Offenbach, Pomme d'api

A one-act operetta written specifically for one of Offenbach's discoveries, the soprano Louise Théo, Pomme d'api was premiered in Paris in September 1873. The production was a success, and the composer promptly wrote for her the full-length La jolie parfumeuse, which was premiered in November of the same year. Although successful, too, just three months later La jolie parfumeuse was left in the shadow of the remarkable run of Offenbach's four-act version of Orphée aux enfers (originally two acts, 1858).

The music of Pomme d'api consists of the overture and eight numbers:

1. Couplets (Rabastens) "L’employé m’a dit, de quel âge"  (in Scene 1)
2. Romance (Gustave) "Mon oncle ne vous fâchez pas" (in Scene 2)
3. Couplets (Catherine) "Bonjour monsieur je suis la bonne"  (in Scene 3)
4. Trio "Va donc, chercher le gril!" (in Scene 7)
5. Duo (Catherine, Gustave) "C’est un dimanche, un matin"   (in Scene 11)
6. Trio "A table! A table!"       (in Scene 12)
   (a) Chanson (Gustave) "Versez, versez"
   (b) Rondeau (Catherine) "J’en prendrai un, deux, trois"
7. Romance (Gustave) "Consultez votre coeur"  (in Scene 14)
8. Finale "J’en prendrai un, deux, trois"   (in Scene 14)

Of these, only numbers 1 & 3 lack prominent rising lines in their cadences. As we will see, the character and significance of the ascending cadence gestures varies considerably.

The plot is simple enough, as these entangled romances go: An older man, Rabastens, disapproves of his nephew Gustave's current girlfriend and cuts off the young man's allowance. Gustave reluctantly goes along with the demand and rejects her. Having fired his maidservant, Rabastens awaits the arrival of her replacement, who is Catherine, (of course) Gustave's now ex-girlfriend. She plays up to Rabastens in order to rebuke Gustave, who is disconsolate and decides to go away, at which point Catherine realizes that he still loves her, Rabastens is reconciled to them, and all ends well (Gustave's allowance is even increased!). Much of the action revolves about dinner, which explains the title: the pomme d'api is one of the earliest named apple varieties, already mentioned in botanical volumes in the early 17th century.

Information about design:

1. Couplets (Rabastens) "L’employé m’a dit, de quel âge"  (in Scene 1)

Two strophes (different text, same music); in the voice, proto-background ^1/^5.

2. Romance (Gustave) "Mon oncle ne vous fâchez pas" (in Scene 2)

--ABABA design; proto-background ^5/^8. The text is also in a couplets design, its three quatrains presented as 1 2 1 3 1.

3. Couplets (Catherine) "Bonjour monsieur je suis la bonne"  (in Scene 3)

Two strophes, with acceleration near the end of each.

4. Trio "Va donc, chercher le gril!" (in Scene 7)

Three sections: Allegro vivo; scena/recit; Moderato. (1) "Va donc, va donc, chercher le gril!" The opening Allegro, for all three singers, is in AB design, where A is an eight-bar period, B is considerably longer and closes on V. (2) "Mais, que ferez-vous de ce gril?" The brief scena/recit is between Gustave and Catherine. (3) "Nous mettrons le gril sur le feu" The much longer Moderato is more complex: a 16-bar period opens (between Rabastens and Catherine), a B-section follows for Catherine and Gustave, and they then repeat the 16-bar period, which, however, is broken off by Catherine, who gives comic emphasis to "grilled lamb chops," and a presto coda for all three follows.

5. Duo (Catherine, Gustave) "C’est un dimanche, un matin"   (in Scene 11)

An extended number. (1) "C'est un Dimanche." Duo. Pastorale, small ternary form. (2) "A deux pas du chien savant" scena, varied tempi and styles, including a reprise of the pastorale's opening theme in the middle. (3) "Et je vois l'un près de l'autre" Allegretto presqu' Andantino. Solo for Catherine, ABACA. (4) "De grace écoule-moi ma bonne!" scena. (5) "Pomme d'Api" Allegretto. Duo. Small ternary form with presto coda.

6. Trio "A table! A table!"       (in Scene 12)
   (a) Chanson (Gustave) "Versez, versez"

The trio theme—"A table! A table!"—(as 8+ bars) precedes. "Versez, versez" is a small ternary form; Catherine joins in during the B-section, and all three sing the reprise. A scena follows: "Ah! maintenant cela va mieux."

   (b) Rondeau (Catherine) "J’en prendrai un, deux, trois"

Allegro vivo, follows on the scena above. As with (a), the others join in during the B-section and all three sing the reprise, which is extended through a coda, after which the entire rondeau is repeated.

7. Romance (Gustave) "Consultez votre coeur"  (in Scene 14)

Strophic, two verses, a 12-bar theme.

8. Finale "J’en prendrai un, deux, trois"   (in Scene 14)

"J'en prendrai un, deux, trois" Reprise of the rondeau from no. 6

In the next post, I will start the analytical observations about rising cadence gestures.

Minor key series, part 8b (Bacquoy-Guedon, LeRoux, Böhm)

Alexis Bacquoy-Guedon published a dance treatise in the 1780s. I have written about his musical examples before, on my dance music blog: link; and also twice on this blog: link, link,

The last of the posts linked to above shows his 4th Menuet in G major, with its trio, which is the item of interest here.

The underlying figure g (simple ascent with ^#6 and i-IV-V-i) is revealed by adding a likely bass below the Urlinie:

I discussed a two-harpsichord gigue and a courante with an added contra partie by Gaspard LeRoux in the continuation post of part 3: link. Here is another piece from the same collection (1705), this time a sarabande with 11 variations. To avoid confusion in case you look at the score yourself, I will follow the numbering Fuller uses, where the sarabande (theme) is called couplet 1, the first variation couplet 2, etc. (The 1705 edition has no labels.)

In one common French design for a published suite, a larger scale piece, usually a chaconne, ends the suite of dances and character pieces. Here the design is almost that: (unmeasured) Prelude, Allemande, Courante, "La Bel-abat," Piece sans titre, Gigue, Sarabande [with variations], Menuet. As elsewhere in the collection, the sarabande itself is provided with an alternative trio arrangement, but the variations are given just a continuo bass. I am uncertain what that signifies for an actual performance option.

The first phrase of the sarabande is reproduced below in Alfred Fuller's edition. I will not cite any more of it in order to respect copyright. In the 1705 edition, however, the left hand part is written in baritone clef (like the bass clef but a third higher), and so I will present the alternate trio version of the theme instead.

The six phrases of the theme are distributed in the common asymmetrical design where A has two and B has the other 4. Section A ends in III, and midway through section B we reach V in a half cadence. What is remarkable is that in the solo version, Le Roux uses the dully repetitive figure of the first treble part in the entire B-section, not the considerably more interesting melody of the second treble part.

Phrases 5 & 6 in couplet 2 (that is, the first variation) are shown below. I have "transposed" the left hand part to the common bass clef. The cadence in the upper register is striking, but from a traditional Schenkerian viewpoint, we have to call the uppermost voice boundary play growing out of two cover tones--see the graph below the score.

Four other couplets use rising lines, three of them at the end, as in couplet 2 above. In couplet 6, almost continuous 16th-note arpeggios in the right hand are all set in the upper octave. In couplets 4 & 10, a clear descending cadence is placed in phrase 5, to which the upper octave in phrase 6 sounds like a coda flourish. The most interesting use of the rising line is the opening, not the end, of couplet 2 -- see below, where phrases 1 & 2 chart the octave from Bb4 to Bb5, step by step. (Note that I have not moved the left hand to bass clef this time.)   Below the score I have marked the sources of all these steps in the trio version of the sarabande theme, demonstrating again Le Roux's quite free attitude toward his theme (these are *not* simple figural variations).

The last example comes from one of the many German composers who imitated French keyboard styles and genres in the 17th and early 18th centuries: Georg Böhm, whose Suite in F minor contains a courante with an ascending Urlinie. Volume 1 of the Sämtliche Werke edition (published in 1952) includes eleven suites, two of them in F minor. This courante is from the second of those suites. Note that it uses the Dorian signature (three flats rather than the four we would expect for F minor).

Here is an analysis showing the background..

Finally, a background/first middleground graph, with the inner voice. I chose to show the bass for i6 with a closed note rather than an open note, but the outline of figure g is still clear.

Adam, Le Châlet, part 7 (n9: romance: Daniel and Bettly)

The last of the three successive duos is in couplets, two verses total.  The design is a small binary form, where Daniel sings during A and the opening of B, then Bettly sings the majority of B. In the second verse, the two sing the final phrase together.

The A section is a clear 8-measure period with modulating consequent. The prominent Eb4s finally give way to D4 as the fifth of the cadence harmony, G minor.

 The B section begins with a passage of standing on the dominant, during which Daniel recovers the Eb, then drops to D4 again for the dominant triad (4th measure below). Bettly picks up the passage with a brief minor-mode shift, then puts the focus firmly back on Eb, as Eb5, with a double-neighbor figure (for "allons, allons").

In the second verse, the B section's close, then, brings the voice (Bettly's) back to Eb5 (circled in the example below); and the orchestra drives it home with a repetition of the double-neighbor figure.

Adam, Le Châlet, part 5 (ns5 & 6: ensemble-aria-ensemble)

Max finishes the aria (n4) in which he affirms his pleasure at returning to the Swiss valley that was his home (and is still for his sister Bettly). Implausibly, Daniel doesn't recognize Max, who, implausibly, doesn't reveal himself, and in fact is later not recognized by Bettly, either (sigh). And with this the plot descends irretrievably into farce—but all eventually ends well after Max pretends to be drunk, inciting Daniel to protect Bettly's honor, whereon she is impressed by Daniel's action and signs the marriage certificate, which she openly calls a ruse because it's not valid without her brother's signature, but of course unbeknownst to her he is there . . . . you see where this is going.

The central ensemble scenes are concerned with the complications created by Max's insistence that his company will stay for a fortnight and by his consequent demand for food and, especially, drink for the evening. Number 5 is a straightforward drinking song, with chorus; at the end, Max promises his own song and n6 opens with it (in the form of couplets); the remainder of n6 is a combination of Max and Bettly's back and forth with the chorus's continuation of the general topic of eating and drinking. (She is increasingly agitated; during the dialogue scene that follows n6, Daniel appears and attempts to defend her.)

The theme of the drinking song allows a good bit of enthusiastic noise with a figure that focuses on ^8, descending from it and returning to it--see below. All we're missing is a "huzzah" or two.  (Here again I am using the German edition of 1835 for examples.)

In a considerably expanded version, one can hear elements of this theme in the final section of n6, including the turn to the submediant vi—see notes in the (several pages of) score below.