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by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896)
Translation © by Salvador Pila
Écoutez la chanson bien douce
Language: French (Français)
Écoutez la chanson bien douce Qui ne pleure que pour vous plaire, Elle est discrète, elle est légère : Un frisson d'eau sur de la mousse ! La voix vous fut connue (et chère ?) Mais à présent elle est voilée Comme une veuve désolée, Pourtant comme elle encore fière, Et dans les longs plis de son voile, Qui palpite aux brises d'automne. Cache et montre au cœur qui s'étonne La vérité comme une étoile. Elle dit, la voix reconnue, Que la bonté c'est notre vie, Que de la haine et de l'envie Rien ne reste, la mort venue. Elle parle aussi de la gloire D'être simple sans plus attendre, Et de noces d'or et du tendre Bonheur d'une paix sans victoire. Accueillez la voix qui persiste Dans son naïf épithalame. Allez, rien n'est meilleur à l'âme Que de faire une âme moins triste ! Elle est en peine et de passage, L'âme qui souffre sans colère, Et comme sa morale est claire !... Écoutez la chanson bien sage.
E. Chausson sets stanzas 1-4, 6-7
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), no title, appears in Sagesse, in Sagesse I, no. 16, first published 1880 [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 Georges Alary (1850 - 1928), "Écoutez la chanson bien douce", op. 37 no. ?, published 1899 [ chorus a cappella ], from Chœurs sans accompagnement, no. 3, Paris, Durdilly [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jean-Guy Bailly (1925 - 2009), "Écoutez la chanson bien douce", 2004 [ high voice and piano ], from Deux Poèmes extraits de “Sagesse” de Paul Verlaine, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Philippe Bellenot (1860 - 1928), "Écoutez la chanson bien douce", published 1930 [ speaker and piano or violin? ], Paris, Schneider [sung text not yet checked]
- by Nadia Boulanger (1887 - 1979), "Écoutez la chanson bien douce", 1905 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Marguerite Canal (1890 - 1978), "Écoutez la chanson bien douce", published 1931, from Sagesse, no. 6, Paris, Heugel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ernest Amédée Chausson (1855 - 1899), "La chanson bien douce", op. 34 no. 1, published 1898, stanzas 1-4,6-7 [ voice and piano ], from Deux Poèmes de Verlaine, no. 1, Paris, Rouart Lerolle [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Paul Dessau (1894 - 1979), "Écoutez la chanson bien douce", 1939 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Alphons Diepenbrock (1862 - 1921), "Écoutez la chanson bien douce", 1898, published 1898, orchestrated 1907 [ medium voice and piano ], stanza 3 was left out of the 1898 edition and added in the 1905 edition ; Amsterdam, Alsbach [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Albert Diot (1867 - 1911), "Écoutez la chanson bien douce", published 1901 [ voice and piano ], from Trois Mélodies, no. 3, Éd. Société Nouvelle d'Éditions Musicales, Ancien fonds Paul Dupont [sung text not yet checked]
- by André Dulaurens (1873 - 1932), "Écoutez la chanson bien douce" [ chorus and orchestra ], unpublished [sung text not yet checked]
- by Léo Ferré (1916 - 1993), "Écoutez la chanson bien douce", 1965? [ voice and piano ], unpublished [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Gabriel Grovlez (1879 - 1944), "Écoutez la chanson bien douce", 1909, published 1910 [ voice and piano ], from Sagesse, no. 1, Paris, Schott [sung text not yet checked]
- by Pierre Hermant (1869 - 1928), "Écoutez la chanson bien douce", published 1904 [ voice and piano ], from Sagesse, no. 4, Paris, Énoch [sung text not yet checked]
- by Emmanuel Hieaux (b. 1958), "Écoutez la chanson bien douce", 2014 [ soprano and piano ], from Quatre impressions rehaussées de deuil, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Philippe Mazé (b. 1954), "La Chanson bien douce", 2004, published 2005 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], from Cinq Mélodies sur des textes de Paul Verlaine for Soprano or Tenor and piano, no. 4, United Music Publishers Ltd [sung text not yet checked]
- by François Ninnin , "Écoutez la chanson bien douce", published 1964 [ vocal trio a cappella ], from Cantilènes III, no. 7, Paris, Presses de l'Île de France [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jean-Frédéric Perrenoud (b. 1912), "Chanson", published [1958] [ voice and piano ], from Sagesse : Trois poèmes de Verlaine, no. 2, Paris, J.-F. Perrenoud [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gustave Sandré (1843 - 1916), "Écoutez la chanson bien douce", op. 56 no. 3, published 1897, from Trois mélodies sur des poésies de Verlaine, no. 3, Paris, Leduc [sung text not yet checked]
- by Georges Schott, dit Serge Chotowski (1855 - 1965), "Écoutez la chanson bien douce", 1958 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Peter Low) , copyright © 2021, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- POL Polish (Polski) (Bronisława Ostrowska) , "Posłuchajcie piosenki", Kraków, J. Mortkowicz, first published 1911
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 28
Word count: 169
Escolteu la cançó ben dolça
Language: Catalan (Català) after the French (Français)
Escolteu la cançó ben dolça que només plora per complaure-us, ella és discreta, ella és lleugera: una frisança d’aigua damunt la molsa! La veu us era coneguda (i estimada?) però ara està velada com una vídua desconsolada i tanmateix altiva com ella, i en els llargs plecs del seu vel, que batega al ventijol de tardor, amaga i mostra al cor que es sorprèn, la veritat com una estrella. Diu, la veu reconeguda, que la bondat és la nostra vida, que de l’odi i l’enveja, res en queda un cop vinguda la mort. Parla també de la glòria de ser senzill sense esperar res, i de noces d’or i de la tendra felicitat d’una pau sense victòria. Acolliu la veu que persisteix en el seu càndid epitalami. Au, res és millor per a l’ànima que fer menys trista una altra ànima! Ella està en pena i està de pas, l’ànima que pateix sense ràbia, i com la seva moral és clara! ... Escolteu la cançó ben sàvia.
About the headline (FAQ)
Translation of title "La chanson bien douce" = "La cançó ben dolça"Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to Catalan (Català) copyright © 2016 by Salvador Pila, (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.
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Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896), no title, appears in Sagesse, in Sagesse I, no. 16, first published 1880
This text was added to the website: 2016-06-30
Line count: 28
Word count: 167