Unheard for 60 years, a collection of songs by Claude Arrieu needed a champion to raise them up from obscurity. Not only did Dr. Malinda Haslett step forward, she lent her own voice to the task.
Haslett is Director of Vocal Studies at the 杏吧传媒鈥檚 Osher School of Music. Her research laid the foundation for a concert at the Franco Center in Lewiston on March 1 titled Celebrating French Music: The History Makers, The History Changers. Students and colleagues joined Haslett for a wide-ranging program with a special emphasis on French and female artists.
鈥淢uch of what is out there for early 20th century French repertoire is by men,鈥 Haslett said. 鈥淚 teach a lot of women who are inspired by women. And when they get to hear their voice come through another woman鈥檚 voice, it means more. They feel sisterhood and connection.鈥
That bond is familiar to Haslett through the many years she鈥檚 spent studying Arrieu鈥檚 life and music. Arrieu was born in France in 1903 as Louise-Marie Simon but later hid her gender behind a male pen name. She found that people were more inclined to take her seriously as a composer if they believed she was a man.
Arrieu refused to be silent during the Nazi occupation of France in World War II. She made music to rally resistance and worked in secret with other artists to preserve French culture. Her post-war output was prolific. She continued writing operas and chamber music as before, while also expanding into areas like film and television scoring.
Arrieu also fought for recognition against changing musical tastes. Her output was often overlooked in favor of more experimental music. At the time of her death in 1990 and continuing to this day, not one of her hundreds of compositions for voice has ever been commercially recorded. Haslett would like to see Arrieu receive more credit.
鈥淔rom the purely musical point of view, it鈥檚 really accessible and good music,鈥 Haslett said. 鈥淚t is incumbent upon us who perform and research and teach to make sure that we balance the pendulum.鈥
Haslett sang three poems that Arrieu set to music. A few of the verses translate to say, 鈥淟ove is a bee/That eats my heart/Come to me/And buzzes at my mouth/That you feed and touch/Come to me.鈥 Before singing in the original French, Haslett recited the first poem in English so everyone in the audience could understand its playfulness and intimacy.
Another excited ripple went through the crowd when they learned about Arrieu鈥檚 connection to Lewiston. Haslett found documentation during her research that identified Alice Esty as one of Arrieu鈥檚 patrons. Esty was a philanthropist and donated extensively to support the arts. She lived in Lewiston, just a short drive from Haslett鈥檚 home.
鈥淚 looked it up and I thought 鈥榊ou gotta be kidding me. There鈥檚 just no way,鈥欌 Haslett said. 鈥淭hen I did a little searching and I thought 鈥業t was destiny. It was meant to be.鈥 Just so bizarre, but I鈥檝e run with it ever since. I think it鈥檚 amazing.鈥
Haslett sang three of the pieces that Esty commissioned for Arrieu. According to Haslett鈥檚 research, the songs hadn鈥檛 been performed since their creation 60 years earlier. The original manuscripts for those songs were part of a larger collection that Esty donated to Bates College in Lewiston.
Bates opened its archives to Haslett. The information she brought back to USM demonstrated the benefits of cooperation for both institutions. The collaboration continued at the concert.
France native Jo毛lle Morris is a visiting music instructor at Bates. She and Haslett opened the concert by singing 鈥淧uisqu鈥檌ci-bas toute 芒me,鈥 a duet by French composer Gabriel Faur茅. His music was a major influence on Claude Arrieu. Later in the program, Morris would return to sing several solo numbers from the works of Francis Poulenc.
The focus on French heritage attracted more collaborators. The Franco Center offered its performance space for the concert, while USM鈥檚 Franco-American Collection provided organizational help.
Anna Faherty is an archivist with the Collection. She wants audience members to know that they have an open invitation to learn more about Maine鈥檚 Franco history by visiting the exhibitions that she helps curate at USM鈥檚 Lewiston Campus. Her archives are full of stories about people like Alice Esty who shaped Lewiston鈥檚 cultural landscape.
鈥淚 think it shows the importance of archives, not just in terms of academic scholarship, but in terms of local history,鈥 Faherty said. 鈥淵ou saw everybody in the audience being like 鈥榃oah, that lady lived here? And she commissioned that?鈥 That鈥檚 really cool.鈥
Several students representing a new generation of women in music paid tribute to the women who paved the way for them. The three featured singers were all seniors studying vocal performance at the Osher School. Their performances were all drawn from their studies in the Undergraduate Research Award Opportunity.
Caroline Woods is proud of her Brazilian heritage. She is working on a pronunciation guide to help fellow voice students sing in Portuguese. She demonstrated her own fluency by singing to music by Brazilian composer Chiquinha Gonzaga. Her joy was especially evident in the song 鈥淢achuca鈥 by the way she stressed the title word whenever it came up.
By contrast, Josie Lawrence sang in a gentle purr. She drew inspiration from another Brazilian icon by choosing songs made famous by Astrud Gilberto. She was the singer behind the pop hit 鈥淭he Girl from Ipanema.鈥 But Lawrence wants her listeners to know that Gilberto鈥檚 career was bigger and more influential than any one song.
Bella St. Cyr had one advantage over her fellow singers. The subject of her research is still alive. She is studying the impact that celebrated music teacher Nadia Boulanger had on her female students such as Thea Musgrave. Last November, St. Cyr met with Musgrave at her home in New York.
鈥淥ne of the biggest things that she said was that I needed to feel and connect more to the pieces, and I think that I really did after meeting her,鈥 St. Cyr said. 鈥淚 was able to gain that new perspective.鈥
That advice was on display at the concert. St. Cyr showcased her operatic training on two of Musgrave鈥檚 compositions that required at different moments both delicacy and strength of voice.
St. Cyr and Woods blended into a crowd that filled the stage for the evening鈥檚 final performance. More than 40 voices came together in a combined choir of students from both USM and Bates. Their rendition of Faur茅鈥檚 鈥淩equiem鈥 was dedicated to the Lewiston community as it continues to heal from a mass shooting last October.
Faur茅 may have been the only composer on the program that many guests recognized coming into the concert. The singers hoped their efforts won over new fans for the women whose music they performed.
鈥淟isten to new music, things that you haven鈥檛 heard before,鈥 St. Cyr urged, 鈥渂ut also, always go back to the classics.鈥