by Pierre Letourneur (1736 - 1788)
Translation by Johann Gottfried Herder (1744 - 1803)
Au pied d’un saule assise tous les jours
Language: French (Français) after the English
Au pied d’un saule assise tous les jours Mais sur son cœur que navrait sa blessure Tête baissée en dolente posture On l’entendrait qui pleurait ses amours Chantez le saule et sa douce verdure. Et cependant les limpides ruisseaux A ses sanglots mêlaient leur doux murmure. Pleurs de ses yeux s’échappaient sans mesure, Qui les rochers affligeaient sur ses maux. Chantez le saule et sa douce verdure. O saule verd, saule que je chéris ! Saule d’amour, seras ma parure : Ne l’accusez des ennuis que j’endure ; Je lui pardonne, helas ! tous ses mépris. Chantez le saule et sa douce verdure. A cet ingrat qui trahit ses sermons, Je reprochais tendrement mon injure, Imite-moi, répondit le parjure ; Ouvre ton cœur à de nouveaux amans. Chantez le saule et sa douce verdure.
J. Tiersot sets stanzas 1-3
About the headline (FAQ)
Note: The text was chosen by Mme. Corancez for Rousseau to set to music, as described in Poet-Lore, A Monthly Magazine Devoted to Shake-Speare, Browning, and the Comparative Study of Literature, Volume 1, Philadelphia, 1889, page 173
Text Authorship:
- by Pierre Letourneur (1736 - 1788) [an adaptation] [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), appears in The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice, Act IV scene 3 [an adaptation]
Based on:
- a text in Middle English from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , "Willow song", first published 1583
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712 - 1778), "Romance de Shakespear, chantée par Desdemona dans Othello", published 1781, from Les Consolations des misères de ma vie, Paris, De Roullede, de la Chevardière [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Maria Szymanowska, née Marianna Agata Wołowska (1789 - 1831), "Romance du saule", subtitle: "de Shakespear", published 1819 [ voice and piano ], from Six Romances avec accompaniment de piano-forte, no. 2, Leipzig : Breitkopf u. Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Julien Tiersot (1857 - 1936), "Romance du Saule", stanzas 1-3 [ medium voice and piano ], from Chants de la vieille France: 20 mélodies et chansons du XIIIè au XVIIIè siècles, no. 19, Éd. 'Au Ménestrel' Heugel ; after a melody by Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in Danish (Dansk), a translation by Edvard Lembcke (1815 - 1897) ; composed by Peter Arnold Heise.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Also set in English, [adaptation] ; composed by Percy Aldridge Grainger.
- Also set in English, [adaptation] ; composed by Peter Warlock.
- Also set in English, [adaptation] ; composed by Edmund Horace Fellowes.
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by Jean-François Ducis (1733 - 1816) , "Romance du saule" [an adaptation] ; composed by André Ernest Modeste Grétry, Julien Tiersot.
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by Henri Bassis (1916 - 1992) , copyright © ; composed by Joseph Kosma.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- 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 Carl Loewe.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist [an adaptation] ; composed by Wilhelm Petersen.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist [an adaptation] ; composed by Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Wolfgang Fortner.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation possibly by Johann Michael Vogl (1768 - 1840); composed by Johann Michael Vogl.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Karl Georg Mantey ; composed by Wolfgang Fortner.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Johann Gottfried Herder (1744 - 1803) , "Lied der Desdemona", subtitle: "Aus dem Französischen", appears in Stimmen der Völker in Liedern, no. 62, first published c1800 ; composed by Adolf Jensen, Mathilde von Kralik.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Hermann Wichmann.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Boris Leonidovich Pasternak (1890 - 1960) ; composed by Georgiy Vasil'yevich Sviridov.
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Iain Sneddon [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2019-08-27
Line count: 20
Word count: 129
Lied der Desdemona
Language: German (Deutsch) after the French (Français)
An einem Baum, am Weidenbaum saß sie
Gedrückt die Hand zum Herzen, schwer vom Leide,
Gesenkt das Haupt, auf ewig fern der Freude,
So weinte sie, so sang sie spät und früh:
Singt alle Weide!
Singt meine süße, liebe, grüne Weide,
Liebe, grüne Weide!
Der helle Strom, er fühlet mit ihr Ach!
Er rauschet sanft zu ihren Klagetönen,
Der Fels in ihm erweicht von ihren Thränen,
Hallt traurig den gebrochnen Seufzer nach.
Singt alle Weide!
Singt meine süße, liebe, grüne Weide,
Liebe, grüne Weide!
Du hangend Laub, geliebte Weide du,
Was neigst du dich herab zu meinem Leide?
Mir Kranz zu sein in meinem Leichenkleide!
Hier schwur er mir; hier find‘ ich meine Ruh.
Singt alle Weide!
Singt meine süße, liebe, grüne Weide,
Liebe, grüne Weide!
Er schwur mir Treu. Treuloser, lebe wohl!
Ich flehte dir: soll ohne dich ich leben?
»Du kannst dein Herz ja einem andern geben.«
So spracht du mir. Leb‘ wohl, leb‘ ewig wohl!
Singt alle Weide!
Singt meine süße, liebe, grüne Weide,
Liebe, grüne Weide!
M. von Kralik sets stanzas 1-3
Confirmed with Stimmen der Völker in Liedern by Johan Gottfried Herder, Zweites Buch, Otto Hendel, Halle an der Saale undated, c. 1840, page 166.
Text Authorship:
- by Johann Gottfried Herder (1744 - 1803), "Lied der Desdemona", subtitle: "Aus dem Französischen", appears in Stimmen der Völker in Liedern, no. 62, first published c1800 [author's text checked 2 times against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Pierre Letourneur (1736 - 1788) [an adaptation]
Based on:
- a text in English by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), appears in The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice, Act IV scene 3 [an adaptation]
Based on:
- a text in Middle English from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , "Willow song", first published 1583
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Adolf Jensen (1837 - 1879), "Lied der Desdemona", op. 58 no. 4, published 1877 [ voice and piano ], from Vier Gesänge aus “Stimmen der Völker” für eine mittlere Stimme und Pianoforte, no. 4, Breslau, Julius Hainauer [sung text not yet checked]
- by Mathilde von Kralik (1857 - 1944), "Lied der Desdemona", published 1899, stanzas 1-3 [ voice and piano ], from Jugend-Lieder, no. 5, Wien : Albert J. Gutmann [sung text checked 1 time]
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Bertram Kottmann , Iain Sneddon [Guest Editor] , Johann Winkler
This text was added to the website: 2019-08-26
Line count: 28
Word count: 172