As an admirer of Counterpoint, a Vermont-based professional singing ensemble founded and directed by Robert De Cormier, Louis Moyse agreed to write a composition for the group. Having been required to attend a solfège class that involved sight singing, rhythm exercises, ear training and harmony during his student days at the Paris Conservatory, he decided to write for Counterpoint a five-movement French suite that poked fun at solfège classes. The results is Solfège À La Français. The “Intrada” (introduction) is based on Italian musical terms and the singers perform the actual musical directions. The rest of the movement is “Allegro Giocoso” (fast and humorous), employing solfège syllables. There follows a courtly “Sarabande” that is hummed throughout. The third movement is “Menuet,” a stately court dance. The text, in French (or English), makes fun of conductors who perform it too fast. “Sicilienne” is a lilting dance whose text returns to the solfège syllables. The suite is capped with a delirious “Gigue”; “The gigue it is a crazy dance.”
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