Chanter dans la guerre
Café-concert au moment de Verdun (Concert Party at the Time of Verdun), February 1916, Paul Goute. Credit: Bibliothèque nationale de France
During the First World War, numerous popular songs were written in France and in the other countries involved. Baritone Jean-Philippe Lafont, accompanied by Cyrille Lehn at the piano, compares the type of music that was popular with the soldiers with the classical music of 1914 and the following years. “Singin’ in the War” shows that, although very different, both types of music have the same evocative power.
Duration: 1 hr
Fare : 5€
Jean-Philippe Lafont is one of the leading baritones on the international lyric stage and he has an extensive repertoire. He has performed more than one hundred roles.
Cyrille Lehn is a pianist and composer. He also works in improvisation and teaches harmony and musical arrangement at the Conservatoire national supérieur de Musique in Paris.
Jean-Philippe Lafont. Photo: Nathalie Mazeas
Cyrille Lehn. Photo: Dimitri Finker
This performance is one of the six concerts scheduled for 2016 as part of the “Verdun, des musiques pour une bataille” (Verdun, Music for a Battle) programme. To mark the reopening of the museum, this programme of concerts will share with audiences the often unexpected or forgotten musical dimension of the First World War. The programme includes music written in or about Verdun, some of it “high-brow”, some popular in style e.g. chamber music, musical theatre, cabaret and songs sung by the soldiers. The concerts will also pay homage to the German music that continued to inspire classical musicians and composers serving in the armed forces. Belgian, British and Australian composers who lost their lives at the Front will also be included through a solemn commemoration in the form of an organ recital at the end of the programme. The performers, all of them well known in France and internationally, are particularly committed to the commemoration of the Great War in five subject areas – a new look at Verdun’s musical heritage, popular songs and shows, remembrance, passing on skills and knowledge and, lastly, commemoration.
