by
Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852)
Nights of music
Language: English
Nights of music, nights of loving,
Lost too soon, remembered long.
When we went by moonlight roving,
Hearts all love and lips all song.
When this faithful lute recorded
All my spirit felt to thee;
And that smile the song rewarded,
Worth whole years of fame to me!
Nights of song, and nights of splendor,
Fill'd with joys too sweet to last.
Joys that, like the starlight tender,
While they shone, no shadow cast,
Thought all other happy hours
From my fading mem'ry fly,
OF the starlight of those bowers,
Not a beam, a leaf shall die!
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by William Baines (1899 - 1922), "Nights of music", 1919 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Adolph Martin Foerster (1854 - 1927), "Nights of music", op. 53 no. 9 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Henry Théodore Pontet (1833 - 1902), "Nights of music", published 1878 [ voice and piano ], London [sung text not yet checked]
- by James Walter Wilson (b. 1922), "Nights of music", op. 40 no. ?, first performed 1970, orchestrated 1974 [ soprano and piano ], from Irish Songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Wood (1866 - 1926), "Nights of music", published 1900 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], London: Novello [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Nuits de musique", copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Barbara Miller
This text was added to the website: 2004-02-10
Line count: 16
Word count: 97
Nuits de musique
Language: French (Français) after the English
Nuits de musique, nuits d’amour,
Trop vite perdues, longtemps gardées en mémoire.
Quand nous allions errer au clair de lune,
Les cœurs emplis d’amour et les lèvres de chansons.
Quand ce luth fidèle enregistrait
Tout ce que mon âme ressentait pour toi ;
Et ce sourire qui récompensait la chanson,
Valait pour moi des années entières de gloire !
Nuits de chants et nuits de splendeur,
Emplies de joies trop douces pour durer.
Des joies qui, comme la délicate lumière des étoiles,
Tant qu’elles brillaient, ne jetaient aucune ombre,
Même si toutes les autres heures heureuses
S’envolent de ma mémoire évanescente,
De la lumière stellaire de ces tonnelles,
Pas un rayon, pas une feuille ne mourra !
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2026 by Pierre Mathé, (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:
This text was added to the website: 2026-06-17
Line count: 16
Word count: 114
