La tristesse des menuets Fait chanter mes désirs muets Et je pleure, D'entendre frémir cette voix Qui vient de si loin, d'autrefois, Et qui pleure. Chansons frêles du clavecin, Notes grêles, fuyant essaim Qui s'efface, Vous êtes un pastel d'antan Qui s'anime, rit un instant, [Et s'efface]1. Ô chants troublés de pleurs secrets, Chagrins [qui s'ignorent]2, les vrais, Pudeur tendre, Sanglots que l'on cache, au départ Et qui n'osent s'avouer, par Orgueil tendre. Ah ! comme vous broyez les cœrs De vos airs charmants et moqueurs Et si tristes ! Menuets à peine entendus, Sanglots légers, rires fondus, Baisers tristes !
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View original text (without footnotes)1 Koechlin: "Puis, s'efface"
2 Koechlin: "qu'on ignore"
Authorship:
- by Fernand Gregh (1873 - 1960), "Menuet", written 1892, appears in La Maison de l'Enfance, in 9. Musique, no. 3, Paris, Éd. Calmann-Lévy, first published 1897 [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 Germaine Corbin , "Menuet", published 1910 [ voice and piano ], from Six Mélodies, no. 3, Paris, L. Grus & Cie. [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Charles Koechlin (1867 - 1950), "Menuet", op. 5 (Cinq mélodies) no. 4 (1893-97) [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Antoine Mariotte (1875 - 1944), "Menuet", published 1925 [ high voice and piano ], from Intimités, no. 2, Paris, Enoch [sung text not yet checked]
- by Emanuel Moór (1863 - 1931), "Menuets", op. 91 no. 4 [ voice and piano ], from Deuxième Recueil de Mélodies, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Adam Ewing) , "Minuet", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Adam Ewing
This text was added to the website: 2012-04-02
Line count: 24
Word count: 101