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J'ai perdu ma force et ma vie, [Et]1 mes amis et ma gaieté ; J'ai perdu jusqu'à la fierté Qui faisait croire à mon génie. Quand j'ai connu la Vérité, J'ai cru que c'était une amie ; [Quand je l'ai comprise et sentie]2, J'en étais déjà dégoûté. Et pourtant elle est éternelle, Et ceux qui se sont passés d'elle Ici-bas ont tout ignoré. Dieu parle, il faut qu'on lui réponde. Le seul bien qui me reste au monde Est d'avoir quelquefois pleuré.
M. Bosc sets stanza 2
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)First published in La Revue des deux mondes, December 1, 1841, and then in Poésies nouvelles, 1850.
1 omitted by Liszt.2 Liszt: "Quand je l'ai comprise, quand je l'ai sentie"
Text Authorship:
- by Louis Charles Alfred de Musset (1810 - 1857), "Tristesse", written 1840, appears in Poésies nouvelles, first published 1841 [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 Michel Bosc (b. 1963), "Cinq Exemples musicaux sur quatre vers de 'Tristesse' d'Alfred de Musset", 2021, stanza 2 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Otto Bouwens van der Boijen (1872 - 1922), "Sonnet", op. 2, published 1905? [ medium voice and piano ], from Mélodies, no. 1, Éd. O. Bouwens van der Boijen & Cie [sung text not yet checked]
- by Fania Chapiro (1926 - 1994), "Tristesse", 1949 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Germain Desbonnet (1938 - 2007), "Tristesse", 1978, published 1985 [ medium voice and piano ], from Mélodies, no. 1, Éd. du compositeur [sung text not yet checked]
- by Auguste Descarries (1896 - 1958), "Tristesse", 1919, published 2019 [ voice piano ], Hélène Panneton, Association pour la diffusion de la musique d'Auguste Descarries (ADMAD) [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charlotte Devéria, née Thomas (1856 - 1885), "Tristesse", <<1877 [ high voice and piano ], from 16 Mélodies pour chant avec accompagnement de piano, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Marcel Gennaro (1886 - 1977), "Tristesse", published 1921 [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. R. Fornari [sung text not yet checked]
- by Franz (Ferenc) Liszt (1811 - 1886), "Tristesse", S. 327 (1872), published 1879 [ medium voice and piano ], Leipzig, Kahnt, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Emanuel Moór (1863 - 1931), "Tristesse", op. 91 no. 1 [ voice and piano ], from Deuxième Recueil de Mélodies, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ernest Moret (1871 - 1949), "J'ai perdu ma force et ma vie", published 1904 [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. 'Au Ménestrel' Heugel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jean-Louis Petit (b. 1937), "Tristesse", 1997 [ high voice and piano ], from Livre de poésies, no. 12 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Auguste J. Schirlé (1895 - 1971), "Tristesse", op. 21 (Onze mélodies) no. 4, published 1930 [ medium voice and piano ], Montrouge, Éd. M.-A. Schirlé [sung text not yet checked]
- by José Segu (1873 - 1960), "Tristesse", 1925 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by André Wormser (1851 - 1926), "Tristesse", published [1879] [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. Théodore Michaelis [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Alfred von Meißner (1822 - 1885) ; composed by Franz Liszt.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Garrett Medlock) , copyright © 2019, (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: 14
Word count: 83
I have lost my strength and my life, [And] my friends and my joy; I have lost even the arrogance Which made my [intellect] think. When I knew Truth, I believed that she was a friend; [But] when I understood her and felt her, I was already disgusted [by her]. And yet [Truth] is eternal, And those who have gone after her Here below have been ignorant of everything. God speaks, [and] one must respond to him. The only good [thing] which remains to me in the world Is having sometimes wept.
About the headline (FAQ)
Translations of title(s):
"Sonnet" = "Sonnet"
"Tristesse" = "Sadness"
"J'ai perdu ma force et ma vie" = "I have lost my strength and my life"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2019 by Garrett Medlock, (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 Louis Charles Alfred de Musset (1810 - 1857), "Tristesse", written 1840, appears in Poésies nouvelles, first published 1841
This text was added to the website: 2019-05-08
Line count: 14
Word count: 92