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Lut, compagnon de ma calamité. De mes soupirs témoin irréprochable. De mes ennuis controlleur veritable. Tu as souuent auec moy lamenté : Et tant le pleur piteus t'a molesté, Que commençant quelque son delectable, Tu le rendois tout soudein lamentable, Feignant le ton que plein auoit chanté. Et si te veus efforcer au contraire. Tu te destens & si me contreins taire : Mais me voyant tendrement soupirer, Donnant faueur à ma tant triste pleinte : En mes ennuis me plaire suis contreinte. Et d'un dous mal douce fin esperer.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Œuvres de Louise Labé, texte établi par Charles Boy, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, 1887, pages 99-100.
Text Authorship:
- by Louise Labé (1526 - 1566), no title, written 1552, appears in Sonnets, no. 12, first published 1555 [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 Konrad Boehmer (b. 1941), "Lute, compagnon", published 1980 [ soprano, flute, and percussion ], from Je vis - je meurs, no. 6, Darmstadt, Tonos [sung text not yet checked]
- by Michel Bosc (b. 1963), "Lut, compagnon de ma calamité", 2018 [ medium voice and piano ], from Deux sonnets de Louise Labé, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Thomas Oboe Lee (b. 1945), "Lut, compagnon de ma calamité", 2021 [ soprano and piano ], from Sept Sonnets de Louise Labé, no. 5, SMP Press [sung text not yet checked]
- by Aribert Reimann (b. 1936), "Lut, compagnon de ma calamité", op. 10 no. 5 (1986), published 1988 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Neun Sonette der Louize Labé, no. 5, Mainz, B. Schott's Söhne; confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ennemond Trillat (1890 - 1980), "Le Luth", 1935 [ high voice and piano or harpsichord ], Lyon, Édition "Le Luth", Béal [sung text not yet checked]
- by Viktor Ullmann (1898 - 1944), "Lut, compagnon", op. 34 no. 4, published 1941 [ soprano and piano ], from Six Sonnets de Louïze Labé, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926) , no title, appears in Die vierundzwanzig Sonette der Louize Labé, Lyoneserin : 1555, no. 12, Leipzig, Insel-Verlag, first published 1917 ; composed by Walther Prokop, Grete von Zieritz.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Peter Low) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-11-26
Line count: 14
Word count: 87
Oh lute, in all these woes my best of friends, faithful, unfailing witness to my sighs, true auditor of all my songs and cries, how often you’ve accompanied my laments! By falling tears you’ve been so much disturbed that sometimes when we seek a pleasant strain you suddenly give out a sound of pain, a minor chord against my major third. And when I want your loudest notes, dear lute, you slacken off and force me to be mute: I never raise more than a sighing voice, and so much sadness gives me little choice but to take pleasure in my miseries and from sweet pain to hope for sweet release.
About the headline (FAQ)
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 Louise Labé (1526 - 1566), no title, written 1552, appears in Sonnets, no. 12, first published 1555
This text was added to the website: 2022-07-11
Line count: 14
Word count: 111