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''Histoires naturelles'' ("Natural Histories") is a song cycle by Maurice Ravel, composed in 1906. It sets for voice and piano five poems by Jules Renard. Ravel's pupil Manuel Rosenthal made a version for voice and orchestra.〔("Histoires naturelles" ), ''The Oxford Companion to Music'', Oxford University Press, retrieved 11 March 2015 〕 The cycle is dedicated to the mezzo-soprano Jane Bathori, who gave the first performance, accompanied by the composer, on 12 January 1907.〔Cox, David. ("Bathori, Jane" ), Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press, retrieved 12 March 2015 〕 ==Content== The five songs are: *Le paon (The peacock) * *The peacock is described as waiting in his finery for the peahen he is to marry. She does not appear, but his vanity makes him confident that she will come tomorrow.〔Anderson, pp. 17–19〕 *Le grillon (The cricket) * *The cricket returns to his home at the end of the day and obsessively puts it in order, before burrowing deep into the earth.〔 *Le cygne (The swan) * *The swan is distracted by reflections in the water, confusing the image of his own neck for a woman's arm. Each time he plunges his beak into the water vainly fishing for reflections he brings out a worm, and so grows fat.〔 *Le martin-pêcheur (The kingfisher) * *A fisherman is pleased and proud that a beautiful kingfisher has just perched on his fishing rod before eventually flying on.〔 *La pintade (The guinea fowl) * *The guinea fowl is ugly and belligerent, attacking the hens and even the turkey in the farmyard. She occasionally gives them some respite when she leaves the yard to lay an egg out of sight, in the countryside.〔 Of the poems Ravel said, "the direct, clear language and the profound, hidden poetry of Jules Renard's works tempted me for a long time." Renard recorded in his diary: 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Histoires naturelles」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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