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CHANTS D’AUVERGNE: AUVERGNAT DIALECT PRONUNCIATION

In this section you will find:

PDFAn IPA sound-spelling summary of Auvergnat vowel and consonant pronunciation (PDF). For English word examples illustrating the pronunciation of IPA, please refer to the Phonetics link on this website.

PDFThe text of Baïlèro with IPA transcription (PDF). This IPA has been taken from McCann’s work, with some adjustments which are explained.

An English word-for-word translation added with the assistance of a French speaker familiar with the patois spoken south-east of Avignon.

A recording of the Baïlèro text by the above speaker(MP3).

"Thanks again for the [Auvergnat] recordings. They are a HUGE help.
I feel so confident to do these songs now." Kimberly Giordano

A compilation of Auvergnat pronunciation has been published by Dr. Lori McCann (Doctoral Thesis: see Sources below). Dr. McCann provides:

  • a spelling summary of Auvergnat pronunciation linked to IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet)
  • an IPA transcription and French and English translation of selected songs from the Canteloube arrangements of songs from the Auvergne
  • a discussion of each song
  • the score of each song (Heugel edition) with the IPA added to the score

This thesis is in my personal library and is on order for the Library collection of the King Edward Campus Vancouver Community College. The campus is located at Broadway and Clark.

The Canteloube arrangements presented in the McCann thesis are:

SERIES 1
La Pastouro als camps
Baïlèro (PDF) (MP3 Audio File)
Trois bourées
> L’aïo dè rotso
> Ound’ onoren gorda?
> Obal, din lou Limouzi

SERIES 3
Lo Fiolairé
> Passo pel prat
> Lou Boussu
> Brezairola
> Malurous qu’o uno fenno

 

NOTES AND SOURCES
McCann clarifies that her IPA transcriptions of the dialect must serve as a guide to Auvergnat pronunciation (p. 60), rather than an exact rendering of Auvergnat speech. It is normal for points of pronunciation to be variable – especially in isolated areas. Exact codification is never 100% possible. As well, discrepancies will always abound in recordings.

Canteloube edited the various editions of his arrangements. Even so, there are spelling differences between the editions. These probably indicate a slight variant in the speech habits of the original speaker whose “peasant song” (as Canteloube called it) had never been written down. Presumably, as McCann notes, Canteloube was aware of and accepted the various spellings, all of which apparently were his own transcriptions, and in a way, his own version of the IPA.

McCann provides a list of ten recordings of the Canteloube songs. My own observations are based on three recordings listed with the Sources (see below) whose artists, in my opinion, have a strong claim to familiarity with the Auvergnat pronunciation.

  • Madeleine Grey premièred the songs and performed them with Canteloube.
  • Netania Davrath, noted for the authenticity of her interpretations of folksongs in several languages, studied the Auvergnat dialect for six months.
  • Véronique Gens spent her summers with family in the Auvergne, although contrary to some CD jacket claims, the French singer was not born in the Auvergne.

 

DISCOGRAPHY
Davrath, Netania. Songs of the Auvergne Arranged by Joseph Canteloube. Pierre de la Roche, conductor (no orchestra credited). New York: Vanguard Recording Society, VSD 713/14, 1972.

Grey, Madeleine. Songs of France: Chants d’Auvergne. Elie Cohen, conductor (no orchestra credited). Recorded 1930. Reissued on CD. Wadhurst, ENG: Pavilion Records Ltd, Pearl Label, Gem 0013, 1998.

Gens, Véronique. Chants d’Auvergne. Orchestre National de Lille, Jean-Claude Casadesus, conductor. Naxos, DDD 8.557491, 2004.

Gens, Véronique. Chants d’Auvergne 2 : Chants de France, Triptyque. Orchestre National de Lille, Serge Baudo, conductor. Naxos, DDD 8.570338, 2007.

 

SOURCES
Hardy, Ineke and Brodovitch, Elizabeth. “Tracking the Anagram: Preparing a Phonetic Blueprint of Troubadour Poetry”. From The Court Reconvenes: Courtly Literature Across the Disciplines. International Courtly Literature Society Proceedings. Ed. B. Altmann and C. Carroll, 2003. p. 199-214.

McCann, Lori. A Critical Performing Edition of Selected Songs from Chants d’Auvergne. Collected and Harmonized by Joseph Canteloube. Doctoral Thesis, University of Wisconsin, 1996.

Steubing, Deborah. The Setting of the Auvergnat Dialect Folk Songs by Joseph Canteloube in his Chants d’Auvergne. Doctoral Thesis, University of Texas, 2001. Available online.