Il Est Drole, Le Prince!: Piano Vocal

The piece carries the dry charm of French vocal humor, with a prince who must be funny indeed. The music sits somewhere between spoken comedy and singing, inviting performers to find the smile in the melody.

Tenor singers preparing audition material or recital pieces will find this manageable at six pages. It suits vocalists comfortable with art song style who want something lighter than heavy German Lied but more sophisticated than simple vocal selections.

• Pay attention to the text's rhythmic natural speech patterns; let the French syllables fall into their proper places rather than forcing them into a rigid grid.
• Work with your pianist on the accompanimental texture so that the voice sits naturally above without either oversinging or disappearing into it.
• Experiment with where slight tempo elasticity serves the humor without losing forward momentum.

Slot this into a recital program as a palate-cleanser between weightier pieces, or pair it with other French songs for a thematic set. At six pages, it works efficiently in a mixed vocal recital without demanding excessive rehearsal time.

• French language diction and phrasing in a vocal context
• Comic timing and textual interpretation within lyrical music
• Collaboration with piano accompaniment in a pianist-dependent texture