Autumn Leaves

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Yves Montand (1952)

Autumn Leaves is the English title of the chanson Les feuilles mortes , translated from French by Johnny Mercer , which was composed in 1945 by Joseph Kosma based on an existing poem by Jacques Prévert . It was initially created to be performed by Yves Montand in Marcel Carné's film Porte of the Night ( Les Portes de la nuit , 1946), but developed a life of its own as a chanson. It later became a number one hit and jazz standard in the English version .

Structure and theme of the song

The chanson is in the song form AABC and comprises 32 bars. It has a minor characteristic, but in the B part it briefly finds a major parallel. The melody of the B part is reminiscent of the Soviet March White Army, Black Baron (" Белая армия, чёрный барон ", 1920) (which was probably sung in 1927 as the song Die Arbeiter von Wien during the so-called July Revolution ).

In the opening verse , the dead leaves of autumn are described and evoke the memory of an old love story that is the subject of the chorus . Two people loved each other and lived together, but life separates those who love each other quietly and without noise; the sea blurs the traces of the separated lovers in the sand.

Chanson interpretations

Cora Vaucaire recorded a first recording on a disc ; shortly afterwards Marianne Oswald recorded a version that was partly in German. The first singer to interpret the chanson was Jacques Douai in 1947 . Édith Piaf added the piece to her repertoire in 1950. Other interpretations followed by Bernard Lavilliers , Juliette Gréco , Dalida , Shiina Ringo , In-Grid , Charles Aznavour , Richard Anthony , Andrea Bocelli , Eduardo Darnauchans , Marcel Mouloudji , Serge Gainsbourg , Françoise Hardy and Iggy Pop , among others . The songwriter Wolf Biermann translated the song into German ( Welke Blätter , published 1985). Also Wader sings since 2008 on his tours a German version of the song, also titled wilting leaves , released on the album Nah Dran (2012).

History of the impact of the English version

Johnny Mercer (circa 1947)

In 1949, Johnny Mercer translated the text of the song into English, but changed the content by describing the longing of someone who had just been abandoned, who remembers the love of summer in the face of autumn leaves. Jo Stafford first recorded it for the Mercer-founded Capitol Records label . Cover versions followed by Bing Crosby , Édith Piaf (she sang both versions in American concerts) and Jo Stafford's husband Paul Weston . Nevertheless, the song did not attract much attention at first.

In 1955, pianist Roger Williams , who is also known for his instrumental hits Near You (1958) and Born Free (1966), recorded his version, which became a number one hit and hit millions and stayed in the charts for more than six months. Then came other versions of Steve Allen , Mitch Miller , the Ray Charles Singers , Jackie Gleason and Victor Young , who tried to follow up on the success. Versions by Doris Day , Patricia Kaas , Marlene Dietrich , Eva Cassidy , Frank Sinatra , Barbra Streisand , Jessye Norman , Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan followed later .

Jazz standard

Artie Shaw made his first jazz interpretation as early as the early 1950s ; Erroll Garner and Oscar Peterson followed in the middle of the decade . It was only through the interpretation of Cannonball Adderley (1958 on his album Somethin 'Else ) with Miles Davis as sideman, who "hits the nerve of the song with his legendary melancholy sound and his deliberately chosen, lonely draped tones" that the potential of the Songs clearly as jazz titles. In 1959 Bill Evans played the piece on his album Portrait in Jazz for the first time (the song was recorded several times by him).

As a result, Autumn Leaves became a popular standard and performed in a wide variety of tempos. The piece has not only seen numerous vocal interpretations, for example by Mel Tormé , Dee Dee Bridgewater , Tony Bennett , Diana Krall , Bobby McFerrin and (without the text) Sarah Vaughan ; most recently Götz Alsmann on his 2011 album Paris under the title The veil fell. Also instrumentalists like Chet Baker , Al Cohn / Zoot Sims , Keith Jarrett , Jeremy Steig / Eddie Gomez , Paul Desmond , Stanley Jordan and Johnny Griffin interpreted the song again and again.

Filmography

The song can be heard in the following films:

literature

  • Hans-Jürgen Schaal (Ed.): Jazz standards. The encyclopedia. 3rd, revised edition. Bärenreiter, Kassel u. a. 2004, ISBN 3-7618-1414-3 .
  • Bronson. Fred: The Billboard Book of Number One Hits . 3rd revised and expanded edition. New York City, New York: Watson-Guptill, 1992, p. 4 - ISBN 0-8230-8298-9

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ In 1947 it was published by Enoch et Cie. released.
  2. ↑ a b H.-J. Schaal, Jazz-Standards , p. 47.
  3. ^ The marching song White Army, Black Baron with Russian text on chambre-claire.com (Flash player required; accessed January 9, 2012).