Henri Sauguet's music remains little known outside his native France and portions of Belgium. Even there a younger generation of listeners and practitioners only vaguely associate his name with the ballet Les Forains, the popular song Le Chemin des forains, and a handful of other minor masterworks. Yet, during his lifetime, impresarios, poets, stage directors, choreographers, and film directors eagerly sought his collaboration on important projects. Henri Sauguet: A Bio-Bibliography is the first English-language book to treat Sauguet not only as a composer, but as a music critic and observer of the French music scene for more than sixty years. No other single source highlights the multi-faceted talents of a man who may be called the grand old man of French music.
The volume is organized into five parts, beginning with a brief biography of Sauguet's life. This is followed by the most complete list of works and performances compiled to date. This section is subdivided by genre—operas, ballets, instrumental music, vocal music, electronic music, music for the cinema, stage, and broadcast; each item within a genre chronologically follows the name of that kind of work. Performances appear chronologically with premieres listed first, and a sampling of prose writings and speeches by Sauguet is included. Music and drama reviews are presented separately in chronological order under the name of the jourbanal in which they appeared. The complete discography is organized alphanumerically, an arrangement dictated by record manufacturers' labels and numbers. The bibliography of writings about the composer is organized alphabetically by author with anonymous works inserted alphabetically by title. Two appendixes follow the work proper: organizing the music alphabetically by title, and chronologically to give a clearer picture of the progression and disposition of works during the composer's career. An index of the people, organizations, and events cited throughout completes the volume. Music libraries will want to add this reference work to their collections. Other libraries and scholars with an interest in theatre, media, and French cultural history will also want to acquire this volume.
