En sourdine | Calmes dans le demi-jour

Calmes dans le demi‑jour

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: CAT CAT ENG ENG GER GER GRE SPA SPA

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.

Available sung texts: ← What is this?

• G. Fauré

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

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"

Text Authorship:

by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), "En sourdine", written 1868, appears in Fêtes galantes, no. 21, first published 1868 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Marie Bellenger (1860 - 1908), "En sourdine", 1892 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Paul Bonneau (1918 - 1995), "En sourdine", published 1955 [ voice and piano ], from Six poésies de Paul Verlaine, no. 3, Paris, S. E. M. I. [sung text not yet checked]
by Bertha Busine , "En sourdine", [1910] [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Joseph Canteloube (1879 - 1957), "En sourdine", op. 6 (1903) [ voice and piano ], Paris, Hamelle [sung text not yet checked]
by John Alden Carpenter (1876 - 1951), "En sourdine", published 1912 [ voice and piano ], Boston, Ditson, also set in English [sung text checked 1 time]
by René Chansarel (1864 - 1945), "En sourdine", published 1902 [ voice and piano ], Paris, Hachette [sung text not yet checked]
by Reine Colaço Osorio-Swaab (1881 - 1971), "Fêtes galantes", subtitle: "En Sourdine", 1932, published 1950 [ voice and piano ], Amsterdam, Donemus [sung text not yet checked]
by Félipe Comas , "En sourdine", published 1900 [ voice and piano ], Paris, Hachette [sung text not yet checked]
by Gérard Condé (b. 1947), "En sourdine", 1973, published 2001 [ reciter and piano ], from Fêtes galantes, récitation accompagnée au piano, no. 7, Éd. Henry Lemoine [sung text not yet checked]
by Suzanne Coquelin (flourished c1912), "En sourdine", 1910, published 1911 [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. Édouard Jouve [sung text not yet checked]
by Claude Achille Debussy (1862 - 1918), "En sourdine", L. 86/(80) no. 1 (1891) [ voice and piano ], from Fêtes Galantes I, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Claude Achille Debussy (1862 - 1918), "En sourdine", alternate title: "Calme dans le demi-jour", L. 42/(28) (1888), published 1944 [ voice and piano ], the first of two settings [sung text checked 1 time]
by Auguste Descarries (1896 - 1958), "En sourdine", 1948, published 2015 [ voice, piano ], Les Éditions Outremontaises - 2015 [sung text not yet checked]
by Fidès Devriès (1852 - 1941?), "En sourdine", published 1907 [ voice and piano ], Paris, Choudens [sung text not yet checked]
by Alphons Diepenbrock (1862 - 1921), "En sourdine", 1909, published 1934 [ voice and piano ], Amsterdam, Alsbach & Co [sung text checked 1 time]
by André Dulaurens (1873 - 1932), "En sourdine" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Frédéric d'Erlanger, Baron (1868 - 1943), "En sourdine", published 1922 [ voice and piano ], Paris, Rouart Lerolle [sung text not yet checked]
by Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924), "En sourdine", op. 58 no. 2 (1891), published 1891 [ voice and piano ], from Cinq mélodies "de Venise", no. 2, Paris, Hamelle [sung text checked 1 time]
by Félix-Alfred Fourdrain (1880 - 1923), "Recueillement", 1902 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Philippe Gaubert (1879 - 1941), "En sourdine", 1920, published 1920 [ medium voice and piano ], from Six mélodies, no. 4, Paris, Durand [sung text not yet checked]
by Hercule Gilles de Fontenailles (1858 - 1922), "En sourdine", published 1913 [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. Rouart, Lerolle (Salabert) [sung text not yet checked]
by Reynaldo Hahn (1874 - 1947), "En sourdine", 1893, published 1893 [ voice and piano ], from Chansons grises, no. 4, Paris, Heugel [sung text checked 1 time]
by Robert Herberigs (1886 - 1974), "En sourdine", published 1906-10 [ voice and piano ], from Quatre mélodies, no. 1, Gant, Oscar Berte [sung text not yet checked]
by Hugo Herrmann (1896 - 1967), "En sourdine", 1950 [ voice and piano ], from Sérénata, no. 1, also set in German [sung text not yet checked]
by Clayton Johns (1857 - 1932), "En sourdine", published c1895 [ voice and piano ], Boston, Boston Music Co., also set in English [sung text not yet checked]
by C. F. Karthaus , "En sourdine" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Lou Koster (1889 - 1973), "En sourdine", 1935, published [1955] [ high voice and piano ], from 5 Mélodies [later 6 mélodies], no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Eugène-Émile Lacroix , "En sourdine", published 1898 [ voice and piano ], from Mélodies de Paul Verlaine, no. 3, Demets [sung text not yet checked]
by Raoul Laparra (1876 - 1943), "En sourdine", published 1927 [ voice and piano ], from Pastels, suite de mélodies sur des Fétes galantes , no. 2, Paris, Gallet [sung text not yet checked]
by Sylvio Lazzari (1857 - 1944), "En sourdine", 1892, published 1892 [ voice and piano ], from À l'Absente, no. 2, Paris, Hamelle [sung text not yet checked]
by Xavier Henri Napoleon Leroux (1863 - 1919), "Recueillement", published 1892 [ voice and piano ], Paris, Heugel [sung text not yet checked]
by Michel Maurice Lévy, dit Betove (1883 - 1965), "En sourdine", [1906] [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Guy de Rougelot de Lioncourt (1885 - 1961), "Calmes dans le demi-jour", published 1911 [ high voice and piano ], from Six mélodies, no. 4, Paris, Éd. Mutuelle [sung text not yet checked]
by Charles Martin Tornov Loeffler (1861 - 1935), "Rêverie en sourdine" [ viola, piano, and voice ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Gaston Marchet , "En sourdine", published [1920] [ voice, piano, and violin or viola d'amore ], from Deux mélodies, no. 1, Paris, Édition Maurice Sénart [sung text not yet checked]
by Philippe Mazé (b. 1954), "En sourdine", 2004, published 2005 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], from Cinq Mélodies sur des textes de Paul Verlaine for Soprano or Tenor and piano, no. 2, United Music Publishers Ltd [sung text not yet checked]
by Paul Michoudet , "En sourdine", published 1923 [ voice and piano ], Paris, P. Michoudet [sung text not yet checked]
by Klaus Miehling (b. 1963), "En sourdine", op. 345 (Drei Chorlieder nach Paul Verlaine für vierstimmigen Chor (SATB) und Horn) no. 1 (2022) [ SATB chorus and horn ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Hyppolyte Mirande (1862 - 1938), "En sourdine", published 1901 [ voice and piano ], from Quinze poèmes mis en musique, no. 6, Lyon [sung text not yet checked]
by Georges (Jerzy) Nawrocki , "En sourdine", 1971/1972 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Marcel Noël (1857 - 1935), "En sourdine", published 1905 [ voice and piano ], from Dix mélodies, no. 9, Paris, Hamelle [sung text not yet checked]
by Héctor Panizza (1875 - 1967), "En sourdine", op. 24 no. 4 (1899) [ voice and piano ], from Neuf poésies de Paul Verlaine, no. 4, Milan, Ricordi [sung text not yet checked]
by Riccardo Pick-Mangiagalli (1882 - 1949), "En sourdine", published 1912 [ voice and piano ], from Fêtes galantes, no. 3, Milan, Ricordi [sung text not yet checked]
by Irena Regina Poldowski (1880 - 1932), "En sourdine", published 1911 [ high voice and piano ], from Trois mélodies sur des poésies de Paul Verlaine, no. 3, Paris, Durand [sung text not yet checked]
by Léo Sachs (1856 - 1930), "En sourdine", published 1902 [ voice and piano ], Paris, Durand [sung text not yet checked]
by Gabriel de Saint-Quentin (1846 - 1926), "En sourdine", published 1899 [ voice and piano ], from Vingt mélodies, no. 17, from Dix mélodies célèbres, no. 8, Paris, Énoch (Vingt mélodies, 1899) ; Éd Fromont (Dix mélodies) [sung text not yet checked]
by Pierre Salet (1875 - 1936), "En sourdine", published 1902 [ voice and piano ], Paris, Prioré [sung text not yet checked]
by Pierre Salet (1875 - 1936), "En Sourdine", published 1921 [ medium voice and piano ], from Fêtes galantes, no. 3, Paris Éd. B. Roudanez [sung text not yet checked]
by Lazare Saminsky (1882 - 1959), "En sourdine", op. 5 no. 4 (1914) [ voice and piano ], from Cycle Verlaine, no. 4, Moscow, 1914 ; Paris, Sénart, 1927 ; also set in Russian and German [sung text not yet checked]
by Gaston Saux , "En sourdine", [1914] [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Ph. Souhart , "En sourdine", published [1912] [ voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. L. Grus [sung text not yet checked]
by Marcel Stern , "En sourdine", 1938 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Jean.-P. Strauwen , "En sourdine", published 1910 [ voice and piano ], Bruxelles, G. Œrtel [sung text not yet checked]
by Jósef-Zygmunt Szulc (1875 - 1956), "En sourdine", op. 83 (Dix mélodies sur des poésies de Verlaine) no. 9, published 1907 [ voice and piano ], Paris, Rouart Lerolle [sung text not yet checked]
by Marc Vaubourgouin (1907 - 1983), "En sourdine", published [1949] [ voice and piano ], S^té Édifrance [sung text not yet checked]
by Bernard Wagenaar (1894 - 1971), "Calmes dans le demi-jour", published 1926 [ voice and piano ], from Three songs, no. 1, New York, Schirmer, also set in English [sung text not yet checked]
by Marguerite Wagnière (1875 - 1959), "En sourdine", [1944] [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in English, a translation by John Alden Carpenter (1876 - 1951) , "When the misty shadows glide" ; composed by John Alden Carpenter.
- Go to the text.
Also set in English, a translation by Robert A. Simon ; composed by Bernard Wagenaar.
- Go to the text.
Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Clayton Johns.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by C. F. Karthaus, F. E. Simon.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Franz Evers (1871 - 1947) , "In stiller Dämmerung" ; composed by Richard Trunk.
- Go to the text.

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

Research team for this page: Didier Pelat , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 91