“À la claire fontaine:” it seems an anthem

16 Thursday Jan 2014

Posted by michelinewalker in Art, Songs, Voyageurs

Tags

À la claire fontaine, chanson en laisse, French-Canadian Folklore, Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor Coté, Songs of Voyageurs, The Nightingale, Theodore C. Blegen, Université de Moncton

— Settlement on the Hillside, by Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté,* 1909 (National Gallery of Canada)

*Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté

Chanson en laisse

In a chanson en laisse, such as À la claire fontaine, the end of a couplet is the beginning of the next couplet. In poetry, the couplet is called a stanza (une strophe). Usually, the couplet consists of four lines (vers). À la claire fontaine also has a refrain. (See chanson en laisse, Wikipedia FR.)

If the Province of Quebec had an anthem, it could be À la claire fontaine. According to Wikipedia’s French-language entry on À la claire fontaine, the song dates back to the 18th century and it was the national anthem (un hymne national) of New France. If so, it is unlikely to date back to the 18th century. It would be an older song, as indicated in Wikipedia’s English-language entry on the same song. (See À la claire fontaine, Wikipedia.)

The canoemen (coureurs des bois or voyageurs) went up and down the St Lawrence River (the fountain) carrying fur pelts. Bathing in the St Lawrence River meant settling in New France. There were oak trees on both sides of le fleuve Saint-Laurent. After 1763, the year France ceded Nouvelle-France to England, the rose symbolized the English and the rosier (rosebush), England. Moreover, the you in il y a longtemps que je t‘aime (I have loved you for a long time) was France. (See À la claire fontaine, Wikipedia FR.)

À la claire fontaine was a favourite song among voyageurs, who were singers. This song has five hundred versions.

The Movie: The Painted Veil

A movie entitled The Painted Veil contains a lovely rendition of À la claire fontaine, so I have included the relevant video. The Painted Veil is a 2006 film adaptation of Somerset Maugham‘s The Painted Veil. Nostalgia is a feeling all human beings share.

About: À la claire fontaine

This song, a ballad, is about a young man who strolls by a clear fountain. The water (eau[f]) is so beautiful that he goes in to bathe (se baigner).

He lets himself dry (sécher: dry up) under the leaves (feuilles[fp]) of an oak tree (chêne[m]).

On the highest (la plus haute) branch, a nightingale (un rossignol [m]) sang.

He tells the nightingale to sing (chanter) because he has a happy heart (tu as le cœur gai). You feel like laughing (rire), but I feel like crying (pleurer).

I lost (J’ai perdu) my lady friend (ma maîtresse/mon ami/e) without deserving it (sans l’avoir mérité). Because I refused to give her (Je lui ai refusai) a bouquet of roses (la rose[f]).

Would that the rose still be (fût) on the rosebush and the rosebush itself be (fût) thrown (jeter: to throw) into the sea (la mer).

f: feminine, m: masculin, p: plural

English Translation from The Painted Veil, 2006

Chorus: So long I’ve been loving you, I will never forget you. (incomplete)

At the clear fountain, While I was strolling by, I found the water so nice That I went in to bathe. Chorus
Under an oak tree, I dried myself. On the highest branch, A nightingale was singing. Chorus
Sing, nightingale, sing, Your heart is so happy. Your heart feels like laughing, Mine feels like weeping. Chorus
I lost my beloved, Without deserving it, For a bunch of roses, That I denied her. Chorus
I [would like] the rose To be still on the bush, And even the rosebush To be thrown in the sea. Chorus

À la claire fontaine

À la claire fontaine,

M’en allant promener, (to stroll)

J’ai trouvé l’eau si belle, (the water)

Que je m’y suis baigné.

Refrain

Lui y a longtemps que je t’aime, (Il y a longtemps)

Jamais je ne t’oublierai. (Never will I forget you)

Sous les feuilles d’un chêne, (an oak tree)

Je me suis fait sécher, (to dry)

Sur la plus haute branche,

Le rossignol chantait. (the nightingale)

Refrain

Sur la plus haute branche, (the highest)

Le rossignol chantait, (sang)

Chante, rossignol, chante,

Toi qui as le cœur gai. (heart)

Refrain

Chante, rossignol, chante,

Toi qui as le cœur gai,

Tu as le cœur à rire, (to laugh)

Moi, je l’ai à pleurer. (to cry)

Refrain

Tu as le cœur à rire,

Moi, je l’ai à pleurer,

J’ai perdu ma maîtresse/mon amie, (I lost my lady friend) (I lost my friend)

Sans l’avoir mérité. (without deserving it)

Refrain

J’ai perdu ma maîtresse,

Sans l’avoir mérité,

Pour un bouquet de roses,

Que je lui refusai. (I denied her)

Refrain

Je voudrais que la rose (I would like)

Fût encore au rosier, (still)/*

Et que le rosier même (the rosebush itself)

À la mer fût jeté. (the sea) (to be thrown)

Refrain

The Painted Veil

*/Et que mon doux ami (And that my gentle friend)

Fût encore à m’aimer. (Still loved me)

____________________

À la claire fontaine (from The Painted Veil.)

Lang Lang (accompanist)

: The Painted Veil Poster, 2006 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

16 January 2014

WordPress

A Folksong: Alouette, gentille alouette

09 Friday Mar 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in Art, Folksongs

≈ 15 Comments

Tags

Alouettes, Beak, Lark, Neck, Steffan Johnson, Theodore C. Blegen, Université de Moncton, voyageurs

edge sparrow & robin by Steffan Johnson*

A Folksong: Alouette (Lark)

This song is an enumerative song. In each stanza, a body part is added.

Here, a lark (une alouette) loses first its head, then its eyes, its beak, its back, its neck .

12 Alouette (please click on the title to hear the music)

CHORUS

Alouette, gentille alouette, Lark, gentle lark,

Alouette, je t’y plumerai. (2) I’ll take your feathers off.

1. Je t’y plumerai la tête. (4) I’ll take the feathers off your head

Et la tête, et la tête. And your head, and your head.

Alouette, alouette, oh!

CHORUS

2. Je t’y plumerai les yeux. (4) I’ll take the feathers off your eyes

Et les yeux, et les yeux, And your eyes, and your eyes

Et la tête, et la tête.

Alouette, alouette, oh!

3. Je t’y plumerai le bec. (4) I’ll take the feathers off your beak

Et le bec, et le bec, And your beak, and your beak

Et les yeux, et les yeux, (2)

Et la tête, et la tête. (2)

4. Je t’y plumerai le dos. (4) I’ll take the feathers off you back

Et le dos, et le dos, And your back, and your back

Et le bec, et le bec, (2) beak, eyes, head

Et les yeux, et les yeux, (2)

Et la tête, et la tête. (2)

5. Je t’y plumerai le cou. (4) I’ll take the feathers off your neck

Et le cou, et le cou, And your neck, and your neck

Et le dos, et le dos, (2) back, beak, eyes, head

Et le bec, et le bec, (2)

Et les yeux, et les yeux, (2)

Et la tête, et la tête. (2)

_________________________

Theodore C. Blegen, Songs of the Voyageurs (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 1998[1966]), p. 46.

*http://steffspainting.blogspot.com/

En roulant ma boule: a Folksong & a Voyageur Song

08 Wednesday Feb 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in Folksongs

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

French folksong, Minnesota Historical Society, music and words, Theodore C. Blegen, U. of Moncton Male Choir, voyageurs

Jongleur *

* from the Encyclopædia Britannica [i]
This song is almost identical to “C’est le vent frivolant.” With folksongs, substituion is not uncommon. One changes the melody, but keeps the same lyrics or words or keeps the melody and gives it new words.

According to Theodore C. Blegen, this is a rollicking “jongleur” song. Jongleurs could be described as minstrels, but some also “juggled” balls and where therefore particularly entertaining.

04 En roulant ma boule (click on the title to hear the song) [ii]

Chorus

En roulant ma boule roulant, Rolling my ball…

En roulant ma boule (2: repeat chorus)

1. Derrière chez nous y-a-t’un étang (a pond),

En roulant ma boule.

Trois beaux canards (ducks) s’en vont baignant (are bathing),

Rouli-roulant, ma boule roulant.

Chorus

2. Le fils du roi s’en va chassant,

En roulant ma boule.

Avec son grand fusil d’argent,

Rouli-roulant, ma boule roulant.

Chorus

3. Visa le noir, tua le blanc,

En roulant ma boule.

O, fils du roi tu es méchant,

Rouli-roulant, ma boule roulant.

Chorus

4. D’avoir tué mon canard blanc,

En roulant ma boule.

Par-dessous l’aile, il perd son sang,

Rouli-roulant, ma boule roulant.

Chorus

5. Et toutes ses plumes s’en vont au vent,

Trois dames s’en vont les ramassant,

En roulant ma boule.

Rouli-roulant, ma boule roulant

Chorus

6. C’est pour en faire un lit de camp,

En roulant ma boule.

Pour y coucher tous les passants,

Rouli-roulant, ma boule roulant.

Chorus

1. At the back of our house, there is a pond,

Three lovely ducks are bathing in it.

2. The king’s son is going hunting,

With his large silver gun.

3. Aims for the black duck, kills the white,

O you, the king’s song, you are bad.

4. You have killed my white duck,

Beneath his wing, he’s losing blood.

5. All of his feathers are blowing in the wind,

Three ladies go about picking them up.

6. It’s to make a feather bed.

For all those who are passing by.

Jongleurs, minstrels

_________________________

[i] “jongleur.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 08 Feb. 2012. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/306035/jongleur>.

[ii] Theodore C. Blegen, Songs of the Voyageurs (Minnesota: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1998[1966].

Université de Moncton’s 30-voice Male Choir

À la claire fontaine: Complete Version

27 Friday Jan 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in Canada, Songs, Voyageurs

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

À la claire fontaine, Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor Coté, Songs of Voyageurs, The Nightingale, Theodore C. Blegen, Université de Moncton

Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté* (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

*Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté

Chanson en laisse

In a chanson en laisse, the end of a couplet is the beginning of the next couplet. In poetry, the couplet is called stanza (une strophe). Usually, the couplet consists of four lines (vers). À la claire fontaine also has a refrain. (See chanson en laisse, Wikipedia FR.) If the Province of Quebec had a anthem, it could be À la claire fontaine. According to Wikipedia’s French-language entry on this song, it dates back to the 18th century and it was the national anthem (un hymne national) of New France.

The canoemen (coureurs des bois or voyageurs) are going down the St Lawrence River, (the fountain ). Bathing in the St Lawrence River meant settling in New France. There were oak trees on both sides of le fleuve Saint-Laurent. The rose symbolizes the English and the rosier (rosebush), England. (See À la claire fontaine, Wikipedia FR.)

It was a favourite song among voyageurs, who were singers. After 1763, the year France ceded Nouvelle-France to England, the you of il y a longtemps que je t‘aime ( I have loved you for a long time) represented France. This song has five hundred versions. (See À la claire fontaine, Wikipedia FR.)

The Movie: The Painted Veil

A movie entitled The Painted Weil contains a lovely rendition of À la claire fontaine, so I have included the relevant video. The Painted Weil is a 2006 film adaptation of Somerset Maugham‘s The Painted Weil.

About: À la claire fontaine[i]

This song, a ballad, is about a young man who walks by a clear fountain. The water (eau[f]) is so beautiful that he goes in to bathe (se baigner).

He lets himself dry (sécher: dry up) under the leaves (feuilles[fp]) of an oak-tree (chêne[m]).

On the highest (la plus haute) branch, a nightingale (un rossignol [m]) sang.

He tells the nightingale to sing (chanter) because he has a happy heart (tu as le cœur gai). You feel like laughing (rire), but I feel like crying (pleurer).

I lost (J’ai perdu) my lady friend (ma maîtresse) without deserving it (sans l’avoir mérité). Because I refused to give her (Je lui ai refusai) a bouquet of roses (la rose[f]).

Would that the rose still be (fût) on the rosebush and the rosebush itself be (fût) thrown (jeter: to throw) in the sea (la mer).

f: feminine, m: masculin, p: plural

À la claire fontaine

À la claire fontaine,

M’en allant promener,

J’ai trouvé l’eau si belle,

Que je m’y suis baigné.

Refrain

Lui y a longtemps que je t’aime, (Il y a longtemps)

Jamais je ne t’oublierai.

Sous les feuilles d’un chêne,

Je me suis fait sécher,

Sur la plus haute branche,

Le rossignol chantait.

Refrain

Sur la plus haute branche,

Le rossignol chantait,

Chante, rossignol, chante,

Toi qui as le cœur gai.

Refrain

Chante, rossignol, chante,

Toi qui as le cœur gai,

Tu as le cœur à rire,

Moi, je l’ai à pleurer.

Refrain

Tu as le cœur à rire,

Moi, je l’ai à pleurer,

J’ai perdu ma maîtresse,

Sans l’avoir mérité.

Refrain

J’ai perdu ma maîtresse,

Sans l’avoir mérité,

Pour un bouquet de roses,

Que je lui refusai.

Refrain

Je voudrais que la rose

Fût encore au rosier,

Et que le rosier même

À la mer fût jeté.

Refrain

____________________

[i] Theodore C. Blegen, Songs of the Voyageur (St. Paul, Minnesota: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1998 [1966]).

À la claire fontaine, Université de Moncton (Male Choir)

(please click on the title to hear music)

16 January 2014

WordPress

À la claire fontaine

22 Sunday Jan 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in Canada, Music

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

À la claire fontaine, Group of Seven, Marius Barbeau, Theodore C. Blegen, Université de Moncton's Male Choir, voyageurs, words and music

Barn on the York River, A. F. Casson*

*A. F. Casson, Group of Seven [i]

À la claire fontaine

À la claire fontaine,

M’en allant promener,

J’ai trouvé l’eau si belle,

Que je m’y suis baigné.

Refrain

Lui y a longtemps que je t’aime,

Jamais je ne t’oublierai.

Sous les feuilles d’un chêne,

Je me suis fait sécher,

Sur la plus haute branche,

Le rossignol chantait.

Refrain

Sur la plus haute branche,

Le rossignol chantait,

Chante, rossignol, chante,

Toi qui as le cœur gai.

Refrain

Chante, rossignol, chante,

Toi qui as le cœur gai,

Tu as le cœur à rire,

Moi, je l’ai à pleurer.

Refrain

Tu as le cœur à rire,

Moi, je l’ai à pleurer,

J’ai perdu ma maîtresse,

Sans l’avoir mérité.

Refrain

J’ai perdu ma maîtresse,

Sans l’avoir mérité,

Pour un bouquet de roses,

Que je lui refusai.

Refrain

Je voudrais que la rose

Fût encore au rosier,

Et que le rosier même

À la mer fût jeté.

Refrain

Marius Barbeau*

* Marius Barbeau

This song, a ballad, is about a young man who walks by a clear fountain. The water (eau[f]) is so beautiful that he bathes (se baigner) in it. He lets himself dry (sécher: dry up) under the leaves (feuilles[fp]) of an oak-tree (chêne[m]). On the highest (la plus haute) branch, a nightingale (un rossignol [m]) sings. He tells the nightingale to sing (chanter) because he has a happy heart (tu as le cœur gai). You feel like laughing (rire), but I feel like crying (pleurer). I lost my lady friend (ma maîtresse) without deserving to (sans l’avoir mérité). Because I refused (Je lui ai refusai) [to give] her a bouquet of roses (la rose[f]).