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Gallant festivities
Song Cycle by Claude Achille Debussy (1862 - 1918)
View original-language texts alone: Fêtes Galantes I
Calmes dans le demi-jour Que les branches hautes font, Pénétrons bien notre amour De ce silence profond. [Fondons]1 nos âmes, nos cœurs Et nos sens extasiés, Parmi les vagues langueurs Des pins et des arbousiers. Ferme tes yeux à demi, Croise tes bras sur ton sein, Et de ton cœur endormi Chasse à jamais tout dessein. Laissons-nous persuader Au souffle berceur et doux, Qui vient à tes pieds rider Les ondes des gazons roux. Et quand, solennel, le soir Des chênes noirs tombera, Voix de notre désespoir, Le rossignol chantera.
Authorship:
- by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), "En sourdine", written 1868, appears in Fêtes galantes, no. 21, first published 1868
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Anna Brull Piñol) , "Calms, dins el capvespre", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- CAT Catalan (Català) [singable] (Núria Colomer) , copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Muted", copyright ©
- ENG English (Laura Claycomb) (Peter Grunberg) , "Muted", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Elaine Marie Ortiz-Arandes) (Julie Nezami-Tavi) , copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Gedämpften Tons", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GRE Greek (Ελληνικά) [singable] (Christakis Poumbouris) , "Απαλή αγάπη", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Pablo Sabat) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Elisa Rapado) , "En voz baja", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Confirmed with Paul Verlaine, Fêtes galantes, Paris: Alphonse Lemerre, 1869, pages 49-50. Note: first appeared in the journal L'Artiste, July 1, 1868, and then in 1869 in Fêtes galantes, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre.
Note: The ampersands (&) as appear in the first publication are changed to "et".
1 Fauré: "Mêlons"Research team for this page: Didier Pelat , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
Calm in the half-day That the high branches make, Let us soak well our love In this profound silence. Let us mingle our souls, our hearts And our ecstatic senses Among the vague langours Of the pines and the bushes. Close your eyes halfway, Cross your arms on your breast, And from your sleeping heart Chase away forever all plans. Let us abandon ourselves To the breeze, rocking and soft, Which comes to your feet to wrinkle The waves of auburn lawns. And when, solemnly, the evening From the black oaks falls, The voice of our despair, The nightingale, will sing.
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust
Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:
Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
from the LiederNet Archive -- https://www.lieder.net/For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.
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Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), "En sourdine", written 1868, appears in Fêtes galantes, no. 21, first published 1868
Go to the single-text view
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 101
Scaramouche et Pulcinella Qu'un mauvais dessein rassembla Gesticulent, noirs [sur]1 la lune. Cependant l'excellent docteur Bolonais cueille avec lenteur Des simples parmi l'herbe brune. Lors sa fille, piquant minois, Sous la charmille, en tapinois, Se glisse demi-nue, en quête De son beau pirate espagnol Dont un [langoureux]2 rossignol Clame la détresse à tue-tête.
Authorship:
- by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), "Fantoches", appears in Fêtes galantes, no. 11, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1869
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Anna Brull Piñol) , "Titelles", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Laura Claycomb) (Peter Grunberg) , "Puppets", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , "Marionetit", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Marionetten", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Elaine Marie Ortiz-Arandes) , "Marionetten", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Confirmed with Paul Verlaine, Fêtes galantes, Paris: Alphonse Lemerre, 1869, pages 25-26.
Note: All ampersands (&) as appear in the first publication are changed to "et".
1 Debussy: "sous"2 Debussy: "amoureux"
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
Scaramouche and Pulcinella, brought together by some evil scheme gesticulate, black beneath the moon. Meanwhile, the learned doctor from Bologna slowly gathers medicinal herbs in the brown grass. Then his sassy-faced daughter sneaks underneath the arbor half-naked, in quest Of her handsome Spanish pirate, whose distress a languorous nightingale deafeningly proclaims.
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2007 by Laura Claycomb and Peter Grunberg, (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 French (Français) by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), "Fantoches", appears in Fêtes galantes, no. 11, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1869
Go to the single-text view
This text was added to the website: 2007-10-25
Line count: 12
Word count: 51
Votre âme est un paysage choisi Que vont charmant masques et bergamasques Jouant du luth et dansant et quasi Tristes sous leurs déguisements fantasques. Tout en chantant sur le mode mineur L'amour vainqueur et la vie opportune, Ils n'ont pas l'air de croire à leur bonheur Et leur chanson se mêle au clair de lune, Au calme clair de lune triste et beau, Qui fait rêver les oiseaux [dans]1 les arbres Et sangloter d'extase les jets d'eau, Les grands jets d'eau sveltes parmi les marbres.
Authorship:
- by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), "Clair de lune", written 1867, appears in Fêtes galantes, no. 1, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1867
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Anna Brull Piñol) , "Clar de Lluna", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- CAT Catalan (Català) [singable] (Núria Colomer) , copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- CHI Chinese (中文) (Yen-Chiang Che) , "月光", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Peter Low) , no title, copyright © 2000, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (William Faulkner) , "Clair de lune", first published 1920
- GER German (Deutsch) (Nele Gramß) , "Mondlicht", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Bertram Kottmann) , "Mondlicht", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Pierre Mathé) , "Mondschein", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- SPA Spanish (Español) (José Miguel Llata) , copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Elisa Rapado) , copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Confirmed with Paul Verlaine, Fêtes galantes, Paris: Alphonse Lemerre, 1869, pages 1-2. First appeared in the journal La Gazette rimée, February 20, 1867.
Note: All ampersands (&) as appear in the first publication are changed to "et".
1 Diepenbrock: "sous"Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
Your soul is a chosen landscape charmed by masquers and revellers playing the lute and dancing and almost sad beneath their fanciful disguises! Even while singing, in a minor key, of victorious love and fortunate living they do not seem to believe in their happiness, and their song mingles with the moonlight, the calm moonlight, sad and beautiful, which sets the birds in the trees dreaming, and makes the fountains sob with ecstasy, the tall slender fountains among the marble statues!
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2000 by Peter Low, (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 French (Français) by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), "Clair de lune", written 1867, appears in Fêtes galantes, no. 1, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1867
Go to the single-text view
Translation of title "Clair de lune" = "Moonlight"
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 81