by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885)
À quoi bon entendre
Language: French (Français)
À quoi bon entendre Les oiseaux des bois ? L'oiseau le plus tendre Chante dans ta voix. Que Dieu montre ou voile Les astres des cieux ! La plus pure étoile Brille dans tes yeux. Qu'avril renouvelle Le jardin en fleur ! La fleur la plus belle Fleurit dans ton cœur. Cet [oiseau]1 de flamme, Cet astre du jour, Cette fleur de l'âme, S'appelle l'amour !
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 Chabrier: "fleur"
Text Authorship:
- by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885), "La Chanson des Lavandieres", appears in Ruy Blas, Act 2, Scene 1, first published 1838 [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 Gaetano Braga (1829 - 1907), "A quoi bon entendre", published [1862] [ high voice and piano ], from Six Mélodies de Gaetano Braga, no. 4, Éd. Flaxland [sung text not yet checked]
- by Emmanuel Chabrier (1841 - 1894), "Ruy Blas", 1866 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Léo Delibes (1836 - 1891), "Sérénade de Ruy-Blas", subtitle: "Chant des Lavandières", 1879, published 1879 [ tenor or soprano and piano ], Éd. Heugel 'Au Ménestrel', in 2 Nouvelles Sérénades. Chantée au Théâtre Français par Melle Coyon-Hervix [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Louis Diémer (1843 - 1919), "À quoi bon entendre les oiseaux des bois", 1865 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Michel Giuliani (1801 - 1867), "Ta voix, tes yeux, ton cœur", published 1852 [ mezzo-soprano or baritone and piano ], from Album de dix Mélodies romances et duos par M. Giuliani, no. 2, Paris, Éd. Brandus & Cie. [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Charles Jean Baptiste Grisart (1837 - 1904), "Stances", published [1898] [ high voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. 'Au Ménestrel' Henri Heugel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Léopold Ketten (1846 - 1932), "À quoi bon entendre" [ voice and piano ], from Dix mélodies, recueil 2, no. 1, Lausanne, Éd. Foetisch Frères [sung text not yet checked]
- by Halfdan Kjerulf (1815 - 1868), "Romance de Ruy Blas", op. 9 (Six romances françaises) no. 2 (1861) [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Victor Massé (1822 - 1884), "La chanson des Lavandieres", published 1861 [ vocal duet for soprano and mezzo-soprano with piano ], Éd. Choudens [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ethelbert Woodbridge Nevin (1862 - 1901), "La chanson des Lavandieres", op. 5 (Five songs) no. 2, published 1889 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Auguste Pilati (1810 - 1877), "Ruy Blas", subtitle: "Chant des Lavandières" [ soprano and piano ], Éd. A. Hélaine, Paris [sung text not yet checked]
- by Napoléon-Henri Reber (1807 - 1880), "Sous le balcon", 1869, published 1880 [ high voice and piano ], from Vingt mélodies pour chant et piano - 2ième receuil, no. 11, Éd. Richault [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gabriel Robert , "À quoi bon entendre", op. 32 (Quatre mélodies avec accompagnement de piano) no. 2, published 1911 [ high voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. Costallat [sung text not yet checked]
- by Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein (1829 - 1894), "Liebeswunder", published 1879? [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Senff; [sic] for title, found in Sitsky, Larry Anton Rubinstein: an annotated catalog of piano works and biography [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Camille Saint-Saëns (1835 - 1921), "À quoi bon entendre les oiseaux des bois?", 1868, published 1868 [ voice and piano ], Éd. G. Hartmann [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Charles Salvatoris , "Chant des lavandières dans Ruy Blas, drame de Victor Hugo" [ medium voice and piano ], Éd. Bernard Latte [sung text not yet checked]
- by Louis [Ludwig] Spohr (1784 - 1859), "À la bien aimée", WoO. 100 (1839) [ voice and piano ], also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Jean-Baptiste Théodore Weckerlin (1821 - 1910), "Sérénade tirée de Ruy Blas" [ high voice and piano ], from 25 Mélodies de J.B. Weckerlin, no. 24, Éd. Durand & Schoenewerck [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jacques-Michel Zoubaloff (1876 - 1941), "A quoi bon entendre" [ medium voice and piano ], from Mélodies, no. 7, Éd. Maurice Senart [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Louis [Ludwig] Spohr.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Karl Ferdinand von Dräxler-Manfred (1806 - 1879) ; composed by Felix Mendelssohn, Frank Valentin Van der Stucken.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Karl Gottlieb Reissiger.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CHI Chinese (中文) [singable] (Dr Huaixing Wang) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Jos. Van de Vijver) , "Serenade"
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , no title, copyright © 2016
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Alberto Bonati) , "Para qué escuchar", copyright © 2007, (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: 16
Word count: 63