by
Gérard Labrunie (1808 - 1855), as Gérard de Nerval
Il est un air pour qui je donnerais
Language: French (Français)
Il est un air pour qui je donnerais
Tout Rossini, tout Mozart, tout Weber,
Un air très vieux, languissant et funèbre,
Qui pour moi seul a des charmes secrets!
Et, chaque fois que je viens à l'entendre,
De deux cents ans mon âme rajeunit...
C'est sous Louis treize; et je crois voir s'étendre
Un coteau vert, que le couchant jaunit,
Puis un château de brique à coins de pierre,
Aux vitraux teints de rougeâtres couleurs,
Ceint de grands parcs, avec une rivière
Baignant ses pieds, qui coule entre des fleurs;
Puis une dame, à sa haute fenêtre,
Blonde aux yeux noirs, en ses habits anciens,
Que, dans une autre existence peut-être,
J'ai déjà vue... et dont je me souviens!
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
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 Auric (1899 - 1983), "Fantaisie", 1925, published 1925 [ medium voice and piano ], from Cinq Poèmes de Gérard de Nerval, no. 1, Paris, Heugel [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Charles Colas , "Le vieil air", published 1926 [ tenor and piano ], from Mélodies pour ténor, no. 1, Paris, Édition B. Roudanez [sung text not yet checked]
- by Colette Delatour (b. 1936) and by Ruth Matarasso , "Fantaisie", 1997 [ medium voice and piano ], from Les miroirs profonds, no. 11, revised 1998 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jacques Pillois (1877 - 1935), as Jacques Desky, "Il est un air", published 1919 [ medium voice and piano ], from Feuillets de guerre chantés (1914-1918), Receuil no. 1, no. 1, Éd. Albert Zunz Mathot [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (David Jonathan Justman) , no title, copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 119
There is an air for which I would give
Language: English after the French (Français)
There is an air for which I would give
All Rossini, all Mozart, all Weber,
A very old, languid, funereal air,
Which has secret charms for me alone.
And every time I come to hear it,
My heart becomes two hundred years younger...
It's under Louis XIII, and I seem to see
a green hill extending, yellowed by the setting sun.
Then a brick chateau with corners of stone,
With windows tinted in reddish colors,
Surrounded by great parks, with a river
Bathing its feet, flowing among the flowers;
Then a lady at her high window,
Blonde with black eyes, in her ancient clothes,
Whom I had already seen, perhaps in another existence... And whom I remember!
About the headline (FAQ)
Translation of title "Fantaisie" = "Fantasy"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © by David Jonathan Justman, (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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 15
Word count: 118
