Music and literature: what are the differences in writing?

The verb "to write" refers to both literature and music. Admittedly, for music, the term "compose" is more often used, but it remains a type of writing. Especially since songs are short texts set to melodies. Each style requires different adaptations. So it's interesting to see that musician Thomas Fersen has written a book and author Philippe Vasset has tried his hand at songwriting and written about music in a novel.

The latter did indeed try his hand at putting song lyrics down on paper, but found the exercise difficult. He, accustomed to a certain literary silence and sentences with no rhythm, was unable to meet the demands of musical writing. Nevertheless, it was a powerful inspiration to him about the place of orality in our lives, particularly in an era when writers are now often required to narrate their work for audio versions of their books.

Thomas Fersen, for his part, had always had an interest in literature. So he decided to take the plunge and write a book that, in the end, turned out to be a bit like a long song. That is, he realized he couldn't get rid of verse in his writing. So he wrote rhyming prose, a style of writing he had already begun to use in shows with versified monologues that were both spoken and sung.

The musician and the author have thus both taken the bent of their writing that has animated them for decades. Nevertheless, the exercise also prompted them to reflect on the art of music and literature. Fersen, for example, tells Vasset that for him, reading has always been accompanied by an inner voice following the rhythm of the words. The writer was fascinated by the goldsmith's work of gluing words to a melody, and also by hip-hop music, where the text takes on an even greater importance while remaining within a tempo.

Running time: 38min21