Description
In 1959, Germaine Tailleferre wrote incidental music for a radio drama based on Philippe Jullian’s « Mémoire d’une bergère » or « Autobiography of an armchair » which traced the owners of this armchair from the court of Louis XV to England after the French Revolution, back to Paris and through the hands of various foreign owners (Arabian, American, German etc.). In illustrating this story Tailleferre used her great knowledge of musical styles to evoke these different settings, from the classical styles of French music of the XVIIIth century to classical, romantic, popular French styles as well as two evocations of American Blues/Ragtime music. These short pieces are interesting in and of themselves, in addition to illustrating Jullian’s story. The first piece may be repeated at the end, as it was in the original radio drama.