La mouche
Language: French (Français)
Nos mouches savent des chansons
Que leur apprirent en Norvège
Les mouches ganiques qui sont
Les divinités de la neige.
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Claude Ballif (1924 - 2004), "La mouche", op. 1b no. 15 (1945-48), published 1994 [ voice and piano ], from Le Cortège d’Orphée, no. 15, Édition Durand & Fils [sung text not yet checked]
- by Alain Corbellari (b. 1967), "La mouche", first performed 1992 [ bass-baritone and piano ], from Le bestiaire bis, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Louis Durey (1888 - 1979), "La mouche", op. 17a no. 15 (1919), from Le Bestiaire, no. 15 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Laura Prichard) , "The Fly", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 4
Word count: 20
The Fly
Language: English after the French (Français)
Our houseflies know songs
Which they learned in Norway from
Those bright*1 flies who are
The gods of snow*2.
Translator's notes:
Line 3 word 2: perhaps from the Greek “ganos” (γάνος) meaning brightness or sheen
Line 4: Apollonaire’s notes to his Bestiary state: “Not all of them take the form of snowflakes; many have been tamed by the Finnish or Lapp sorcerers and obey them. The magicians hand them down from father to son and keep them imprisoned in boxes where they are invisible, ready to fly out in a swarm and torment thieves, while singing magic words that are as immortal as they are.”
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2023 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:
This text was added to the website: 2023-08-23
Line count: 4
Word count: 19
