Being a composer in the early 20th century, when a transition from Romantic to Modernism contributed to a great change in contemporary music thought, Andre Jolivet (1905-1974)’s composing is deeply influenced by his predecessors and the impact of World War, combining many features of Modernist and hence playing a key role in French compositions. “Chant de Lions” serves as not only an indication of Jolivet’s shifting from classical to synthetic form but also a pioneer of returning into mystic style.

This thesis aims to study the background of this composition and reconstruct the rituals of aboriginal sacrifices and Greek funerals, hoping to enable players to integrate into their performances the understanding of composers and his concept and thus make the song more imaginative. This thesis is organized as follows. Chapter 1 introduces the research subject, motivation, methods and references of this work. Chapter 2 describes Jolivet’s life and music, his music thought and stages of composing, the influence of Modernist on him, and his contribution to flute music. Chapter 3 discusses the composing of Chant de Lions and its background of myths and ancient Greek funerals. Chapter 4 focuses on the analysis and interpretation of Chant de Lions, where the 1st section puts emphasis on its music structure and application of melodies, and the 2nd, 3rd and 4th section on its tunes and playing. Chapter 5 presents the comparison between several versions of Chant de Lions, including that written for flute and piano, and that modified into chamber music in 1945 which incorporates flute, violin, viola, cello and harp. Chapter 6 gives a conclusion. / Syuan-Ning Chen Flute Recital

1.J.S. Bach: Flute Sonata BWV 1034

2.C.M. Widor: suite for Flute and Piano op.34 3.Paul Taffanel: Grande Fantaisie sur Mignon

4.Sigfrid Karg-Elert: Sinfonische Kanzone 5.Olivier Messiaen: Le Merle Noir