Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.
It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.
If you wish to reprint translations, please use the Reprint Basket (upper right hand corner).
Reminder: You must always use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.
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:
- by Gérard Labrunie (1808 - 1855), as Gérard de Nerval, "Fantaisie", appears in Odelettes rythmiques et lyriques [author's text not yet checked 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 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 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.
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Gérard Labrunie (1808 - 1855), as Gérard de Nerval, "Fantaisie", appears in Odelettes rythmiques et lyriques
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 15
Word count: 118