Rosemonde

Rosemonde Poulenc's setting (1954) for voice and piano of a poem by Apollinaire from Alcools (Alcohols, 1913). The poem first appeared in Les Soirées de Paris in July 1912, and is dedicated to painter André Derain (1880 – 1954). In this poem, Rosemond is probably one of the many easily found women of »loose« virtue for which Amsterdam is renowned. Apollinaire made several vacation trips to Holland, in 1905, 1906, and 1908. The name Rosemonde suggested to Apollinaire the German for »rosy mouth«…