About the Composers
Gaetano Donizetti (1797 – 1848)
Donizetti was an Italian composer whose music forms a bridge between
the styles of Rossini and Verdi. He composed both serious and comic
operas including Lucia di Lammermoor and Don Pasquale.
Gabriel Fauré (1845 – 1924)
Fauré is well known for his work as a songwriter. With a repertoire of
over 100 songs, he cultivated a reputation for sensitivity. In his chamber
music he showcases a flair for unexpected harmonies and his songs
showcase playfulness and wit.
Jules Massenet (1842 – 1912)
Massenet was a celebrated opera composer who completed 24 operas in
his lifetime. Some of his most famous works include Werter and Manon.
His music is admired for its sensuality and theatricality.
Francis Poulenc (1899 – 1963)
Poulenc grew his knowledge for song during his time as a piano
accompanist. He was skilled in balancing accompaniment with vocal
line and his works are known for their lyricism. He was partial to the
poetry of Apollinaire and Paul Éluard with themes ranging from tragedy
to comedy.
Order of the Programme
Salut à la France Gaetano Donizetti
From: La fille du regiment (1797-1848)
[Min: 4:00]
Mandolin: 5 Melodies de Venise Op. 58 No.1 Gabriel Fauré
Au bord de l’eau: 3 Melodies Op. 8 No.1 (1845-1924)
Larmes: Op. 51 No. 1
En Prière
[Min: 8:14]
Il faut partir Gaetano Donizetti
From: La fille du regiment (1797-1848)
[Min: 3:48]
Obéissons quand leur voix appelle Jules Massenet
From: Manon (1842-1912)
[Min: 2:30]
Voyage à Paris : Banalités FP 107 No. 4 Francis Poulenc
Cé: Deux Poèmes de Louis Aragon FP 122 No. 1 (1899-1963)
Bleuet: FP 102
[Min: 6:00]
Chacun la sait Gaetano Donizetti
From La fille du regiment (1797-1848)
[Min: 2:14]
Total Program 26:46 minutes
Salut à la France Gaetano Donizetti
From: La fille du regiment
The 21st regiment rescues Marie from an arranged marriage to Scipion.
Her mother grants her permission to marry her true love, the soldier,
Tonio. In celebration they all sing a salut to France.
Mandoline Mandolin
Poem by Paul Verlain The gallant serenaders
Les donneurs de sérénades And their fair listeners
Et les belles écouteuses Exchange sweet nothings
Échangent des propos fades Beneath singing boughs.
Sous les ramures chanteuses.
C'est Tircis et c'est Aminte, Tirsis is there, Aminte is there,
Et c'est l'éternel Clitandre, And eternal Clitandre too,
Et c'est Damis qui pour mainte And Damis who for many a
Cruelle fait maint vers tendre. cruel maid
Writes many a tender song.
Leurs courtes vestes de soie,
Leurs longues robes à queues, Their short silken doublets,
Leur élégance, leur joie Their long trailing gowns,
Et leurs molles ombres bleues, Their elegance, their joy,
And their soft blue shadows
Tourbillonnent dans l'extase
D'une lune rose et grise, Whirl madly in the rapture
Et la mandoline jase Of a grey and roseate moon,
Parmi les frissons de brise. And the mandolin jangles on
In the shivering breeze.
Au bord de l'eau
S’asseoir tous deux au bord d’un flot qui passe,
Le voir passer;
Tous deux, s’il glisse un nuage en l’espace,
Le voir glisser;
À l’horizon, s’il fume un toit de chaume,
Le voir fumer;
Aux alentours si quelque fleur embaume,
S’en embaumer;
Entendre au pied du saule où l’eau murmure,
L’eau murmurer;
Ne pas sentir, tant que ce rêve dure,
Le temps durer;
Mais n’apportant de passion profonde
Qu’à s’adorer,
Sans nul souci des querelles du monde,
Les ignorer;
Et seuls, tous deux devant tout ce qui lasse,
Sans se lasser,
Sentir l’amour, devant tout ce qui passe,
Ne point passer!
At the Water’s Edge
To sit together on the bank of a flowing stream,
To watch it flow;
Together, if a cloud glides by,
To watch it glide;
On the horizon, if smoke rises from thatch,
To watch it rise;
If nearby a flower smells sweet,
To savour its sweetness;
To listen at the foot of the willow, where water murmurs,
To the murmuring water;
Not to feel, while this dream passes,
The passing of time;
But feeling no deep passion,
Except to adore each other,
With no cares for the quarrels of the world,
To know nothing of them;
And alone together, seeing all that tires,
Not to tire of each other,
To feel that love, in the face of all that passes,
Shall never pass!
Larmes
Pleurons nos chagrins, chacun Pleurons nos chagrins, chacun
le nôtre, le nôtre.
Une larme tombe, puis une Une larme tombe, puis une
autre, autre.
Toi, [qui]1 pleures-tu ? Ton doux Le flux de la mer en est grossi
pays,
Et d'une salure plus épaisse,
Tes parents lointains, ta fiancée.
Depuis si longtemps que notre
Moi, mon existence dépensée espèce
En vœux trahis. Y pleure ainsi.
Pleurons nos chagrins, chacun Pleurons nos chagrins, chacun
le nôtre. le nôtre.
Une larme tombe, puis une Une larme tombe, puis une
autre. autre.
Semons dans la mer ces pâles Peut-être toi-même, ô triste mer,
fleurs.
Mer au goût de larme âcre et
À notre sanglot qui se lamente salée,
Elle répondra par la tourmente Es-tu de la terre inconsolée
Des flots hurleurs. Le pleur amer.
Tears
We mourn our griefs, each of We mourn our griefs, each of
us, us.
One tear follows, then another, One tear follows, then another.
You, who do you weep for? The flow of the tides is
Your sweet homeland, magnified
Your faraway parents, your And it grows saltier,
fiancée.
For so long our species
For me, [I weep for] my
existence, wasted Weep like this.
On broken vows.
We mourn our griefs, each of
us.
We mourn our griefs, each of
us. One tear follows, then another.
One tear follows, then another. Perhaps you yourself, oh sad
sea,
Let's sew these pale flowers in
the sea. Sea that tastes of acrid, salty
tears,
To our sobs of lament
Are, for the inconsolable earth,
She will respond with the
turmoil Weeping bitterly.
Of howling waves.
En Prière
Si la voix d'un enfant peut monter jusqu'à vous,
O mon Père,
Écoutez de Jésus, devant Vous à genoux,
La prière!
Si vous m'avez choisi pour enseigner vos lois
Sur la terre,
Je saurrai Vous servir, auguste Roi des rois,
O Lumière!
Sur mes lèvres, Seigneur, mettez la verité
Salutaire,
Pour que celui qui doute, avec humilité
Vous révère!
Ne m'abandonnez pas, donnez-moi la douceur
Nécessaire,
Pour apaiser les maux, soulager la douleur,
La misère!
Révélez-Vous à moi, Seigneur en qui je crois
Et j'espère:
Pour Vous je veux souffrir et
mourir sur la croix,
Au clavaire!
In Prayer
If the voice of a child can reach up to you,
O my Father,
listen to this prayer from Jesus,
kneeling before You!
If you have chosen me to teach your laws
here on earth,
I shall know how to serve You, mighty King of kings,
O Light!
Place the salutary truth upon my lips,
Lord
so that he who doubts, may revere you
with humility!
Do not abandon me, give me the gentleness
needed
to lessen pains, to relieve suffering
and misery!
Reveal Yourself to me, O Lord in whom I believe
and I hope:
For You I wish to suffer and to die upon the cross
at Calvary!
Obéissons quand leur voix appelle from Manon Jules Massenet
Manon sings about the fickleness of love and the fleeting nature of
youth, encouraging her audience to use their youthful days to love,
laugh and sing with abandon.
Il faut partir from La fille du regiment Gaetano Donizetti
The Marquise of Berkenfield admits that Marie is the daughter of her
sister. With the discovery of her noble heritage Marie is compelled to
leave the regiment. She bids a tearful goodbye to the troops that she has
loved as her family since childhood as well as her love, Tonio, who just
enlisted so he could marry her.
Voyage à Paris Trip to Paris
Ah! la charmante chose Oh! how delightful
Quitter un pays morose To leave a dismal
Pour Paris Place for Paris
Paris joli Charming Paris
Qu’un jour That one day
Dut créer l’Amour Love must have made
Ah! la charmante chose Oh! how delightful
Quitter un pays morose To leave a dismal
Pour Paris Place for Paris
Paris joli Charming Paris
Cé Cé
J’ai traversé les ponts de Cé I have crossed the bridges of Cé
C’est là que tout a commence It is there that everything began
Une chanson des temps passés A song of bygone days
Parle d’un chevalier blesse Tells of a knight who injured lay
D’une rose sur la chaussée Of a rose upon the carriage-way
Et d’un corsage délacé And an unlaced bodice
Du château d’un duc insensé And the castle of an insane duke
Et des cignes dans les fossés And swans in castle moats
De la prairie où vient danser And the meadow where an
Une éternelle fiancée Eternal fiancée comes to dance
And I have drunk the long lay
Et j’ai bu comme un lait glacé
Of false glories like icy milk
Le long lai des gloires faussées
The Loire bears my thoughts
La Loire emporte mes pensées
away
Avec les voitures versées
With the overturned cars
Et les armes désamorcées And the unprimed arms
Et les larmes mal effacées And the ill-dried tears
Ô ma France ô ma délaissée O my France O my forsaken
J’ai traversé les ponts de Cé one
I have crossed the bridges of Cé
Bleuet Cornflower
Jeune homme de vingt ans Young man of twenty,
Qui as vu des choses si You who have seen such
affreuses horrible things,
Que penses-tu des hommes de What do you think of the men
ton enfance from your childhood?
Tu connais la bravoure et la ruse You know bravery and cunning
Tu as vu la mort en face plus de You have faced death more than
cent fois a hundred times
Tu ne sais pas ce que c’est que You do not know what life is
la vie Hand down your fearlessness
Transmets ton intrépidité To those who shall come
À ceux qui viendront After you
Après toi
Young man
Jeune homme You are joyous your memory is
Tu es joyeux ta mémoire est steeped in blood
ensanglantée Your soul is red also
Ton âme est rouge aussi With joy
De joie You have absorbed the life of
Tu as absorbé la vie de ceux qui those who died beside you
sont morts près de toi You are resolute
Tu as de la décision
It is 1700 hrs and you would
Il est 17 heures et tu saurais know how to die
Mourir If not better than your elders
Sinon mieux que tes aînés At least with greater piety
Du moins plus pieusement For you are better acquainted
Car tu connais mieux la mort with death than life
que la vie Oh sweetness of bygone days
Ô douceur d’autrefois Slow-moving beyond all
Lenteur immémoriale memory
Chacun la sait from La fille du regiment: Gaetano Donizetti
The prisoner, Tonio, has becomes an unlikely friend of the soldiers after
Marie saved him. In a toast to the new friendship the troops ask Marie to
sing the song of the regiment. Together they sing the praises of the well-
known regiment that is credited with all military victories, decorated by
the prince, feared by men and loved by women.