Pierre-Jean de Béranger
Encyclopedia
Pierre-Jean de Béranger (19 August 1780 – 16 July 1857) was a prolific French
poet and chansonnier
(songwriter
), who enjoyed great popularity and influence in France during his lifetime, but faded into obscurity in the decades following his death. He has been described as "the most popular French songwriter of all time" and "the first superstar of French popular music".
, which he later described as "one of the dirtiest and most turbulent streets of Paris". He was not actually of noble blood, despite the use of an appended "de" in the family name by his father, who had vainly assumed the name of Béranger de Mersix. He was, in fact, descended from more humble stock, a country innkeeper on one side of the family and a tailor on the other - the latter was later celebrated in a song, "Le tailleur et la fée" (The tailor and the fairy). He made much of his humble origins in "Le Villain" (The Plebeian):
As a child he was shy and sickly, but skilful with his hands and learnt to carve cherry stones. He was sent to school in the faubourg
St. Antoine, and from its roof witnessed the storming of the Bastille
in 1789 – commemorated in his poem, "Le quatorze juillet" (The 14th of July). His father had been a business agent, but his royalist sympathies meant that he had to go into hiding after the French Revolution
. Pierre-Jean was therefore sent to live with an aunt in Péronne, in Somme
, who ran an auberge (boarding house
). His aunt apparently taught him republic
an principles, and from her doorstep he heard the guns at Valenciennes
(during the War of the First Coalition); he also developed a passionate love of France and distaste for all things foreign.
He attended a school in Péronne, L'Institut Patriotique, founded by M. Ballue de Bellenglise, one time deputy of the legislative assembly
, which was run according to the educational principles of Jean-Jacques Rousseau
. Here, the boys were organised into clubs and regiments, and taught to play at politics and war. Béranger was president of the club, made speeches before such members of the National Convention
as passed through Péronne, and composed addresses to Jean Lambert Tallien and Robespierre
.
Neither Greek
nor Latin
was taught at his school — nor even French language
by all accounts, for it was only after he left school that he acquired the elements of grammar
from a printer, in Péronne, called Lainez, with whom he served an apprenticeship from the age of 14 years of age (after a spell as a waiter, for his aunt). It was there that he acquired a taste for verse. Although he could never read Horace
in the original, he had an acquaintance with Fénelon
's Télémaque
, Racine
and the dramas of Voltaire
.
After spending some time in Laisnez's printing-office, he was called to Paris, in 1796, to serve as an assistant in his father's business. In 1798, the firm went bankrupt, and Beranger found himself in straightened circumstances, though he now had more time to compose verse. Poems such as "Le Grenier" (The Garret) and "Mon Habit" (My Coat) belong to this period. He did literary hackwork, and wrote pastorals, epics and other works. However, by the end of 1803, Béranger was in direst poverty and poor health. His wardrobe consisted of one pair of boots, one greatcoat, one pair of trousers with a hole in the knee, and "three bad shirts which a friendly hand wearied itself in endeavouring to mend." The friendly hand was that of Judith Frere, whom he had known since 1796, and who continued to be his faithful companion until her death, three months before his own. She was not the Lisette referred to in his songs, but was the inspiration behind La Bonne Vieille and Maudit printemps.
, brother of Napoleon, enclosing some of his work. Lucien Bonaparte took an interest in the young poet, even transferring to him his own pension of 1000 francs from the Institut de France
, and persuaded him to write a poem on the Death of Nero. Five years later, in 1809, through the same patronage, but indirectly, he became a despatch clerk at the Imperial University of France
, at a salary of an additional thousand francs
. Now his life began to take on a more regular shape.
Meanwhile he had written many songs for convivial occasions, and "to console himself under all misfortunes"; some had apparently already been published by his father, but he set no great store on them himself; and it was only in 1812, while keeping a sick friend company, that it occurred to him to write down the best of them. The following year he was elected to the Caveau Moderne, and his reputation as a song-writer began to spread. Manuscript copies of Les Gueux, Le petit homme gris, Le Sénateur, and, above all, of Le Roi d'Yvetot, a satire against Napoleon, passed from hand to hand, were spoken and sung, achieving both popularity and acclaim. Around this time, also, he made the acquaintance of the well-known songwriter, Désaugiers.
The disastrous events of the Napoleonic wars
, with the invasion of France by allied armies, the surrender of Paris
in 1814, and, finally, the defeat at Waterloo
in 1815, had a deep effect on Béranger, and gave a new stimulus and direction to his poetic output. After the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy
, he turned his pen against the establishment, opposing the antinationalist
tendencies of the government, revolting against the absurdities of the day and celebrating the former glories of the republic. He became the national poet of France.
Béranger's first volume of poetry ("Chansons morales et autres") appeared in 1815, and though it contained few political pieces, it aroused the suspicion of the department in which he worked due to its popularity; he was advised by his chief not to publish any similar material in the future. The advice went unheeded and Béranger issued another volume in 1821, by which time he had resigned from his regular employment.
Bérenger's third collection went unpunished, but his 4th volume, published in 1828, was severely dealt with, the author being fined 1,100 francs and sentenced to nine months in La Force Prison
. This was after the government had offered him a minimal penalty if he would offer no defence to the charges; Béranger, of course, refused the offer, not even asking for the option of passing his term in a Maison de santé, the French equivalent of an English madhouse
.
His songs (such as Le Vieux Drapeau), helped to bring about the revolution of 1830
, and he played a part, with his friends Lafitte and Lafayette, in placing Louis Philippe I upon the throne, but refused all the appointments proffered by the king and his ministers; he simply desired to live as a philosopher, content with the income from the sale of his songs, and preserving his personal independence. He did, however, ask for a pension for his friend, Rouget de Lisle
, author of the Marseillaise, who was now old and poor, and had been dependent on him for five years. In 1833, his 5th volume of songs was published
After the French Revolution of 1848
, and despite his own reluctance, he was elected to the Constituent Assembly by so large a number of votes (204,471) that he felt himself obliged to accept the seat. Not long afterwards, with great difficulty, he obtained leave to resign. This was the last public event of Béranger's life.
, Adolphe Thiers
, Jacques Laffitte
, Jules Michelet
, Lamennais
, Mignet. He was said to be amiable in character, ready to receive help when in need, but also ready to give help when needed by others. His correspondence is noted for its wisdom and kindness, reminiscent of Montaigne
, and, occasionally, Charles Lamb.
He produced a book of memoirs, which was translated into English, and started work on a treatise, Social and Political Morality, which was left unfinished on his death. During his final illness, the street in which he lived was thronged with sympathisers and his death was an occasion for national sorrow and mourning. It was feared that the funeral would be the signal for some political disturbance; but the government took immediate measures, and all went quietly. The streets of Paris were lined with soldiers and full of townsfolk, silent and uncovered. From time to time cries arose: "Honneur, honneur a Béranger!"
. "Le Roi d'Yvetot", for example, was sung to the traditional air
"Quand un tendron vient en ces lieux", while others might be set to well-known melodies by various composers.
The songs of Béranger are elaborate, written in a clear and sparkling style, full of wit and incision. It is not so much for any lyrical flow as for the happy turn of phrase that they claim merit. Whether the subject be happy or serious, light or passionate, the medium remains untroubled. The special merits of the songs are merits to be looked for more in English prose
than in English verse. He worked deliberately, never writing more than 15 songs a year and often less, and was so fastidious that he threw away a quarter of his output.
"I am a good little bit of a poet," Béranger said of himself, "clever in the craft, and a conscientious worker to whom old airs and a modest choice of subjects (le coin que me suis confine) have brought some success." His modest self-appraisal belies his importance in literary history. When he first began to cultivate the chanson, it was a minor and little-regarded form, restricted to slight subjects and a humorous guise of treatment. Béranger raised the standing of the art and imbued it with greater sentiment.
From a comparatively early date, he resolved to write songs for the people. He was helped in this regard by Emile Debraux, who had often stood between him and the masses as interpreter, and given him the keynote of the popular humour. Now, he had observed in the songs of sailors, and workers, a prevailing tone of sadness; and so, as he grew more masterful in this sort of expression, he sought more and more after what is deep, serious and constant in the thoughts of common men. The evolution was slow; and we can see in his own works examples of every stage, from that of witty indifference in fifty pieces of the first collection, to that of grave and even tragic feeling in Les Souvenirs du peuple or Le Vieux Vagabond. And this innovation involved another, which was as a sort of prelude to the great romantic movement
.
For the chanson, as he says himself, opened up to him a path in which his genius could develop itself at ease; he escaped, by this literary gateway, from strict academical requirements, and had at his disposal the whole dictionary, four-fifths of which, according to La Harpe
, were forbidden to the use of more regular and pretentious poetry. If he still kept some of the old vocabulary, some of the old imagery, he was yet accustoming people to hear moving subjects treated in a manner more free and simple than before; so that his was a sort of conservative reform, preceding the violent revolution of Victor Hugo
and his army of uncompromising romantics. He seems himself to have had glimmerings of some such idea; but he withheld his full approval from the new movement on two grounds: first, because the romantic school misused somewhat brutally the delicate organism of the French language; and second, as he wrote to Sainte-Beuve
in 1832, because they adopted the slogan of "Art for art
," and set no object of public usefulness before them as they wrote. For himself (and this is the third point of importance) he had a strong sense of political responsibility. Public interest took a far higher place in his estimation than any private passion or favour. He had little toleration for those erotic poets who sing their own loves and not the common sorrows of mankind, who forget, to quote his own words, "forget beside their mistress those who labour before the Lord." Hence it is that so many of his pieces are political, and so many, in the later times at least, inspired with a socialistic spirit of indignation and revolt. It is by this socialism that he becomes truly modern. and touches hands with Burns.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
poet and chansonnier
Chansonnier
A chansonnier is a manuscript or printed book which contains a collection of chansons, or polyphonic and monophonic settings of songs, hence literally "song-books," although some manuscripts are so called even though they preserve the text but not the music A chansonnier is a manuscript or...
(songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
), who enjoyed great popularity and influence in France during his lifetime, but faded into obscurity in the decades following his death. He has been described as "the most popular French songwriter of all time" and "the first superstar of French popular music".
Early life and career, 1780-1803
De Béranger was born at his grandfather's house on the Rue Montorgueil in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, which he later described as "one of the dirtiest and most turbulent streets of Paris". He was not actually of noble blood, despite the use of an appended "de" in the family name by his father, who had vainly assumed the name of Béranger de Mersix. He was, in fact, descended from more humble stock, a country innkeeper on one side of the family and a tailor on the other - the latter was later celebrated in a song, "Le tailleur et la fée" (The tailor and the fairy). He made much of his humble origins in "Le Villain" (The Plebeian):
"Moi, noble? oh! vraiment, messieurs, non.
Non, d'aucune chevalerie
Je n'ai le brevet sur vélin.
Je ne sais qu'aimer ma pairie... (twice)
Je suis vilain et très-vilain... (twice)
Je suis vilain ,
Vilain, vilain."
"I noble? no, sirs, I confess.
No—none, for me, of knightly race
The patent did on vellum trace;
To love my country's all I know:
I'm of a breed that's low indeed,
Yes, low, sirs, very low!"
As a child he was shy and sickly, but skilful with his hands and learnt to carve cherry stones. He was sent to school in the faubourg
Faubourg
Faubourg is an ancient French term approximating "suburb" . The earliest form is Forsbourg, derived from Latin foris, 'out of', and Vulgar Latin burgum, 'town' or 'fortress'...
St. Antoine, and from its roof witnessed the storming of the Bastille
Storming of the Bastille
The storming of the Bastille occurred in Paris on the morning of 14 July 1789. The medieval fortress and prison in Paris known as the Bastille represented royal authority in the centre of Paris. While the prison only contained seven inmates at the time of its storming, its fall was the flashpoint...
in 1789 – commemorated in his poem, "Le quatorze juillet" (The 14th of July). His father had been a business agent, but his royalist sympathies meant that he had to go into hiding after the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
. Pierre-Jean was therefore sent to live with an aunt in Péronne, in Somme
Somme
Somme is a department of France, located in the north of the country and named after the Somme river. It is part of the Picardy region of France....
, who ran an auberge (boarding house
Boarding house
A boarding house, is a house in which lodgers rent one or more rooms for one or more nights, and sometimes for extended periods of weeks, months and years. The common parts of the house are maintained, and some services, such as laundry and cleaning, may be supplied. They normally provide "bed...
). His aunt apparently taught him republic
Republic
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...
an principles, and from her doorstep he heard the guns at Valenciennes
Valenciennes
Valenciennes is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It lies on the Scheldt river. Although the city and region had seen a steady decline between 1975 and 1990, it has since rebounded...
(during the War of the First Coalition); he also developed a passionate love of France and distaste for all things foreign.
He attended a school in Péronne, L'Institut Patriotique, founded by M. Ballue de Bellenglise, one time deputy of the legislative assembly
Legislative Assembly (France)
During the French Revolution, the Legislative Assembly was the legislature of France from 1 October 1791 to September 1792. It provided the focus of political debate and revolutionary law-making between the periods of the National Constituent Assembly and of the National Convention.The Legislative...
, which was run according to the educational principles of Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.His novel Émile: or, On Education is a treatise...
. Here, the boys were organised into clubs and regiments, and taught to play at politics and war. Béranger was president of the club, made speeches before such members of the National Convention
National Convention
During the French Revolution, the National Convention or Convention, in France, comprised the constitutional and legislative assembly which sat from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795 . It held executive power in France during the first years of the French First Republic...
as passed through Péronne, and composed addresses to Jean Lambert Tallien and Robespierre
Maximilien Robespierre
Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre is one of the best-known and most influential figures of the French Revolution. He largely dominated the Committee of Public Safety and was instrumental in the period of the Revolution commonly known as the Reign of Terror, which ended with his...
.
Neither Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
nor Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
was taught at his school — nor even French language
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
by all accounts, for it was only after he left school that he acquired the elements of grammar
Grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
from a printer, in Péronne, called Lainez, with whom he served an apprenticeship from the age of 14 years of age (after a spell as a waiter, for his aunt). It was there that he acquired a taste for verse. Although he could never read Horace
Horace
Quintus Horatius Flaccus , known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus.-Life:...
in the original, he had an acquaintance with Fénelon
François Fénelon
François de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon, more commonly known as François Fénelon , was a French Roman Catholic archbishop, theologian, poet and writer...
's Télémaque
Les Aventures de Télémaque
Les aventures de Télémaque was a didactic French novel by Fénelon, Archbishop of Cambrai and tutor to the seven-year-old Duc de Bourgogne . It was published anonymously in 1699 and reissued in 1717 by his family...
, Racine
Jean Racine
Jean Racine , baptismal name Jean-Baptiste Racine , was a French dramatist, one of the "Big Three" of 17th-century France , and one of the most important literary figures in the Western tradition...
and the dramas of Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
.
After spending some time in Laisnez's printing-office, he was called to Paris, in 1796, to serve as an assistant in his father's business. In 1798, the firm went bankrupt, and Beranger found himself in straightened circumstances, though he now had more time to compose verse. Poems such as "Le Grenier" (The Garret) and "Mon Habit" (My Coat) belong to this period. He did literary hackwork, and wrote pastorals, epics and other works. However, by the end of 1803, Béranger was in direst poverty and poor health. His wardrobe consisted of one pair of boots, one greatcoat, one pair of trousers with a hole in the knee, and "three bad shirts which a friendly hand wearied itself in endeavouring to mend." The friendly hand was that of Judith Frere, whom he had known since 1796, and who continued to be his faithful companion until her death, three months before his own. She was not the Lisette referred to in his songs, but was the inspiration behind La Bonne Vieille and Maudit printemps.
Success, 1804-1821
Out of desperation Beranger wrote a letter to Lucien BonaparteLucien Bonaparte
Lucien Bonaparte, Prince Français, 1st Prince of Canino and Musignano , born Luciano Buonaparte, was the third surviving son of Carlo Buonaparte and his wife Letizia Ramolino....
, brother of Napoleon, enclosing some of his work. Lucien Bonaparte took an interest in the young poet, even transferring to him his own pension of 1000 francs from the Institut de France
Institut de France
The Institut de France is a French learned society, grouping five académies, the most famous of which is the Académie française.The institute, located in Paris, manages approximately 1,000 foundations, as well as museums and chateaux open for visit. It also awards prizes and subsidies, which...
, and persuaded him to write a poem on the Death of Nero. Five years later, in 1809, through the same patronage, but indirectly, he became a despatch clerk at the Imperial University of France
University of France
The University of France was a highly centralized educational state organization founded by Napoleon I in 1808 and given authority not only over the individual, previously independent, universities, but also over primary and secondary education. The former individual universities were henceforth...
, at a salary of an additional thousand francs
Franc
The franc is the name of several currency units, most notably the Swiss franc, still a major world currency today due to the prominence of Swiss financial institutions and the former currency of France, the French franc until the Euro was adopted in 1999...
. Now his life began to take on a more regular shape.
Meanwhile he had written many songs for convivial occasions, and "to console himself under all misfortunes"; some had apparently already been published by his father, but he set no great store on them himself; and it was only in 1812, while keeping a sick friend company, that it occurred to him to write down the best of them. The following year he was elected to the Caveau Moderne, and his reputation as a song-writer began to spread. Manuscript copies of Les Gueux, Le petit homme gris, Le Sénateur, and, above all, of Le Roi d'Yvetot, a satire against Napoleon, passed from hand to hand, were spoken and sung, achieving both popularity and acclaim. Around this time, also, he made the acquaintance of the well-known songwriter, Désaugiers.
The disastrous events of the Napoleonic wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, with the invasion of France by allied armies, the surrender of Paris
Battle of Paris (1814)
The Battle of Paris was fought during the Napoleonic Wars in 1814. The French defeat led directly to the abdication of Napoleon I.-Background:...
in 1814, and, finally, the defeat at Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
in 1815, had a deep effect on Béranger, and gave a new stimulus and direction to his poetic output. After the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy
Bourbon Restoration
The Bourbon Restoration is the name given to the period following the successive events of the French Revolution , the end of the First Republic , and then the forcible end of the First French Empire under Napoleon – when a coalition of European powers restored by arms the monarchy to the...
, he turned his pen against the establishment, opposing the antinationalist
Anti-nationalism
Anti-nationalism denotes the sentiments associated with the opposition to nationalism, arguing that it is undesirable or dangerous. Some anti-nationalists are humanitarians or humanists who pursue an idealist form of world community, and self-identify as world citizens. They reject chauvinism,...
tendencies of the government, revolting against the absurdities of the day and celebrating the former glories of the republic. He became the national poet of France.
Béranger's first volume of poetry ("Chansons morales et autres") appeared in 1815, and though it contained few political pieces, it aroused the suspicion of the department in which he worked due to its popularity; he was advised by his chief not to publish any similar material in the future. The advice went unheeded and Béranger issued another volume in 1821, by which time he had resigned from his regular employment.
Imprisonment
The second volume of songs enjoyed huge sales, but also attracted judicial proceedings; Bérenger's subsequent trial and conviction resulted in a fine of 500 francs and 3 months in Sainte-Pélagie Prison, though, from all accounts, his accommodation "inside" was actually more comfortable than the poor lodgings he had previously had to suffer on the "outside". Even in jail he continued to compose, producing songs such as, "Les Adieu à la Campagne," "La Chasse," "L'Agent Provocateur," and "Mon Carnaval".Bérenger's third collection went unpunished, but his 4th volume, published in 1828, was severely dealt with, the author being fined 1,100 francs and sentenced to nine months in La Force Prison
La Force Prison
La Force Prison was a French prison located in the Rue du Roi de Sicile, what is now the 4th arrondissement of Paris.Originally the private residence of the Duke of la Force, the structure was converted into a prison in 1780....
. This was after the government had offered him a minimal penalty if he would offer no defence to the charges; Béranger, of course, refused the offer, not even asking for the option of passing his term in a Maison de santé, the French equivalent of an English madhouse
Madhouse
Madhouse may refer to:* Madhouse is a colloquial term for a psychiatric hospital or other mental institution* Madhouse is the nickname given to Double One in darts- Films :* Madhouse , a 1974 film featuring Vincent Price...
.
The height of his career
This was the most brilliant period of Béranger's career. He had influence among the opposition to the government; his advice was sought for and respected; his even-handedness, his love of freedom of speech, courtesy, lack of personal ambition, generous disposition, and marked sympathy for the young, all endeared him to the nation, and especially to the common people.His songs (such as Le Vieux Drapeau), helped to bring about the revolution of 1830
July Revolution
The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution or in French, saw the overthrow of King Charles X of France, the French Bourbon monarch, and the ascent of his cousin Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans, who himself, after 18 precarious years on the throne, would in turn be overthrown...
, and he played a part, with his friends Lafitte and Lafayette, in placing Louis Philippe I upon the throne, but refused all the appointments proffered by the king and his ministers; he simply desired to live as a philosopher, content with the income from the sale of his songs, and preserving his personal independence. He did, however, ask for a pension for his friend, Rouget de Lisle
Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle
Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle , was a French Army officer of the Revolutionary Wars. He is known for writing the words and music of the Chant de guerre pour l'armée du Rhin in 1792, which would later be known as La Marseillaise and become the French national anthem.- Biography :Rouget de Lisle was...
, author of the Marseillaise, who was now old and poor, and had been dependent on him for five years. In 1833, his 5th volume of songs was published
After the French Revolution of 1848
French Revolution of 1848
The 1848 Revolution in France was one of a wave of revolutions in 1848 in Europe. In France, the February revolution ended the Orleans monarchy and led to the creation of the French Second Republic. The February Revolution was really the belated second phase of the Revolution of 1830...
, and despite his own reluctance, he was elected to the Constituent Assembly by so large a number of votes (204,471) that he felt himself obliged to accept the seat. Not long afterwards, with great difficulty, he obtained leave to resign. This was the last public event of Béranger's life.
Retirement
Béranger tried to live as quietly and privately as possible in retirement. He continued to polish his songs and had many illustrious visitors. He numbered among his friends ChateaubriandFrançois-René de Chateaubriand
François-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand was a French writer, politician, diplomat and historian. He is considered the founder of Romanticism in French literature.-Early life and exile:...
, Adolphe Thiers
Adolphe Thiers
Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe Thiers was a French politician and historian. was a prime minister under King Louis-Philippe of France. Following the overthrow of the Second Empire he again came to prominence as the French leader who suppressed the revolutionary Paris Commune of 1871...
, Jacques Laffitte
Jacques Laffitte
Jacques Laffitte was a French banker and politician.-Biography:Laffitte was born at Bayonne, one of the ten children of a carpenter....
, Jules Michelet
Jules Michelet
Jules Michelet was a French historian. He was born in Paris to a family with Huguenot traditions.-Early life:His father was a master printer, not very prosperous, and Jules assisted him in the actual work of the press...
, Lamennais
Hughes Felicité Robert de Lamennais
Hugues-Félicité Robert de Lamennais , was a French priest, and philosophical and political writer.-Youth:Félicité de Lamennais was born at Saint-Malo on June 19, 1782, the son of a wealthy merchant...
, Mignet. He was said to be amiable in character, ready to receive help when in need, but also ready to give help when needed by others. His correspondence is noted for its wisdom and kindness, reminiscent of Montaigne
Michel de Montaigne
Lord Michel Eyquem de Montaigne , February 28, 1533 – September 13, 1592, was one of the most influential writers of the French Renaissance, known for popularising the essay as a literary genre and is popularly thought of as the father of Modern Skepticism...
, and, occasionally, Charles Lamb.
He produced a book of memoirs, which was translated into English, and started work on a treatise, Social and Political Morality, which was left unfinished on his death. During his final illness, the street in which he lived was thronged with sympathisers and his death was an occasion for national sorrow and mourning. It was feared that the funeral would be the signal for some political disturbance; but the government took immediate measures, and all went quietly. The streets of Paris were lined with soldiers and full of townsfolk, silent and uncovered. From time to time cries arose: "Honneur, honneur a Béranger!"
The songs
Béranger has been described as "the most popular French songwriter of all time", and it is certainly true that, in the 19th century, no nation had a lyricist whose influence on his fellow countrymen compared to that exercised by Béranger on the citizens of Paris. Like all chansonniers, he wrote lyrics but did not compose any music; he set the words to a pre-existing melody such as a folk tuneFrench folk music
As Europe experienced a wave of roots revivals in the 1950s and 60s, France found its regional culture reviving traditional music. Brittany, Limousin, Gascony, Corsica and Auvergne were among the regions that experienced a notable resurgence in the popularity of folk music...
. "Le Roi d'Yvetot", for example, was sung to the traditional air
Air (music)
Air , a variant of the musical song form, is the name of various song-like vocal or instrumental compositions.-English lute ayres:...
"Quand un tendron vient en ces lieux", while others might be set to well-known melodies by various composers.
The songs of Béranger are elaborate, written in a clear and sparkling style, full of wit and incision. It is not so much for any lyrical flow as for the happy turn of phrase that they claim merit. Whether the subject be happy or serious, light or passionate, the medium remains untroubled. The special merits of the songs are merits to be looked for more in English prose
Prose
Prose is the most typical form of written language, applying ordinary grammatical structure and natural flow of speech rather than rhythmic structure...
than in English verse. He worked deliberately, never writing more than 15 songs a year and often less, and was so fastidious that he threw away a quarter of his output.
"I am a good little bit of a poet," Béranger said of himself, "clever in the craft, and a conscientious worker to whom old airs and a modest choice of subjects (le coin que me suis confine) have brought some success." His modest self-appraisal belies his importance in literary history. When he first began to cultivate the chanson, it was a minor and little-regarded form, restricted to slight subjects and a humorous guise of treatment. Béranger raised the standing of the art and imbued it with greater sentiment.
From a comparatively early date, he resolved to write songs for the people. He was helped in this regard by Emile Debraux, who had often stood between him and the masses as interpreter, and given him the keynote of the popular humour. Now, he had observed in the songs of sailors, and workers, a prevailing tone of sadness; and so, as he grew more masterful in this sort of expression, he sought more and more after what is deep, serious and constant in the thoughts of common men. The evolution was slow; and we can see in his own works examples of every stage, from that of witty indifference in fifty pieces of the first collection, to that of grave and even tragic feeling in Les Souvenirs du peuple or Le Vieux Vagabond. And this innovation involved another, which was as a sort of prelude to the great romantic movement
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
.
For the chanson, as he says himself, opened up to him a path in which his genius could develop itself at ease; he escaped, by this literary gateway, from strict academical requirements, and had at his disposal the whole dictionary, four-fifths of which, according to La Harpe
Jean-François de La Harpe
Jean-François de La Harpe was a French playwright, writer and critic.-Life:La Harpe was born in Paris of poor parents. His father, who signed himself Delharpe, was a descendant of a noble family originally of Vaud...
, were forbidden to the use of more regular and pretentious poetry. If he still kept some of the old vocabulary, some of the old imagery, he was yet accustoming people to hear moving subjects treated in a manner more free and simple than before; so that his was a sort of conservative reform, preceding the violent revolution of Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
and his army of uncompromising romantics. He seems himself to have had glimmerings of some such idea; but he withheld his full approval from the new movement on two grounds: first, because the romantic school misused somewhat brutally the delicate organism of the French language; and second, as he wrote to Sainte-Beuve
Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve
Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve was a literary critic and one of the major figures of French literary history.-Early years:...
in 1832, because they adopted the slogan of "Art for art
Art for art's sake
"Art for art's sake" is the usual English rendering of a French slogan, from the early 19th century, l'art pour l'art, and expresses a philosophy that the intrinsic value of art, and the only "true" art, is divorced from any didactic, moral or utilitarian function...
," and set no object of public usefulness before them as they wrote. For himself (and this is the third point of importance) he had a strong sense of political responsibility. Public interest took a far higher place in his estimation than any private passion or favour. He had little toleration for those erotic poets who sing their own loves and not the common sorrows of mankind, who forget, to quote his own words, "forget beside their mistress those who labour before the Lord." Hence it is that so many of his pieces are political, and so many, in the later times at least, inspired with a socialistic spirit of indignation and revolt. It is by this socialism that he becomes truly modern. and touches hands with Burns.
Selected recordings
- Le Pape musulman & autres chansons: Arnaud Marzorati, Yves Rechsteiner, Freddy Eichelberger. Alpha.
Portraits
- Ary SchefferAry SchefferAry Scheffer , French painter of Dutch and German extraction, was born in Dordrecht.-Life:After the early death of his father Johann Baptist, a poor painter, Ary's mother Cornelia, herself a painter and daughter of landscapist Arie Lamme, took him to Paris and placed him in the studio of...
, oil on canvas, ca. 1830, Musée de la Vie romantiqueMusée de la Vie RomantiqueThe Musée de la Vie romantique stands at the foot of Montmartre hill in the IXe arrondissement, 16 rue Chaptal, Paris, France in a 1830 hôtel particulier facing two twin-studios, a greenhouse, a small garden, and a paved courtyard. The museum is open daily except Monday. Permanent collections are...
, Hôtel SchefferScheffer-Living:*David Scheffer, former United States Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues*Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, former Secretary General of NATO*Frank Scheffer, a Dutch cinematographer*Will Scheffer, openly gay American playwright...
-RenanRenanRenan may refer to:Places* Renan, Virginia, United States* Renan, Switzerland, a village in the canton of BernePeople* Ernest Renan, French philosopher and writer* Renan Augustinho Marques, a Brazilian football striker born in 1983...
, Paris - David d'Angers, profile, medallion
External links
- Joseph Phelan. The British Reception of Pierre-Jean de Béranger
- Le cinq mai (Arrangement by Berlioz to a libretto by Berenger - Petrucci Music Library)