Notes provided by Laura Prichard about the song by Alexandre Georges: The poetic text in the preface to Georges’ complete score is preceded with this introduction:
“Et tandis que la pluie tombait toujours, Miarka, tenant la Vougne étroitement embrassée, reçut dans un baiser le dernier soupir de la farouche romané. Miarka qui rhabillait sa grandmère, pendant que des hommes creusaient un trou, chantonna d’une voix triste et douce, à travers la pluie et à travers ses larmes, la chanson romané.” (Roman page 237) [And as the rain continued to fall, Miarka, holding La Vougne tightly in her embrace, kissed the fierce Roma upon her last breath. Miarka, who was dressing her grandmother, while men dug a hole, sang in a sad, sweet voice, through the rain and through her tears, this Romani song.] For the final stanza, repeating the text of the first stanza, the composer writes, “A partir du Largo des chœurs peuvent chanter à l’unisson avec le récitant. (Les parties de chœur sont gravées.)” [From the Largo onwards, the choir can sing in unison with the narrator. (The choir parts are engraved as a separate part).]

Composition:

Set to music by Ernest Amédée Chausson (1855 - 1899), "Les morts", op. 17 no. 1 (1888), first performed 1897 [ high voice and piano or orchestra ], from Deux Chansons de Miarka, no. 1, Éd. Bornemann

Text Authorship:

• by Jean Richepin (1849 - 1926), no title, written 1883, appears in Miarka la fille à l'ours, in 4. Miarka n'aime pas, Paris, Éd. Charpentier, chapter 7, page 237, first published 1883

See other settings of this text.

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 18
Word count: 109