The Times (London)

October 6, 2018 Saturday

 

by Charles Bremner

 

 

President Macron gave a lyrical tribute to Charles Aznavour yesterday, leading a state ceremony of homage to one of France's greatest balladeers and describing the singer as part of the nation's heritage (Charles Bremner writes).

 

Under blue skies in the courtyard of Les Invalides, the military museum and tomb of Napoleon, Mr Macron addressed Aznavour's family, former presidents, the leaders of Armenia and an array of cultural stars in a salute to the composer and actor, who died aged 94 on Monday.

 

"For almost a century, he made us live," Mr Macron said by Aznavour's coffin, which was draped in a French flag. "He held out a mirror to make our lives more gentle, our tears less bitter. His songs were a balm, a remedy, a comfort. His presence, that voice became part of our lives … Charles Aznavour became, unanimously, a face of France."

 

In language that French leaders usually reserve for national heroes rather than popular singers, Mr Macron, 40, said that Aznavour, a child of Armenian immigrants, had "woven an unbreakable thread that bound together the generations" with his melancholy songs. He projected the glory of the French language around the world. "His refrains have entered the national heritage."

 

The president, a devotee of postwar singersongwriters, said that the whole country knew the lines of Aznavour's hits: "I could already see myself … Yesterday when I was young … How sad is Venice."

 

Aznavour, who wrote or co-wrote 1,000 songs, including hits such as La BohÈme and She, was "the master of French song", Nikol Pashinyan, the prime minister of Armenia, said.

 

Aznavour's death has stirred national emotion because he was the last of the line of singers of chanson Française, the bittersweet style of love songs and social commentary whose stars included Édith Piaf, Serge Gainsbourg and Jacques Brel. Piaf was Aznavour's mentor in the late 1940s.

 

Aznavour's 91 albums included duets with Fred Astaire, Frank Sinatra and Bob Dylan. He was to have performed in Japan this month.

 

Mr Macron compared Aznavour to the poet Guillaume Apollinaire. "The French language is not only the cement of a nation, it's also the catalyst for freedom and hope," he said.

 

Soldiers of the Republican Guard carried Aznavour's coffin out of the courtyard to Emmenez Mois Au Bout de la Terre (Take Me to the End of the World), sung by a military choir as the former presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande listened alongside Aznavour's wife, Ulla, 74, and their children.

 

He will be buried in a private ceremony at Montfort-l'Amaury, on the outskirts of western Paris, today.