The French Embassy and the Alliance Française tomorrow will be marking Europe Day, being celebrated today, by paying homage to three famous French composers whose renowned works have brought joy to lovers of music not only in Europe but the world over.

...renowned works have brought joy to lovers of music... the world over

Compositions by Jules Massenet, Francis Poulenc and Claude Debussy will be played in a concert by two well-known French musicians – violinist Agnès Pyka and pianist Bruno Robillard – at the Manoel Theatre.

Méditation de Thaïs, one of the two pieces by Massenet being played in the concert and composed in 1894, will start off the programme.

This violin solo by Ms Pyka, evoking the religious meditation of a repentant courtesan in the company of a saintly man, will be celebrating the 100th anniversary since the composer’s death in Paris.

The second French composer whose anniversary will be celebrated this year is Claude Debussy, born 150 years ago. He died in Paris in 1918. Sonate en sol mineur was composed for a particular occasion: the artist’s last public appearance.

This last composition, one of six sonatas in honour of France’s 18th century, starts off with an allegro vivo transforming itself into a more serene theme.

The symbolic ending marring the gaiety of an approaching death exposes the artist’s credentials of an impressionist movement.

The non-conformism of the composer is much evidenced in his symphony La Mer, but also in the well-known ballet Jeux as well as his opera Pelléas et Mélisande.

Another anniversary, this time of Francis Poulenc’s sonata composed 70 years ago, hails the memory of Spanish poet Federico Garcia-Lorca, assass-inated by Franco’s militias following the Spanish Civil War.

Starting with an energetic and vigorous formula, the initial allegro Sonate en sol unwinds into two melodic themes, typical of Poulenc.

Vaguely Spanish in character, it owes its admirable cantilena to Maurice Ravel.

In spite of its title, the last movement starts with a series of humourous exchanges between the violin and the piano, leaving a bitter taste of the gunshots that killed the patriotic poet.

This paradoxical work, composed in Nazi-occupied Paris, oscillates between humour and tragedy as it also marks the passing away of his colleague and friend Ginette Neveau.

This tribute to French composers starts at 8 p.m.