Fête galante | Sylvandre, Lycas and Myrtil are there

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by Théodore Faullin de Banville (1823 - 1891)

Translation © by Peter Low

Fête galante

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Voilà Sylvandre et Lycas et Myrtil
[C'est aujourd'hui]¹ fête chez Cydalise.
[Enchantant l'air de son]² parfum subtil,
[Au clair de lune]³ où tout s'idéalise
Avec la rose Aminthe rivalise.
Philis, Eglé, qui suivent leurs amants,
Cherchent l'ombrage [et les abris]⁴ charmants.
Dans le soleil qui s'irrite et qui joue,
Luttant d'orgueil avec les diamants,
Sur le chemin, le Paon blanc fait la roue.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• C. Debussy

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Debussy: "Car c'est ce soir"
² Debussy: "Partout dans l'air court un"
³ Debussy: "Dans le grand parc"
⁴ Debussy: "en mille endroits"

Text Authorship:

by Théodore Faullin de Banville (1823 - 1891), "Fête galante", appears in Les Cariatides, in Les Caprices - en dizains à la manière de Clément Marot, no. 3, first published 1842 [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 Georges Auric (1899 - 1983), "Fête galante", 1927, published 1928 [ medium voice and piano ], from Trois Caprices, no. 1, Paris, Heugel [sung text not yet checked]
by Claude Achille Debussy (1862 - 1918), "Fête galante", L. 31/(23) (1882) [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

ENG English (Peter Low) , "Fête galante", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Auditorium du Louvre

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 10
Word count: 63

Fête galante

Language: English after the French (Français)

Sylvandre, Lycas and Myrtil are [there.
Cydalise hosts a party today.
With her subtle perfume enchanting the air, 
Aminthe competes with the roses
in the moonlight where all is perfection.]¹
Philis and Eglé, following their lovers,
seek shade [and the charming summerhouses]².
And in the sun, which is both annoyed and playful, 
proudly vying with the diamonds,
there on the path, the white Peacock spreads his tail.

View original text (without footnotes)

Translator's note: the title refers to a flirtatious outdoor party as seen in the 18th-century paintings of Watteau.

¹ Debussy: "there,/ for Cydalise hosts a party this evening./ A subtle perfume fills the air/ in the great park where all is perfection./ Aminthe competes with the rose."
² Debussy: "in a thousand charming spots"

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2025 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.
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Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Théodore Faullin de Banville (1823 - 1891), "Fête galante", appears in Les Cariatides, in Les Caprices - en dizains à la manière de Clément Marot, no. 3, first published 1842
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2025-04-21
Line count: 10
Word count: 67