Language, education, politics, and music

come together in Katherine Bergeron''s Voice Lessons, a study of the French m''elodie in the Belle Epoque.

Close readings of songs by Faur''e, Debussy, and Ravel, along with poems, sound recordings, and other historical documents, seek to uncovers the cultural meanings of this art: why it emerged, why it mattered, and why it eventually disappeared.