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First presented as miraculously rediscovered Greek erotic poetry, the Songs of Bilitis were infact the work of French author Pierre Louÿs - nevertheless, they were acclaimed for their sensual style and beauty. The frank depictions of lesbianism in the context of classical Greece were a marriage of two trends popular in late 19th century France. Homosexuality in literature was a novel subject hitherto considered tantalizing and taboo, while the artistic and aesthetic culture of antiquity received homage from several realms of creativity. Louÿs offers a frank presentation of a lesbian couple in Greece, embarking on a journey of sexual discovery and enjoyment tempered by the traumatic experiences of Bilitis. Through her sexuality, Bilitis is shown to mature emotionally, her lesbianism proving a catalyst for physical and mental change. The transience of love and sexual experience, the wisdom gained from her indulgence, and the emotive depth of passion, longing and eventual estrangement construct the essence of Louÿs' personal, expressive growth. Popular with audiences and the lesbian community for decades, this 1926 English edition of the Songs of Bilitis contains 30 illustrations by Willy Pogany.
""The Way of a Man with a Maid"" is a classic erotic novel, published in 1908. It contains graphic sexual descriptions and themes. ""The Way of a Man with a Maid"" is one of the most popular erotic masterpieces. Jack, the narrator, converts a room into a veritable torture chamber, named 'The Snuggery', equipped with beds to which women can be strapped and held helpless and which is soundproofed to make their screams unheard. ""The Way of a Man with a Maid"" consists of 4 volumes. This book contains: Volume I: The Tragedy Volume II: The Comedy
Claude Debussy’s exquisite piano works have captivated generations with their dreamlike atmosphere and mysterious soundscapes. Written in Paris at the height of the Belle Époque, the music creates a soundtrack for Parisians’ enjoyment of such delights as clowns, mermaids, eccentric dances, and the dark tales of Edgar Allan Poe. Debussy’s Paris: Piano Portraits of the Belle Époque explores how key works reflect not only the most appealing and innocent aspects of Paris but also more disquieting attitudes of the time such as racism, colonial domination, and nationalistic hostility. Debussy left no avenue unexplored, and his piano works present a sweeping overview of the passions, vices, and obsessions of the era. Pianist Catherine Kautsky reveals little-known elements of Parisian culture and weaves the music, the man, the city, and the era into an indissoluble whole. Her portrait will delight anyone who has ever been entranced by Debussy’s music or the city that inspired it.
Paul Dukas wrote about Debussy that the strongest influence he experienced was that of the poets, not that of the musicians. This book undertakes to demonstrate that thesis by studying Debussy's settings of songs by Banville, Verlaine, Baudelaire, Mallarmé, Louÿs, and Debussy himself. A particular insight may be gained in the comparison of six poems by Verlaine set to music by both Fauré and Debussy. The book includes a poetic/musical analysis of Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, based on the poem by Mallarmé.
Claude Debussy's Paris was factionalized, politicized, and litigious. It was against this background of ferment and change--which characterized French society and music from the Franco-Prussian War to World War I--that Debussy re-thought music. This book captures the complexity of the composer's restless personal and artistic identity within the new picture emerging of the musical, social, and political world of fin-de-siècle Paris. Debussy's setting did not simply mold his style. Rather, it challenged him to define a style and then to revamp it again and again as he situated himself simultaneously via the present and the past. These essays trace Debussy's perpetual reinvention, both social and creative, from his earliest to his last works. They explore tensions and contradictions in his best-known compositions and examine lesser-known pieces that reveal new aspects of Debussy's creative appropriation from poetry, painting, and non-Western music. The contributors reveal the extent to which Debussy's personal and professional lives were intertwined and sometimes in conflict. Belonging to no one group or class, but crossing many, Debussy abjured the orthodox. A maverick who reviled all convention and searched for a music that authentically reflected experience, Debussy balked at entering any situation--salons, musical societies, or factions--that would categorize and thus distort him. Because of this, music lovers still argue over the degree to which Debussy's music is Impressionist, symbolist, or even French. Aptly, the volume's editor reads Debussy's last works as a dialogue with himself that reflects his inherently pluralistic, paradoxical, negotiated, and ever-changing identity. William Austin's description of Debussy as ''one of the most original and adventurous musicians who ever lived'' is often repeated. This book illustrates how right Austin was and shows why Debussy's unclassifiable art continues to fascinate and perplex his historians even as it enthralls new listeners. The contributors are Leon Botstein, Christophe Charle, John Clevenger, Jane F. Fulcher, David Grayson, Brian Hart, Gail Hilson-Woldu, and Marie Rolf.
A bestselling author in his time, Pierre Louÿs (1870-1925) was a friend of, and influence on, André Gide, Paul Valéry, Oscar Wilde and Stephane Mallarmé among others. He achieved instant notoriety with Aphrodite and The Songs of Bilitis, but it was only after his death that Louÿs' true legacy was to be discovered: nearly 900 pounds of erotic manuscripts were found in his home, all of them immediately scattered among collectors and many subsequently lost. Since then, it has become clear that Louÿs is the greatest French writer of erotica there ever was. The Young Girl's Handbook of Good Manners was the first of his erotic manuscripts to see publication, and it also remains his most outrageous--an erotic classic in which humor takes precedence over arousal. By means of shockingly filthy advice--ostensibly offered "for use in educational establishments"--couched in a hilariously parodic admonitory tone, Louÿs turns late-nineteenth-century manners roundly on their head, with ass prominently skyward. Whether offering rules for etiquette in church, school or home, or outlining a girl's duties toward family, neighbor or God, Louÿs manages to mock every institution and leave no taboo unsullied. The Young Girl's Handbook of Good Manners has only grown more scandalous and subversive since its first appearance in 1926.
The goddess of love, Aphrodite - or Venus, or Astarte - she has had many names. She is the goddess of life, fertility and renewal, but she is also the patroness of carnal desire: "a thousand honey secrets thou shalt know" is her promise to the boy Adonis in Shakespeare's poem about the pair. Incredibly, perhaps, he resists this offer- but most of us do not. The enduring role of the goddess in human sex and passion is well known, but how well is she suited for love and sexuality in the modern world? To understand that, we must trace something of her origins, and focus our attention on the way in which more recent writers and artists have imagined her.