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by Albert Victor Samain (1858 - 1900)
Translation © by Peter Low
Silence !
Language: French (Français)
Our translations: ENG
Le silence descend en nous, Tes yeux mi-voilés sont plus doux ; Laisse mon coeur sur tes genoux. Sous ta chevelure épandue De ta robe un peu descendue Sort une blanche épaule nue. La parole a des notes d'or ; Le silence est [plus doux encor]1, Quand les coeurs sont pleins jusqu'au bord. Il est des soirs d'amour subtil, Des soirs où l'âme, semble-t-il, Ne tient qu'à peine par un fil... Il est des heures d'agonie Où l'on rêve la mort bénie Au long d'une étreinte infinie. La lampe douce se consume ; L'âme des roses nous parfume. Le Temps bat sa petite enclume. Oh ! s'en aller sans nul retour, Oh ! s'en aller avant le jour, Les mains toutes pleines d'amour ! Oh ! s'en aller sans violence, S'évanouir sans qu'on y pense D'une suprême défaillance... Silence !... Silence !... Silence !...
C. Tournemire sets stanzas 1, 5, 7-9
1 Enescu: "plus encor"
Text Authorship:
- by Albert Victor Samain (1858 - 1900), "Silence !", written 1893, appears in Au jardin de l'Infante, in L'urne penchée, no. 5, Paris, Éd. du Mercure de France, first published 1897 [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 Louis Aubert (1877 - 1968), "Silence", 1908, published 1909 [ medium voice and piano ], from Crépuscules d'automne, no. 3, Paris, Édition Durand [sung text not yet checked]
- by Marguerite Béclard d'Harcourt (1884 - 1964), "Silence", 1909, published 1909 [ medium voice and piano ], Éd. Demets (Max Eschig) [sung text not yet checked]
- by César Antonovich Cui (1835 - 1918), "Silence", published 1907 [ medium voice and piano ], from Trois mélodies, no. 1, Paris, Éditions L. Grus [sung text not yet checked]
- by Albert Diot (1867 - 1911), "Silence", published [1899] [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. A. Quinzard & Cie [sung text not yet checked]
- by George Enescu (1881 - 1955), "Silence !", 1905, published 1958 [ voice and piano ], Bucharest: Editura Muzicală a Uniunii Compozitorilor din R.P.R. [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Lucien Ferrier-Jourdain (1897 - 1991), "Silence !", 1918, published 1921 [ high voice and piano or orchestra ], Lyon, Éditions Jean C. Vincent [sung text not yet checked]
- by Raoul Gradis (1861 - 1943), "Silence" [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Désiré Émile Inghelbrecht (1880 - 1965), "Silence !", 1908, published 1911, first performed 1911 [ high voice and piano ], from Au Jardin de L'Infante, no. 3, Éd. Albert Zunz Mathot [sung text not yet checked]
- by Adela Maddison (c1862 - 1929), "Silence", published <<1900 [ medium voice and piano ], from Deux mélodies, paroles de Albert Samain, no. 2, Paris, Éd. J. Hamelle [sung text not yet checked]
- by Maurice Touchard (1879 - 1956), "Silence !", 1919, published 1923 [ high voice and piano ], Éd. Maurice Senart [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Tournemire (1870 - 1939), "Silence !", op. 46 (Trois Lieder) no. 1 (1912), stanzas 1,5,7-9 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Peter Low) , "Silence !", copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-07-07
Line count: 25
Word count: 135
Silence !
Language: English after the French (Français)
Silence descends into us, your semi-veiled eyes become gentler. Leave my heart on your knees. Under your spreading hair your dress has slipped a little exposing a naked white shoulder. Language has golden notes. Silence is even softer, when hearts are full to brimming. There are evenings of subtle love, evenings when the soul, it seems, is held by barely a thread... There are hours of agony when one dreams of a blessed death during an endless embrace. The soft lamp burns low, the soul of the roses perfumes us. Time beats his little anvil. Oh to depart with no return, oh to depart before daybreak, with hands full of love! Oh to depart without violence, to faint without realising it in a supreme blackout... Silence... silence... silence!
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2022 by Peter Low, (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:
- a text in French (Français) by Albert Victor Samain (1858 - 1900), "Silence !", written 1893, appears in Au jardin de l'Infante, in L'urne penchée, no. 5, Paris, Éd. du Mercure de France, first published 1897
This text was added to the website: 2022-05-25
Line count: 25
Word count: 128