Ariettes oubliées is a song cycle

Song cycle

A song cycle is a group of songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a single entity. As a rule, all of the songs are by the same composer and often use words from the same poet or lyricist. Unification can be achieved by a narrative or a persona common to the songs, or even, as in Schumann's...

 for voice and piano, L. 60 by Claude Achille Debussy (1862-1918), based on a poem written by Paul Verlaine

Paul Verlaine

Paul-Marie Verlaine was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the fin de siècle in international and French poetry.-Early life:...

 in 1885–1887. The poetry

Poetry

Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

 of Paul Verlaine had a more profound influence on Claude Debussy's music than did Debussy's closest literary or musical acquaintances.

Debussy's cycle

Debussy and Verlaine were both inspired by subtlety and nuance. Each man sought to innovate by using rhythm and tone color as the basis for a new form

FORM

FORM is the bimonthly membership magazine of the American Institute of Architects Los Angeles , and is published in Glendale, California by Balcony Media, Inc. The magazine was launched in 2007, and covers modern design and architecture...

 of a pre-existing art

Art

Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....

. In the Ariettes oubliées, subtlety, nuance, rhythm and tone color

Timbre

In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices and musical instruments, such as string instruments, wind instruments, and percussion instruments. The physical characteristics of sound that determine the...

 (timbre) converged to create a mature compositional style

Style

Style may refer to:* Style , an aspect of literary composition* Style , in art and painting, either the aesthetic values followed in choosing what to paint or to the physical techniques employed* Architectural style...

 for Debussy, which, in turn, gave a heightened level of understanding to Verlaine's poetry. This collection of songs set the tone for all of Debussy's future vocal compositions in terms of rhythm

Rhythm

Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...

, harmony

Harmony

In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...

, tone, color

Color

Color or colour is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, green, blue and others. Color derives from the spectrum of light interacting in the eye with the spectral sensitivities of the light receptors...

 and attention to poetic detail.

1. C'est l'extase: C'est l'extase langoureuse
2. Il pleure dans mon cœur: Il pleure dans mon cœur comme il pleut sur la ville
3. L'ombre des arbres: L'ombre de arbres dans la rivière embrumée
4. Chevaux de bois: Tournez, tournez, bons chevaux de bois
5. Green: Voici des fruits, des fleurs, des feuilles
6. Spleen: Les roses étaient toutes rouges