Discover Auburn Lecture Series
Jocelyne Binet's Cycle de melodies: Unearthing a Forgotten Song Cycle
Matt Hoch, Associate Professor of Voice, Department of Music, Auburn University
Date and Time: Thursday, April 5 at 3 p.m.
Location: Special Collections and Archives Department, Ground Floor, Ralph Brown Draughon Library
Jocelyne Binet (1923-1968) was a French-Canadian composer and professor of composition at the Ecole de Musique Vincent d'Indy (1951-57) in Montreal and Laval University (1957-68) in Quebec City. Although primarily remembered for her instrumental works, her 1955 Cycle de Melodies sur des Poemes de Paul Eluard was programmed in the same year by the French baritone Gerard Souzay in a performance that was most likely the world premiere.
Unfortunately, Binet's Cycle de Melodies was never published or recorded and the work was soon forgotten.
In the Fall of 2016, Matt Hoch discovered the original handwritten manuscript pages for the Cycle de Melodies and began reconstructing the score with the help of a professional engraver. Binet's cycle enters the public domain in 2018, and the Cycle de Melodies will be published in this year by Classical Vocal Reprints.
Matt Hoch is the author of three books, including A Dictionary for the Modern Singer (2014), Welcome to the Church Music & The Hymnal 1982 (2015), and Voice Secrets: 100 Performance Strategies for the Advanced Singer (2016). He is also the editor of the recently published So You Want to Sing Sacred Music (2017) and So You Want to Sing CCM (2018). His articles have appeared in the Journal of Singing, Journal of Voice, Voice and Speech Review, Opera Journal, Choral Journal, Chorister, Classical Singer, and Journal of the Association of Anglican Musicians.
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