by
Henri Cazalis (1840 - 1909), as Jean Lahor
Nuit d'autrefois
Language: French (Français)
Te la rappelles-tu, cette nuit parfumée,
L'inoubliable nuit où je t'ai tant aimée,
Où le silence était en nous, autour de nous,
Mystérieusement, ineffablement doux,
Profond comme il n'est pas de musique profonde ?
Le rêve fait par nous était si loin du monde !
Le jardin clair s'ouvrait comme un parc enchanté ;
Sous l'orbe jaune et chaud de la lune d'été,
Parmi les grands lys blancs, les touffes d'azalées,
Lentement nous suivions la courbe des allées
Et nous taisions, et seuls nos cœurs se répondaient,
Et, mourants, dans la nuit immense se fondaient ! ...
Confirmed with Œuvres de Jean Lahor: L'illusion, Paris: Alphonse Lemerre, 1925, Page 46.
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 René-Emmanuel Baton (1879 - 1940), as Rhené-Baton, "Nuit d'autrefois", op. 16 no. 1 (1911), published 1912 [ medium voice and piano ], from Cinq mélodies sur des poèmes de Jean Lahor, no. 1, Paris, Éd. Durand [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Paul Lacombe (1837 - 1927), "Nuit d'autrefois", published [1909] [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. J. Hamelle [sung text not yet checked]
- by Johann Heinrich Samuel "Marcel" Sulzberger (1876 - 1941), "Nuit d'autrefois", 1910 [ voice and piano ], Zentralbibliothek Zürich, MS [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "Long-ago Night", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Grant Hicks
[Guest Editor] , Paul Hindemith
This text was added to the website: 2009-09-17
Line count: 12
Word count: 92
Long‑ago Night
Language: English after the French (Français)
Do you recall that perfumed night,
The unforgettable night when I loved you so,
When the silence was in us, around us,
Mysteriously, indescribably gentle,
Deeper than the deepest music?
The dream we made was so distant from the world!
The bright garden spread out like an enchanted park;
Beneath the warm yellow orb of the summer moon,
Among the tall white lilies, the clusters of azaleas,
Slowly we followed the curve of the footpaths
And kept silent, and only our hearts answered each other,
And, dying, dissolved together into the vast night!...
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2025 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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2025-08-25
Line count: 12
Word count: 93
