Gustave Charpentier

Known for his 1900 opera, Louise, Gustave Charpentier also published seven Baudelaire songs: four as a set called Les Fleurs du mal; three alongside settings of other poets in Poèmes chantés, a collection of sixteen songs. Charpentier’s Baudelaire songs stand out, and challenge their status as melodies, for their use of refrains for female mini-chorus. The analysis covers: the context of composition; the connections established between selected poems; the statistical data generated from the adhesion strength tests; and how the data shape an evaluation of Charpentier’s settings of Baudelaire. The findings reveal highly intermingled bonds between poem and music. Despite this close connection, the songs themselves are not always stable, creating an uncertain (sometimes dilutive, sometimes accretive) outcome. This indicates a composer attempting to develop new text-setting techniques, alongside an expansive aesthetic agenda informed by a social conscience, as he sought to open up musique savante to wider audiences.