Guy de Maupassant
Normandy Stories
Throughout his career as a writer, Guy de
Maupassant returned incessantly to the theme
of Normandy. Around sixty of his ‘nouvelles’
(short stories) use it as the background to
their plot. This enduring loyalty gives us
reason to attribute to the author the
declaration of one of his characters: “I love
this land. My roots are here”.
It is important to remember that Guy de
Maupassant was born in Fécamp in 1850;
that he spent the first nineteen years
of his life in Normandy; that when he
built his house, La Guillette (on the proceeds
of his first collection of stories,
The Tellier House), he chose to build it in
Etretat; and that he visited Normandy at least
once a year until his death in 1893.
It is common knowledge that Normandy
has a changeable climate, similar to that of
Britain. Due to the wind, sun and rain
alternate in quick succession. Summers can be
splendid and winters either harsh or mild. We
find this same diversity in the characters of
those who inhabit the Normandy Stories of
Guy de Maupassant. Drunkards, jokers, saucy
comedians (A Normandy Joke, Old Boniface’s
Crime), gluttons and the frequently-wicked
(The Little Cask), they display at the same time
the capacity for great generosity and possess
a deep sense of honour.
The short stories presented in this recording illustrate some of the characteristics
of the native Norman according to
Maupassant and also of the land itself—its
varying seasons, its landscapes composed of
countryside and coastline, its large farms, its
cottages, chateaus and holiday villas. We rub
shoulders there with a great number of
peasants, as well as some fishermen and
sailors. These are all ‘common folk’ yet there
are also people of ‘respectable society’ here—the bourgeoisie and provincial aristocracy,
keen hunters, and especially ladies and
gentlemen of Paris! They are here in the guise
of holidaymakers, tourists, and English ladies
(Bombard). Finally, like a recurring nightmare,
the dark winter of war of 1870, with its
succession of humiliations and horrors, still
hangs over the Normandy countryside. Its
horror cannot be brushed over. Indeed, rare
are the Maupassant stories which are happy
from start to finish. Even the spiciest of tales
(e.g. A Normandy Joke, Old Boniface’s Crime)
bears, at least, the marks of an unpleasant
mortification, and at worst the seal of death.
But, better than any commentary, let me
invite you to listen to Guy de Maupassant
himself, via the voices of the actors, as he tells
his Normandy Stories…
Notes by J. P. Bruckmuller
Translated by Anna Britten
The music on this CD taken from the NAXOS Catalogue
CHABRIER Piano Works Vol 1 & 2
Vol 1 – 8.553009; Vol 2 – 8.553010
Georges Rabol, piano
