Composers and their stage works 


Paul Claudel

(1868 - 1955)

French diplomat, poet, essayist and dramatist: Paul Louis Charles Marie Claudel; born Villeneuve sur Fère 6th August, 1868: Died 23rd February, 1955

  

 

Plays:

Unless otherwise indicated, the plays were first performed in Paris.

  1. L'endormie (The Slumberer). Play, 1 act. Written 1882/83. Published 1925. Early version of La lune a la recherche d'elle-mente.
  2. Tete d'or. Play, 3 acts; verse. Written 1889. Published 1890. Second version: Written 1895. Published 1901. Produced Théàtre du Gymnase, Mar. 30, 1919.
  3. La ville (The City). Play, 3 acts; verse. Written 1890. Published 1893. Second version: Written 1897. Published 1901. Produced Brussels (in Dutch), Salle Patria, Feb. 24, 1926; Paris, Palais de Chaillot, Dec. 2, 1955.
  4. La jeune fille Violaine (The Maid Violaine). Play, 4 acts; verse. Written 1892. Published 1926. Second version: Written 1898. Published 1901. Produced Salle d'Iena, Mar. 14, 1944. Early version of L'annonce faite à Marie.
  5. L'annonce faite à Marie (The Tidings Brought to Mary). Parable, 4 acts and a prologue. Written 1892 (rev. 1910, 1948). Published 1912. Produced Théàtre de l'Oeuvre, Dec. 20, 1912. Based on La jeune fille Violaine.
  6. L'échange (The Exchange). Play, 3 acts. Written 1894. Published 1901. Produced Théàtre du Vieux-Colombier, Jan. 22, 1914. Second version: Written 1951. Published 1954. Produced Théàtre Marigny, Dec. 13, 1951.
  7. L'Agamemnon d'Eschyle (The Agamemnon of Aeschylus). Play. Written 1894. Published 1896 (rev. 1951)
  8. Le repos du septième jour (Rest on the Seventh Day). Play, 3 acts. Written 1896. Published 1901. Produced Warsaw, Narodny Théàtre, Dec. 10, 1928
  9. Partage de midi (Break of Noon). Play, 3 acts; verse. Written 1905. Published 1906. Produced Théàtre Marigny, Dec. 16, 1948
  10. L'ôtage (The Hostage). Play. Written 1909. Published 1911. Produced Théàtre de l'Oeuvre, June 5, 1914.
  11. Protée (Proteus). Play, 2 acts. Written 1913. Published 1914. Second version: Written 1926. Published 1927. Produced Amsterdam, Municipal Theatre, Apr. 4, 1933; Paris, Comédie de Paris, February, 1955.
  12. Le pain dur (Crusts). Play. Written 1914. Published 1918. Produced Théàtre de l'Atelier, Mar. 12, 1949.
  13. La nuit de Noël de 1914 (Christmas Night, 1914). Play, 1 act. Written 1915. Published 1915.
  14. Le père humilie (The Humiliation of the Father). Play. Written 1916. Published 1919. Produced Dresden, Schauspielhaus, Nov. 26, 1928; Paris, Théàtre des Champs-Elysées, May 10, 1946.
  15. Les Choephores d'Eschyle (The Libation Bearers of Aeschylus). Play. Written 1916. Published 1920. Produced Brussels, Théàtre de la Monnaie, Mar. 27, 1935.
  16. Les Eumenides d'Eschyle (The Eumenides of Aeschylus). Play. Written 1916. Published 1920. Produced Brussels, Théàtre de la Monnaie, Mar. 27, 1935.
  17. L'ours et la lune (The Bear and the Moon). Play. Written 1917. Published 1919.
  18. L'homme et son désir (Man and His Desire). Ballet scenario. Written 1917. Published 1917.
  19. La femme et son ombre (The Woman and Her Shadow). Mime drama. Written 1923. Published 1956. Produced Tokyo, Imperial Theatre, March, 1923. An earlier sketch was written and published in 1922.
  20. Le soulier de satin, ou Le pire n'est pas toujours sûr (The Satin Slipper, or The Worst Is Not Sure). Play. Written 1924. Published 1928-1929 (stage version 1944). Produced Comédie-Francaise, Nov. 27, 1943.
  21. La parabole du festin (The Parable of the Feast). Parable. Written 1926. Published 1926. Second version: La sagesse, ou La parabole du festin (Wisdom, or The Parable of the Feast). Written 1935. Published 1939.
  22. Le livre de Christophe Colomb (The Book of Christopher Columbus). Play, 2 acts. Written 1927. Published 1933. Produced Berlin, Staatsoper, May 5, 1930; Paris, Théàtre Marigny, Oct. 1, 1953. Music: Darius Milhaud.
  23. Sous le rempart d'Athènes (Under the Rampart of Athens). Play. Written 1927. Published 1927. Produced Palais de l'Elysée, 1927.
  24. Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher (Joan of Arc at the Stake). Oratorio. Written 1935. Published 1939. Produced Orleans, Théàtre Municipal, May 6, 1939.
  25. Le jet de pierre (Stone Throwing). Suite, 12 movements. Written 1938. Published 1956.
  26. L'histoire de Tobie et Sara (Tobias and Sara). Play, 3 acts. Written 1938. Published 1942. Produced Avignon, Sept. 5, 1947.
  27. La lune d la recherche d'elle-meme (The Moon in Search of Herself). Radio extravaganza. Written 1947. Published 1956. Based on L'endormie.
  28. Le ravissement de Scapin (The Rape of Scapin). Play. Written 1949. Published 1952.

CRITICISM

French
  1. G. Duhamel, Paul Claudel, Paris, 1913;
  2. J. de Tonquedoc, L'oeuvre de Paul Claudel, Paris, 1917;
  3. F. Lefevre, Les sources de Paul Claudel, Paris, 1927;
  4. L. Chaigne, Le chemin de Paul Claudel, Paris, 1931;
  5. J. Madaule, Le genie de Paul Claudel, Paris, 1933;
  6. V. Bindel, Claudel, Paris, 1934; J. Madaule, Le drame de Paul Claudel, Paris, 1936;
  7. H. Colleye, La poesie catholique de Claudel, Liege, 1945;
  8. A. Moliton, Aspects de Paul Claudel, Paris, 1945;
  9. G. Truc, Paul Claudel, Paris, 1945;
  10. C. Chonez, Introduction d Paul Claudel, Paris, 1947;
  11. J. Samson, Paul Claudel, poete-musicien, Geneva, 1947;
  12. L. Barjon, Paul Claudel, Paris, 1953;
  13. J. Andrieu, La foi dans !'oeuvre de Paul Claudel, Paris, 1955;
  14. H. Guillemin, Claudel et son art d'ecrire, Paris, 1955;
  15. J. Madaule, Paul Claudel, dramaturge, Paris, 1956;
  16. J. Bastien, L'oeuvre dramatique de Paul Claudel, Reims, 1957;
  17. H. J. W. van Hoorn, Poesie et mysticisme. Paul Claudel, poete chretien, Geneva, 1957;
  18. E. Beaumont, Le sens de 1'amoui dans le Théàtre de Claudel: Le theme de Beatrice, Paris, 1958;
  19. J.-C. Berton, Shakespeare et Claudel, Geneva, 1958;
  20. S. Fumet, Claudel, Paris, 1958;
  21. R. Farabet, Le jeu de I'acteur dans le Théàtre de Claudel, Paris, 1960;
  22. H. Mondor, Claudel plus intime, Paris, 1960;
  23. L. Chaigne, Vie de Paul Claudel et genese du son oeuvre, Tours, 1961;
  24. M. Lioure, L'esthetique dramatique de Paul Claudel, Paris, 1971;
  25. A. Blanc, Claudel, Paris, 1973; Aux sources de la verite du thedtrs moderne (Coll. London, Canada, 1972), Paris, 1974.
English
  1. M. Ryan, Introduction to Paul Claudel, Cork, 1951;
  2. E. Beaumont, The Theme of Beatrice in the Plays of Claudel, London, 1954;
  3. J. Chiari, The Poetic Drama of Paul Claudel, New York, 1954;
  4. L. Chaigne, Paul Claudel: The Man and the Mystic, tr. by P. de Fontnouvelle, New York, 1961;
  5. J. C. de Labriolle, Claudel and the English-Speaking World, a Critical Bibliography, ed. & tr. by R. Little, London, 1973.