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Quand on perd, par triste occurrence,
Son espérance
Et sa gaieté,
Le remède au mélancolique,
C’est la musique
Et la beauté !
Plus oblige et peut davantage
Un beau visage
Qu’un homme armé,
Et rien n’est meilleur que d’entendre
Air doux et tendre
Jadis aimé !
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Louis Charles Alfred de Musset (1810 - 1857), "Chanson", written 1837?, appears in Poésies nouvelles [author's text checked 1 time 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 Akhilles Nikolayevich Alferaki (1846 - 1919), "Musique et beauté", op. 16 (6 Романсов с сопровождением фортепиано (6 Romansov s soprovozhdeniem fortepiano)) no. 4 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Belaieff, also set in Russian (Русский) [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jules Beer (1843 - 1913), "Chanson", published [1854] [ soprano and piano ], Paris, Éd. L. Mayaud [sung text not yet checked]
- by Albert Cahen d’Anvers (1846 - 1903), "Chanson" [ medium voice and piano ], from Quatre mélodies, no. 2, Édition Flaxland [sung text not yet checked]
- by Maxime Jacob (1906 - 1977), "Chanson", 1926, published 1926 [ high voice and piano ], from Trois poésies d'A. de Musset, no. 2, Éd. Jean Jobert [sung text not yet checked]
- by Noël Lee (1924 - 2013), "Air doux et tendre", 2000, published 2000, first performed 2000 [ high voice and piano ], from Interrogations: Quatre mélodies sur des poésies de Musset, no. 3, Édition de l'auteur [sung text not yet checked]
- by Marcel Rémy , "Chanson", published 1935 [ medium voice and piano ], from Deux Mélodies, no. 1, Paris, Éd. 'Au Ménestrel' Heugel [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Martin Hahn , "Lied" ; composed by Joseph Marx.
- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation (M. P. ) by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Akhilles Nikolayevich Alferaki.
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Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2014-04-28
Line count: 12
Word count: 44
When sad events cause us to lose
Our sense of hope
And our good cheer,
Our melancholy's cure we find
In music's charms
And beauty's spell.
More helpful and of much more use
Is a fair face
Than an armed man,
And nothing's better than to hear
A gentle tune
That once we loved!
About the headline (FAQ)
Translations of titles:
"Air doux et tendre" = "Soft and gentle tune"
"Chanson" = "Song"
"Musique et beauté" = "Music and beauty"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (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.
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Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Louis Charles Alfred de Musset (1810 - 1857), "Chanson", written 1837?, appears in Poésies nouvelles
This text was added to the website: 2026-06-25
Line count: 12
Word count: 54