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Micheline's Blog

~ Art, music, books, history & current events

Micheline's Blog

Tag Archives: Vincent Dumestre

Les Tendres Souhaits (Tender Wishes)

18 Saturday May 2013

Posted by michelinewalker in Art, Music

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Claire Lefilliâtre, English translation, French song, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, John William Godward, Le Poème harmonique, Pastoral, Vincent Dumestre

Godward
The Favourite, by John William Godward, 1901
John William Godward (9 August 1861 – 13 December 1922)
Photo credit: Wikipaintings
 
 

Here is a lovely little song.  The music is by Italian composer Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (4 January 1710 – 16 March 1736).  My translation is mostly literal.  So, please do not expect a beautiful poem.  I wanted to translate the words.  This song is a very simple pastoral.

  1. Que ne suis-je la fougère
  2. Où, sur la fin d’un beau jour,
  3. Se repose ma bergère
  4. Sous la garde de l’amour ? Under the watch of
  5. Que ne suis-je le zéphyr
  6. Qui rafraîchit ses appas,
  7. L’air que sa bouche respire,
  8. La fleur qui naît sous ses pas ?

Why am I not the fern/ Where, towards the end of a beautiful day,/ My shepherdess rests/ And love watches over her?/  Why am I not the gentle breeze,/ That refreshes her charms,/ The air her mouth breathes,/ The flower born under her steps.

  1. Que ne suis-je l’onde pure
  2. Qui la reçoit dans son sein ?
  3. Que ne suis-je la parure
  4. Qui la couvre après le bain ?
  5. Que ne suis-je cette glace,
  6. Où son minois répété
  7. Offre à nos yeux une grâce
  8. Qui sourit à la beauté ?

Why am I not the pure mist/ That receives her into its bosom/ Why am I not the ornament/ That covers her after her bath?/ Why am I not that mirror,/ Where her sweet little face repeats itself/ Offering to our gaze a grace/ That smiles at beauty?

  1. Que ne puis-je, par un songe,
  2. Tenir son cœur enchanté ?
  3. Que ne puis-je du mensonge
  4. Passer à la vérité ?
  5. Les dieux qui m’ont donné l’être
  6. M’ont fait trop ambitieux,
  7. Car enfin je voudrais être
  8. Tout ce qui plaît à ses yeux !

Why am I not, as in a dream,/ Holding her heart bewitched?/ And why can I not from a lie/ Go on to the truth?/ The gods who gave me life/ Made me too ambitious,/ For I would like to be/ All that pleases her eyes!

Le Poème harmonique
Vincent Dumestre
Claire Lefilliâtre
art: 
Autumn, by John William Godward, 1900 (video)
Nerissa, by John William Godward, 1906 (below video)
  
 
 
Godward-Nerissa (1)© Micheline Walker
May 18, 2013
WordPress

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“Plaisir d’amour” Revisited

20 Thursday Sep 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in Uncategorized

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Élizabeth Vigée-Lebrun, Baroque, C'est mon ami, Kathleen Battle, Marie-Antoinette, Marin Marais, Plaisir d'amour, Vincent Dumestre

perfomers: Claire Lefilliâtre, Brice Duisit, Isabelle Druet
group: Le Poème Harmonique
conductor: Vincent Dumestre
 
Related blogs:
“C’est mon ami,” composed by Marie-Antoinette
“Plaisir d’amour,” sung by Kathleen Battle
Photo credit: Wikipedia  
 
Marie-Antoinette, by Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun
“Ma Rose”
(please click on the picture to enlarge it) 

On the 13th of August 2012, I posted a blog on “Plaisir d’amour,” sung by Marian Anderson: “Plaisir d’amour,” sung by Kathleen Battle.  New information surfaced when I wrote about “Le Roi a fait battre tambour.”  As a result we need an update. 

The Dates: circa…

Marian Anderson’s rendition of Plaisir d’amour remains delightful, but it is different.  As for the date given by above, 1785, it may be the date “Plaisir d’amour” was first performed, but it may be safer to write c. 1785.  According to my earlier post, the lyrics, or poem, were written in 1780, now c. 1780, by Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian.   But the lyrics were not set to music until 1784 or c. 1784, by Jean Paul Égide Martini.

From Paul Aegidius Schwarzendorf to J. P. É. Martini

Composer Jean Paul Égide Martini, also known as Martini Il Tedesco, was born in Freystadt, Bavaria and his birth-name is Johann Paul Aegidius Schwarzendorf (31 August 1741 – 10 February 1816).  Martini changed his name when he arrived in France.  Martini Il Tedesco or Il Tedesco Martini would mean the German Martini.

The Revival of Ancient Music

However, what I should underline is the current revival of Baroque music and ancient music, interpreted using the instruments of that era in music, the seventeenth century or 1600 to 1730/50.  Eras in music overlap and going from era to era does not necessarily mean progress.  The same is true of eras in the fine arts.

The leader in the revival of Baroque or early music is Jordi Savall i Bernadet (born January 14, 1942, in Igualada, Spain), known as Jordi Savall.  I became aware of his effort when I saw Alain Corneau‘s Tous les matins du monde.[ii]  a 1991 film about composers Sainte-Colombe and Marin Marais, 17th-century French musicians.

The music Savall adapted and performed for Alain Corneau‘s film earned him a César (a French Oscar) from the French film industry in 1992 and the soundtrack to this film sold more than a million copies worldwide (Wikipedia).  There is a song entitled Sur tous les chemins du monde.

Poème Harmonique’s Vincent Dumestre is also engaged in a revival, but he seems to be focussing on songs.  He is recording old songs as they were performed when they were composed.  It is in this respect that Claire Lefilliâtre‘s rendition differs from Marian Anderson’s and vice versa.

Plaisir d’amour

  • The words, or lyrics, based on a poem by Jean de Florian (1755–1794), were written in 1780, now c. 1780;
  • The text was set to music by Jean Paul Égide Martini in 1784, now c. 1784;
  • In 1859, Hector Berlioz (1803–1869), a Romantic composer, arranged the piece for orchestra

Lyrics for Plaisir d’amour

Refrain:
Plaisir d’amour ne dure qu’un moment.
Chagrin d’amour dure toute la vie.
The pleasure of love lasts only a moment.
The pain of love lasts a lifetime.
 
1)
J’ai tout quitté pour l’ingrate Sylvie.
Elle me quitte pour prendre un autre amant.
I left everything for the ungrateful Sylvia.
She is leaving me for another lover.
Refrain 
 
2)
“Tant que cette eau coulera doucement,
Vers ce ruisseau qui borde la prairie,
Je t’aimerai”, me répétait Sylvie.
L’eau coule encore, elle a changé pourtant.
“As long as this water runs gently
Towards the brook that borders the meadow,
I will love you,” Sylvia said repeatedly.
The water still runs, but she has changed.
Refrain
_________________________
© Micheline Walker
20 September 2012
WordPress
 
[i] translation: Every Morning in the World.
 
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