by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Translation by François-Victor Hugo (1828 - 1873)
If music be the food of love, play on
Language: English
If music be the food of love, play on; Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting, The appetite may sicken, and so die. That strain again! it had a dying fall: O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound, That breathes upon a bank of violets, Stealing and giving odour! Enough; no more: 'Tis not so sweet now as it was before. O spirit of love! how quick and fresh art thou, That, notwithstanding thy capacity Receiveth as the sea, nought enters there, Of what validity and pitch soe'er, But falls into abatement and low price, Even in a minute: so full of shapes is fancy That it alone is high fantastical.
J. Hall sets lines 1-7
About the headline (FAQ)
Note: quoted in a text by Heveningham.Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Twelfth Night: or, What You Will, Act I, Scene 1, Orsino's lines, first published 1601 [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 John Linton Gardner (1917 - 2011), "If music be the food of love, play on", op. 66 no. 4, published 1964 [ women's chorus, piano duet, and optional percussion ], from A Shakespeare Sequence, no. 4, London : Oxford University Press [sung text not yet checked]
- by Juliana Hall (b. 1958), "If music be the food of love", 2015, first performed 2016, lines 1-7 [ counter-tenor and piano ], from O Mistress Mine -- 12 Songs for countertenor and piano on texts from plays by William Shakespeare, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Lee Hoiby (1926 - 2011), "If music be the food of love", 2004 [ voice and piano ], from Sonnets and Soliloquies, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jean-Jacques Werner (b. 1935), "If Music be the food of Love, play on", 2001 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo)
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-02-11
Line count: 15
Word count: 114
Si la musique est l'aliment de l'amour,...
Language: French (Français) after the English
Si la musique est l'aliment de l'amour, jouez toujours, donnez-m'en à l'excès, que ma passion saturée, en soit malade et expire. Cette mesure encore une fois ! Elle avait une cadence mourante. Oh ! elle a effleuré mon oreille comme le suave zéphir qui souffle sur un banc de violettes, dérobant et emportant un parfum... Assez ! pas davantage ! Ce n'est plus aussi suave que tout à l'heure. O esprit d'amour, que tu es sensible et mobile ! Quoique ta capacité soit énorme comme la mer, elle n'admet rien de si exquis et de si rare qui ne soit dégradé et déprécié au bout d'une minute, tant est pleine de caprices la passion, cette fantaisie suprême !
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
Based on:
- a text in English by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Twelfth Night: or, What You Will, Act I, Scene 1, Orsino's lines, first published 1601
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Researcher for this page: Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2010-10-25
Line count: 15
Word count: 112