BASTILLE DAY CELEBRATION

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Georges Brassens

FETONS LE 14 JUILLET - LET'S CELEBRATE BASTILLE DAY

MERCREDI LE 13 JUILLET @ 19h00 -

WEDNESDAY, JULY 13 @ 7:00 PM

SIGN UP AND JOIN US AT OUR

BASTILLE DAY CELEBRATION - JOINT MEETING WITH THE LANGUAGE CLUB OF WESTCHESTER.

WHERE? RESTAURANT IN ELMSFORD / WESTCHESTER, NY (exact address TBA soon - it's about an 8 min drive from the Tappan Zee Bdg/Nyack)

PROGRAM: FRENCH DINNER & ENTERTAINMENT starting at 7:00 pm

PRICE: $36.50 per person via Paypal (Paypal fee included)

$35 cash or check to be paid by JUNE 30 LATEST. NO REFUNDS! (unless the event is cancelled)

RESERVATIONS: I will make seat / table reservations for our group so that we can all sit together.

FRENCH MENU: Please choose your entrée

The menu will consist of Vichyssoise, Salad, a choice of Coq au Vin, Champignons et Pâtes (Chicken with wine, mushrooms and pasta ,) or Fruits de Mer Sauce Maison et Riz (Seafood assortment with red sauce and rice,) or Gratin de Courgettes et Purée de Pommes de Terre (Zucchini gratin with potato purée,) Bread and butter, Crème Brûlée et Fraises (with strawberries,) as well as Coffee or Tea.

ENTERTAINMENT: PIERRE DE GAILLANDE SINGS GEORGES BRASSENS

Singer/songwriter Pierre de Gaillande translates, sings and plays the songs of French poet/singer/songwriter/icon Georges Brassens (http://www.google.com/search?as_q=George+Brassens) (1921-1981)

Pierre de G. will sing in French and English. Handouts of the song lyrics, in both languages, will be given to each attendee.

About Brassens…

Georges Brassens, one of the most important figures in French musical history, created his unique style in the 50's, forging a legendary reputation with his poetical and provocative texts set to simple, but catchy, melodies. The most obvious broad comparison is to Bob Dylan (http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/musician.php?id=16590) and Leonard Cohen: Brassens was fusing words of genius with the folk-chord like tunes and worldly-wise humor and irony. Georges Brassens and his songs express a lively antiauthoritarian spirit, even if most of them are about the simple pains and pleasures of life rather than about specifically political topics. Unfortunately, few English-speaking people are aware of him.

About Pierre de Gaillande

De Gaillande's father is French, a literature professor living in Los Angeles. It was he who turned de Gaillande on to the idea of translating a Brassens poem into English, and this led in turn to the project of translating Brassens' songs—very little of the poet has been sung in English before, though there are versions of his songs in other languages. As a Franco-American (his mother is American), and coming from an indie/folk rock background, de Gaillande was well placed to fill the gap. Despite problems of fitting syllables to sounds where there may not be an available syllable in English, and internal rhymes, de Gaillande has succeeded in creating excellent translations. Virtually every Brassens song is a masterpiece, an in-your-face equivalent to a rich and descriptive painting, yet with delicate imagery.

The epic two-year project was a way of “getting back to the French side of [my] culture,” says de Gaillande. But translating Brassens’ poetry was a humongous challenge.

“What makes the translations difficult is that Brassens was a rhyme fanatic, he loved his rhythms, and almost all his rhymes are exact.” De Gaillande wanted to stick to that rule. Resulting in many sleepless nights.
De Gaillande says songs like Mourir pour ses idées (To die for ideas) show just how relevant Brassens still is.

But, as for many Brassens fans, de Gaillande says that the man behind the music also continues to fascinate him.
“He was completely uncompromising, […] someone who stayed so true to a poetic vision, without being influenced by the nonsense of celebrity.”

Brassens autour du monde Brassens est le chanteur français le plus traduit à travers le monde. Plus de mille interprètes chantent ses textes dans une quarantaine de langues : en anglais, russe, allemand, polonais, hébreu, japonais, brésilien, espagnol, autrichien, hollandais, italien, tchèque, suédois, wolof, espéranto, finlandais, arabe...

En quelques années, Georges Brassens est devenu un véritable monument de la chanson française . Il reçoit le grand Prix de la Poésie en 1967, intègre le Larousse mais refuse d’entrer à l’Académie française ! Il devient le père spirituel d’une nouvelle génération d’artistes qu’il soutient, notamment grâce à ses premières parties. Brassens ne cesse d’écrire et de composer jusqu’à sa disparition en octobre 1981.