Chansonnier

A symbol of the elegance of fine taste, the eldest of 14 children in the family of a bricklayer and the Golden Voice of France - forever young Mireille Mathieu recently celebrated her 66th birthday. For our listeners, she has forever become one of the symbols of French chanson. Chanson, chansonnier... the spirit of Paris and the heart of France.

As a musical genre, chanson (chanson - song) has two meanings: a secular polyphonic song in the style of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance or a French pop song - cabaret music. In the classical understanding of chanson, the main thing is the text of the song, the author was most often the performer. Maurice Chevalier, Edith Piaf, Anna Marley, Yves Montand, Charles Aznavour- big names of classical chanson. But very little time passed, and all performers of French-language pop songs were included among the chansonniers. The names of Mireille Mathieu, Joe Dassin, Dalida, Patricia Kaas have become synonymous with French chanson for us.

When Mireille Mathieu in 1965 first appeared in front of viewers with the song Jezebel, her performance made a splash. It seemed that Edith Piaf, who passed away three years ago, was reborn. It seemed that her voice had returned to the world again in this small, fragile girl like Edith. The similarity of voice and performance was striking. But John Sark, impresario Mireille Mathieu, forbade her even to listen to Piaf's recordings, he believed that then she would not lose her style, but would become a pale shadow of the great singer.

Mireille Mathieu and Edith Piaf. One song, one music, two destinies

***

There you are, sweet baby! And mind you, I won't add "Piaf". Because there is a big difference between the two of you. Baby Piaf walked on the shady side of life, and you, Mireille, will walk on the sunny side (Maurice Chevalier)

More than 100 million records and thousands of songs in different languages ​​​​of the world have made Mireille Mathieu an ambassador for French song. Small, fragile, elegant, perfectly suited to a gentle word chansonnier , Mireille Mathieu became the prototype of the symbol of France - Marianne. In 2005, a series of concerts " 40 years of love and excitement."

famous duet Eternal love performed by Mireille Mathieu and Charles Aznavour, recognized as the best pop singer of the 20th century.

Another name on the Golden List of French chanson is Charles Aznavour, French chansonnier and actor of Armenian origin. His real name is Shahnur Vahinak Aznavuryan. The son of Armenian emigrants from Tiflis, who began singing at the age of 9, Charles Aznavour created more than 1000 songs performed by himself and about 60 film roles. At 82, he went to Cuba, where he wrote an album Color Ma Vie. The world premiere of new songs took place in Moscow where he gave the only concert.

How to talk about French pop music and chanson and not remember this name? Joe Dassin - Joseph Ira Dassin. A short human life, but a long memory of his songs that continue to live. Dassin's voice is a soft baritone, with a slight hoarseness, his

amazing artistry, soulful performance and elegance on stage - the real skill of an outstanding chanson performer.

Chanson, chansonnier... the spirit of Paris and the heart of France.