Joseph Canteloube

His second opera, Vercingétorix, in four acts, was inspired by a libretto by Étienne Clémentel, mayor of Riom (Puy-de-Dôme), and Hervé Louwyck, about the defeat of the Gauls by Julius Caesar.

In 1925, along with several young Auvergnats in Paris, Canteloube founded a group called La Bourrée, who were eager to publicize the folklore and the beauty of their home region.

Canteloube himself believed that "peasant songs often rise to the level of purest art in terms of feeling and expression, if not in form" (les chants paysans s’élèvent bien souvent au niveau de l'art le plus pur, par le sentiment et l'expression, sinon par la forme).

Alongside his career as a composer, Canteloube worked as a musicologist, collecting traditional French folksongs, which were published by Didier and Heugel.

The passionate songs reflect the landscapes of the Auvergne in lush orchestral colors, and have enabled French folklore and rustic melodies to become better known.