Le Cortege du Roi Renaud

Franco Cesarini

This work bears the designation Opus 19b.

General Info

Year: 1999 / 2021
Duration: c. 9:00
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Orchestra
Publisher: Edition Franco Cesarini , through Band Music Europe
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - €42.94 | Score Only (print) - €16.78

Movements

1. La porcheronne
2. La marquise empoisonnée
3. La maumariee vengée
4. La belle engloutie
5. Le tueur de femmes

Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II
Horn in F I-II

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Le Cortège du Roi Renaud was originally written for a full-wind orchestra in 1999 and would be later rearranged for double wind quintet by the composer. It is a short suite in five movements based on tales that originated in southern European folk songs, dating back as far as the 16th century. A large portion of these songs refer to the French poetry “complaintes”, which were songs in which the text usually designated content rather than form: the expression of grief, pain and suffering, a lamentation, a petition, or list of grievances.

“The first movement of the suite is based on the song La porcheronne (The Swineherd). It tells the story of a young woman forced by her mother-in-law to tend pigs while her husband is away fighting in the war. She is freed only when her husband returns, seven years later.

The second movement tells the story of La marquise empoisonnée (The Poisoned Marquise). A marquise is coerced by her king to become his mistress. The jealous queen poisons her by means of a bouquet of deadly scented flowers.

Despite having the character of a merry dance, the third movement, La maumariee vengée (The Avenged Bride) tells the touching story of Queen Clotilde, persecuted for her refusal to live according to Aryan beliefs.

La belle engloutie (The Swallowed Beauty) relates the tale of the young wife of King Renaud. She cannot imagine a life without her husband, who was mortally wounded in the war, and begs the earth to open and swallow her up so that she may rejoin her love.

The gruesome content of the final part, Le tueur de femmes (The Wife Killer), bears a strong resemblance to the tale of Bluebeard. The story is about a young wife in danger of being drowned in a pond by her husband, which is what happened to her 13 predecessors. Thanks to her cunning, she manages to turn the tables and contrive her husband’s demise.

- Program Note by composer

Media

Audio: Reference recording. Civica Filarmonica di Lugano Chamber Winds (Franco Cesarini, conductor)
Audio CD: Rovereto Wind Ensemble (Andrea Loss, conductor) - 2021

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Works for Winds by This Composer

Abysses
Aida: Grand Finale
Alpina Fanfare (1997)
Antiche Danza Ed Arie Per Liuto
Arizona (2014)
Blue Horizons (2002)
Bulgarian Dances (2011)
Bulgarian Dances (Part II) (2013)
Ceresio
Convergents
Cossack Folk Dances
Ernani
Greek Folk Song Suite (2002)
The Haunter of the Dark (1995)
Huckleberry Finn Suite (2005)
Huntingtower (as arranger) (1932/1987)
I Vespri Siciliani
Il Barbiere di Siviglia (as arranger) (1816/2011)
Il Trovatore : Coro dei Gitani
A Joyful Fanfare (2007)
Jubilee Fanfare
La Forza del Destino (as transcriber) (1862/1995)
Le Cortège du Roi Renaud (1999/2021)
MGB March
Mountain Majesty
Norma
Poema Alpestre (1999)
Piccola Suite Italiana (2005)
Puss in Boots (2013)
Renaissance Suite (2008)
Solemnitas
Symphonic Fanfare (2009)
Symphony No. 1 (2016)
Symphony No. 2 (2018)
Symphony No. 3 (2021)
Tom Sawyer Suite (2002)
Triumphal March
Un Ballo en Maschera
Variations on a French Folk Song (2000)

Resources

Franco Cesarini website Accessed 13 January 2022
"LE CORTÈGE DU ROI RENAUD Op. 19b for double Wind Quintet by Franco Cesarini (Switzerland, 1961)." WASBE. Web. (Featured as WASBE’s Composition of the Week, 10 January 2022). Accessed 9 January 2023