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Un cygne avance sur l'eau tout entouré de lui-même, comme un glissant tableau; ainsi à certains instants un être que l'on aime est tout un espace mouvant. Il se rapproche, doublé, comme ce cygne qui nage, sur notre âme troublée... qui à cet être ajoute la tremblante image de bonheur et de doute.
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Authorship:
- by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, written 1924, appears in Poèmes français, in 1. Vergers, no. 40 [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 Samuel Barber (1910 - 1981), "Un cygne", op. 27 no. 2 (1950-1), published 1952 [ voice and piano ], from Mélodies passagères, no. 2, Schirmer [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Louis Durey (1888 - 1979), "Un cygne", op. 42 no. 5 (1932), published 1966 [ medium voice and piano ], from Vergers, no. 5, Éd. Le Chant du Monde [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Manuel Pedro Ferreira (b. 1959), "Un cygne avance sur l'eau", 1989, first performed 1990 [ soprano and piano ], from Três Canções de Rilke, no. 3, can be found on the CD Vocalizos (Movieplay, 1997) [sung text not yet checked]
- by Paul Hindemith (1895 - 1963), "Un cygne", 1939 [ mixed chorus ], from Six Chansons, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Léon Orthel (1905 - 1985), "Un cygne avance sur l'eau", op. 61 (Sept mélodies) no. 1 (1972), published 1972 [ voice and piano ], Amsterdam, Ed. Donemus [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Cyril Plante (b. 1975), "Un cygne avance sur l'eau", op. 107 [ soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Cyril Plante (b. 1975), "Un cygne avance sur l'eau", op. 13 (4 Mélodies d'après R.M. Rilke) no. 2 (1997) [ baritone and orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gérard Zinsstag (b. 1941), "Un cygne", 2015 [ mezzo-soprano, clarinet, percussion, piano, violin, viola, cello ], from Rilke-lieder, no. 2, Ricordi [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Faith J. Cormier) , "A swan moves across the water", copyright © 2000, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Laura Prichard) , "A swan", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2005, (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: 12
Word count: 53
Ein Schwan zieht auf dem Wasser seine Bahn, ganz von sich selbst umrahmt, gleich einem gleitenden Gemälde; so zeigt sich - zu gewissen Augenblicken - ein Wesen, das man liebt, wie ein bewegter Raum. Es nähert sich, gedoppelt wie der Schwan, unserer betrübten Seele ..., die auf dies' Wesen dann das zitternd' Bild des Glückes und des Zweifels wirft.
About the headline (FAQ)
Translation of title "Un cygne" = "Ein Schwan"Note: last modified 2015-07-15.
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2005 by Bertram Kottmann, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
Bertram Kottmann.  Contact: BKottmann (AT) t-online.de
If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), no title, written 1924, appears in Poèmes français, in 1. Vergers, no. 40
This text was added to the website: 2006-01-11
Line count: 12
Word count: 59