Unhappy is he who has a wife | Unhappy is he who has a wife

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from Volkslieder (Folksongs)

Translation © by Laura Prichard

Malurous qu'o uno fenno

Language: Occitan

Our translations: ENG FRE

Malurous qu'o uno fenno,
Malurous qué n'o cat !
Qué n'o cat n'en bou uno,
Qué n'o uno n'en bou pas !
Tradèra, ladèri dèrèro
ladèra, ladèri dèra.

Urouzo lo fenno
Qu'o l'omé qué li cau !
Urouz' inquèro maito
O quèlo qué n'o cat !
Tradèra, ladèri dèrèro
ladèra, ladèri dèra.

Text Authorship:

from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , from France [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Luciano Berio (1925 - 2003), "Malurous qu'o uno fenno", 1964, from Folk Songs, no. 9, note: arranged for Cathy Berberian [sung text checked 1 time]
by Joseph Canteloube (1879 - 1957), "Malurous qu'o uno fenno", subtitle: "Bourrée" [ voice and piano ], from Chants d'auvergne III, no. 5, French title: "Malheureux qui a une femme" [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

ENG English (Laura Prichard) , "Unhappy is he who has a wife ", subtitle: "Dance song", copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 48

Unhappy is he who has a wife

Language: English after the Occitan

Unhappy is he who has a wife,
Unhappy who doesn't!
He who doesn’t wants one,
He who has one doesn't!
Tradèra, ladèri dèrèro
ladèra, ladèri dèra.

Fortunate is the wife
Whose man is the one she wants!
More fortunate is she
Who doesn’t have one!
Tradèra, ladèri dèrèro
ladèra, ladèri dèra.

Subtitle: "Dance song"

Text Authorship:

Translation from Occitan to English copyright © 2019 by Laura Prichard, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in Occitan from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , from France
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2019-07-20
Line count: 12
Word count: 51