Le Roi a fait battre Tambour (1750 c.)
Claire Lefilliâtre
Serge Goubiod
Marco Horvat Sylvie Moquet (viola)
Françoise Enock,
Friederike Heumann (viola da gamba)
Vincent Dumestre (cittern, baroque guitar, theorbo)
—ooo—
Quand le Roi a fait battre tambour (bis) When the King had the drums beat,
Pour saluer ses dames, To greet his ladies,
La première qu’arriva The first to arrive
Lui a ravi son âme. Took his soul away.
– Marquis, dis-moi, la connais-tu ? – Marquis, tell me, do you know her?
À qui est cette dame ? Whose lady is she?
Le marquis lui a répondu : (bis) The marquis answered
– Sire roi, c’est ma femme. – Sir King, she’s my wife.
– Marquis, t’es plus heureux qu’un roi (bis) – M., you are happier than a king
D’avoir femme si belle. To have so lovely a wife.
Si tu voulais l’honneur donner, If you gave me the honour,
De coucher avec elle. Of sleeping with her.
– Sir’, vous avez tout le pouvoir – Sir, you have all the power
Tout pouvoir et puissance. All power and might.
Mais si vous n’étiez pas le roi, (bis) But if you were not the king,
J’en aurais ma vengeance. I would avenge myself.
– Marquis, ne te fâche donc pas, (bis) – M., don’t get angry,
T’auras ta récompense : You’ll have your reward:
Je te ferai dans mes armées I will make you, in my armies,
Beau maréchal de France. A fine marshall of France.
– Adieu, ma mie, adieu, mon cœur, (bis) – Farewell my love, farewell my heart,
Adieu mon espérance ! Farewell my hope!
Puisqu’il faut servir le roi, Since one must the king serve,
Séparons-nous d’ensemble. Let us part.
– Le roi l’a prise par la main, (bis) – The king took her by the hand,
L’a menée dans sa chambre ; And led her to his room;
La belle en montant les degrés While climbing the steps, the lady
A voulu se défendre. Tried to defend herself.
– Marquise, ne pleurez pas tant ! (bis) – Marquise, do not cry so much!
Je vous ferai Princesse ; I’ll make you a Princess;
De tout mon or et mon argent, Of all my gold and my silver.
Vous serez la maîtresse. You will be the mistress.
– Gardez votre or ! Et votre argent ! (bis) – Keep your gold and keep your silver!
N’appartient qu’à la Reine ; To the Queen alone it belongs;
J’aimerais mieux mon doux Marquis I’d rather have my gentle Marquis
Que toutes vos richesses ! Than all of your riches!
– La reine a fait faire un bouquet (bis) – The Queen had a bouquet
De belles fleurs de lyse Of pretty lilies made
Et la senteur de ce bouquet, And the scent of this bouquet,
Fit mourir marquise. The Marquise, it killed.
Le roi lui fit faire un tombeau The King had a coffin made
Tout en fer[1] de Venise Of iron from Venice
A fait marquer tout à l’entour And had it engraved all around
« Adieu belle marquise » “Farewell beautiful marquise”[2]
[1] “fer” (iron) could be “verre” (glass). One can barely tell the difference.
[2] This song may be otherwise told and translated (see YouTube). I used and translated the Poème Harmonique‘s lyrics. In the 18th century, le roi was le roé, moi and toi were moé and toé, and avoir and pouvoir were avoér and pouvoér.
—ooo—
A kind reader recommended Émile Gaboriau‘s “Les Cotillons célèbres” (1861). He wrote that Gaboriau “describes in a humorous style the mistresses of Louis XIV, the Regent and Louis XV, including the Marquise de Pompadour.” It’s a lovely book and Gaboriau was very prolific.
The book is also available in English.
https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/les-cotillons-celebres/9780559351242
Love to everyone 💕
Young Country Girl Dancing by François Boucher, black, red and white chalk and stump on paper (Wiki2.org.)
© Micheline Walker
9 March 2019
WordPress
Micheline's Blog 
Cela fait longtemps que j’a&dore cette chanson.
On la chantait parfois en fin de soirée quand j’étais jeune.
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Elle est magnifique! Cet ancien français se parle encore au Québec, loin des villes. Il est rare toutefois qu’on y entende cette chanson qui est à ravir.
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Enchanting – thank you!
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I love that song. The beat we hear finds one of its origins in Lully. Once, Lully hit his foot, which had to be amputated. Love 💕
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Oh, and I had thought he refused to have it amputated, because he wouldn’t give up dancing (it was Louis XIV court, after all!) and eventually died of gangrene. Which version is correct, do you know?
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I think you’re right. Imagine having Louis XIV as a pupil. Ballet is a product of the French court. 💕
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I think I wrote about it at some point. If it weren’t for The Sun King, how much pleasure would we be deprived of today!
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❤
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I remember a scene from a film I saw years ago. He was fighting an amputation. Yes, he died of gangrene. I have to look up a story that I have associated with Lully. It’s about an actor who is so well know that I can’t remember his name. It’s ME. I just remembered, the actor is Gérard Depardieu and the story is about his son, Guillaume, who injured a knew, underwent 17 operations and died of pneumonia. I remember to what extent his father opposed the amputation. Guillaume often got himself into difficulties.
The film I saw was “Le Roi danse.” It shows the accident, the fight and, I believe, the amputation. My memory plays tricks on me. I have to give it time. Lully so wanted to be French.
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I saw “Le Roi Danse” and even used a clip from it in a post (and I don’t remember which post!), and I’ll have to look up the other film you mention. Thank you for letting me know, dear friend.
My impression of that period is that The Sun King was shining so brightly, that everyone wanted to be French, and Lully was no exception.
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I found the scene. The doctor wants to amputate the lower leg and says that gangrene will reach Lully’s heart. Lully protests: not a dancer’s leg. We then see and hear Lully scream and may think it is because of the amputation, but films are art and may be ambiguous. He seems relieved. Could it be that he is dying or that he is glad his foot has not been amputated. It isn’t clear. But he died of gangrene after hitting his foot with his baroque stick and was not amputated. He died of gangrene. The “Poème harmonique” uses a sound reproducing Lully’s strong rythm (the Baroque).
The Sun King loved ballets, comédies and comédies-ballets, until he married Madame de Maintenon. He became pious. So we know that Lully was not amputated and died of gangrene.
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I am glad we have found the truth.
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Yes we did! The film left a degree of ambiguity because of Lully’s defeaning scream. We can’t see the surgeon. But once Lully is calming down, there is a second scream, probably elicited by his decision. The director wanted to create suspense and did. At that point, Lully’s relationship with Louis had deteriorated.
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I agree regarding ambiguity and suspense. I had to take the mandatory Music History course so many years ago that I had thought it was my memory failing me.
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Finally! If one sees a play, one sees a large image. But a camera focusses, which is a powerful tool. I apologize for the delay. So much is happening. ❤
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No apologies necessary, dear friend; we are all busy.
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Love ❤
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Beautifully haunting music
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That music is a pleasure. I should research it a little more. There are versions. I ended up using the words the Poème Harmonique use. It’s in an older French, but one that is familiar to Quebecers. There are people who say “moé” instead of “moi.”
I hope you are well Derrick. My thoughts are with you and Jackie.
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Thank you so much, Micheline. We are recovering
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Derrick,
I am with you and Jackie all the way. You suffered a terrible loss. Love, Micheline
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