Histoires Naturelles

Histoires naturelles ("Natural Histories") is a song cycle by Maurice Ravel, composed in 1906. It sets five poems by Jules Renard to music for voice and piano. Ravel's pupil Manuel Rosenthal created a version for voice and orchestra. The cycle is dedicated to the mezzo-soprano Jane Bathori, who gave the first performance, accompanied by the composer, on 12 January 1907.

The five songs are:

Of the poems Ravel said, "the direct, clear language and the profound, hidden poetry of Jules Renard's works tempted me for a long time." Renard recorded in his diary:

M. Ravel, the composer of Histoires naturelles, dark, rich, and elegant, urges me to go and hear his songs tonight. I told him I knew nothing about music, and asked him what he had been able to add to Histoires naturelles. He replied, "I did not intend to add anything, only to interpret them." "But in what way?" "I have tried to say in music what you say with words, when you are in front of a tree, for example. I think and feel in music, and should like to think I feel the same things as you."

The premiere caused controversy, creating a divide between those who regarded the music as an affront and those who appreciated its populist style. Ravel offended some by his elision of many syllables, familiar in Parisian street talk, but not in formal lyrics of mélodies. Others have appreciated the composer's informal approach while suspecting it of de haut en bas jokiness. Even Ravel's former teacher and supporter Gabriel Fauré was not happy with the work, though his disapproval was more of the verses than of his protégé's music. The Ravel scholar Roger Nichols considers the cycle "an important step in Ravel's evolution, as significant of those of Jeux d'eau and Miroirs".

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