French Folk Music

Masterpiece of French Folk Music - Symphony of French Mountain Songs

Vincent Thandie (1851-1931) came from an old aristocratic family in France, and thanks to a good family environment he began piano lessons at the age of nine, then studied harmony with Lavigne, and showed some musical talent-though not of the prodigy type. But it was also his social status and surroundings that prevented him from pursuing a career in music. Dandi began by studying law, but the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War interrupted his studies. But after the war ended in 1870 he returned to music.

Dandi composed a string quartet before 1870 which attracted the attention of Franck, who praised the work and encouraged Dandi, and in 1872 Dandi became a pupil of Franck's organ class at the Conservatoire. From that time on, Franck became Dandee's teacher and close friend, and Dandee also regarded Franck as his hero and spiritual leader. After graduating from the Conservatoire in 1875, Dandi first worked as a timpanist in the orchestra of the Chatelet, and soon became the conductor of the chorus, before assisting in the French premiere of Wagner's opera Lohengrin in 1887. became the first director and continued to lead the school for the next 30 years. This was a major event in his career as a professional musician. This school, based on Franck's educational system, not only focused on contemporary works, but also opened a window to the past, directing the students' attention to many lesser-known works of medieval music. It played a huge role in the development of French symphonic and choral music composition, and produced many famous composers such as Roussel and Satie, who made great contributions to French music in the 20th century. Dandi lived a quiet life and his musical activities were basically confined to the country. He was one of the earliest members of the Société fran?aise de musique nationale (SFNM) and served as its secretary for more than a decade, and then as its president after Franck's death.Vinsan Dandie died in Paris on December 2, 1931, after a long illness.

Dandi's real music-making began in 1874 with his debut work, an orchestral overture based on Schiller's Wallenstein (later transformed into the second part of his symphonic trilogy Wallenstein). Dandi wrote in a wide range of genres, from piano music to chamber music, symphonies, operas, and songs, with many fine examples. Dandi's musical creation was influenced by three aspects. First of all, in terms of compositional techniques, Dandi was influenced by two people at the same time, one is Frank, the other is Wagner, Dandi's compositional techniques can be seen in Frank's chromatization techniques and the use of Wagnerian dominant motifs, which provided a reliable and powerful tool for his creation. Secondly, the rich and colorful folk music of France provided Dandie with the material for his creation. Dandi's compositions are y rooted in French folk music. Since his childhood, he often vacationed in the mountains of the Cevennes, and he had a strong love for his ancestors' hometown; he had a wide and strong interest in French folk music, and devoted himself to the adaptation of French folk songs (especially those in the mountains of the Viviers), and once published a set of "French Folk Songs", which has become a source of inspiration for Dandie's creation of the wonderful folk music in France. Finally, Dandi's religious beliefs also have an unnoticeable influence on his creation, and some people also think that Dandi has a "Gothic spirit". Dan Di is a devout religious, he once said that "all the principles of art belong to the category of pure religion". He revered the Middle Ages and believed that artists should have three virtues: faith, hope and charity, that is, faith in God and art; hope for the future; and charity is the only principle of all creations, that is, "love". His creative style also includes three aspects: decorative, structural and expressive. Dandi naturally applied some of the "traditional" elements to his compositions, forming his own theory of composition.

Dandi's compositions are rigorously conceived and exquisitely structured, showing a continuity of development and structural rigor, with an ever-spreading cyclical momentum. The classical tradition and the spirit of Romanticism show a strange reconciliation in Dandi. Dandi is essentially a Romantic composer, full of passion and vigor, but Dandi never lets his passions get out of control; he has a sober and extremely systematic reasoning and a tenacious will to keep his inner passions firmly under control within a rigorous structure, but one that is direct and straightforward, not at all like the disjointedness of Brahms's work. Unlike the Romantics, who spent their days immersed in their own fantasies, Dandi was attentive to all the sounds of the outside world, attentive to the charms of its realities, which ensured that he was able to realize his ideals through the surest of paths.

Though Dandie was an aristocrat by birth, there was little of the French aristocracy in him. The art of this nobleman's descendant was very close to the common people, he knew how to depict the common people, and he understood the rough passion of the common people. Dandi has the rough soul of a mountain man, his body has a strong local flavor, and his music is as straightforward and powerful as that of a mountain man, without any of that kind of worldly and hypocritical words of elegance. He has a deep attachment to nature, like a tree rooted in the earth. He is a first-class landscape music painter, from his these beautiful works of sound and painting-like works reflecting the deep love for the motherland.