André Caplet’s Poetic Alchemy: Where Prosody Meets Inter-artistic Vision in French Mélodie

Dr Claire Wilson (Prifysgol Dinas Dulyn/Dublin City University)

 

André Caplet’s mélodies reveal a composer whose artistic identity was shaped through deliberate and distinctive poetic partnerships. Rather than favouring canonical literary figures preferred by many contemporaries, Caplet gravitated towards diverse poets whose work embodied wide-ranging aesthetic sensibilities, including Rémy de Gourmont and Jacques Hébertot, among others. These textual choices position Caplet within the dynamic currents of early twentieth-century artistic exchange, where music, literature, and visual arts converged in highly creative dialogue.

 

This seminar examines the expressive relationship between Caplet’s poetic choices and his compositional voice, showing that his textual choices served as deliberate catalysts for musical innovation. Through detailed analytical discussion of selected representative works, including Prière normande (1918), Quand reverrai-je, hélas! (1916), and others, the seminar highlights Caplet’s nuanced handling of French prosody, illustrating how prosodic structures actively inform and shape his compositional design.

 

By situating Caplet within the artistic and literary milieu of early twentieth-century France, the seminar illuminates how inter-artistic networks more broadly informed his compositional practice. His engagement with underrepresented poets and his nuanced approach to French versification reveal a composer deeply attuned to modernist currents across artistic domains. In his melodies poetry and music achieve sincere integration, forming a compelling artistic synthesis. The seminar thus presents Caplet as a significant figure whose poetic discernment and inter-artistic vision played a crucial role in the evolution of French song during this pivotal period of musical modernism.