Les gentilles étoiles brillaient pour nous

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by Aleksey Nikolayevich Pleshcheyev (1825 - 1893)

Translation © by Guy Laffaille

Нам звёзды кроткие сияли

Language: Russian (Русский)

Our translations: CHI ENG FRE

Нам звёзды кроткие сияли,
чуть веял тихий ветерок,
кругом цветы благоухали,
и волны ласково журчали
у наших ног.

Мы были юны, мы любили,
и с верой в даль смотрели мы;
в нас грёзы радужные жили,
и нам не страшны вьюги были
седой зимы.

Где ж эти ночи с их сияньем,
с благоухающей красой
и волн таинственным [ронтаньем]¹,
надежд, восторжённых мечтаний
где светлый рой? 

Померкли звёзды, и уныло
поникли блеклые цветы...
Когда ж, о сердце, все, что было,
что нам весна с тобой дарила,
забудешь ты?

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• P. Tchaikovsky

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¹ Tchaikovsky: "журчаньем" ("zhurchan'jem")

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Text Authorship:

by Aleksey Nikolayevich Pleshcheyev (1825 - 1893), "Слова для музыки" [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 Vasily Sergeyevich Kalinnikov (1866 - 1901), "Нам звёзды кроткие сияли" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Viktor Sergeyevich Kalinnikov (1870 - 1927), "Нам звёзды кроткие сияли" [ chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893), "Нам звёзды кроткие сияли", op. 60 (Двенадцать романсов = Dvenadcat' romansov (Twelve romances) = Zwölf Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebleitung) no. 12 (1886) [ voice and piano ], also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
by Sergey Vladimirovich Yuferov (1865 - 1927), "Нам звёзды кроткие сияли" [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 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
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Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 87

Les gentilles étoiles brillaient pour...

Language: French (Français) after the Russian (Русский)

Les gentilles étoiles brillaient pour nous,
Une douce brise soufflait,
Les fleurs lançaient leurs parfum tout autour,
Et les vagues murmuraient doucement
À nos pieds.

Nous étions jeunes, nous aimions,
Et avec confiance nous regardions le futur ;
Des rêves heureux vivaient en nous,
Et nous n'avions pas peur des tempêtes de neige
De l'hiver gris.

Où sont ces nuits pleines d'éclat,
Avec leur beauté parfumée,
Et le mystérieux murmure des vagues ?
D'espoirs, des rêves exaltés,
Où est le brillant essaim ?

Les étoiles ont faibli, et tristement
Les fleurs fanées ont perdu courage...
Quand, ô cœur, tous ceux qui étaient,
Ce que le printemps nous a donné,
Quand les oublieras-tu ?

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Text Authorship:

Translation from Russian (Русский) to French (Français) copyright © 2016 by Guy Laffaille, (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 Russian (Русский) by Aleksey Nikolayevich Pleshcheyev (1825 - 1893), "Слова для музыки"
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This text was added to the website: 2016-08-06
Line count: 20
Word count: 109