Songs

Chanson des cueilleuses de lentisques

by Maurice Ravel From 5 Mélodies populaires grecques (1904) 1904-1906

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Text & Translation

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Chanson des cueilleuses de lentisques
French source: Michel-Dimitri Calvocoressi

Ô joie de mon âme,
Joie de mon cœur,
Trésor qui m’est si cher;
Joie de l’âme et du cœur,
Toi que j’aime ardemment,
Tu es plus beau qu’un ange.
Ô lorsque tu parais,
Ange si doux
Devant nos yeux,
Comme un bel ange blond,
Sous le clair soleil,
Hélas! tous nos pauvres cœurs soupirent!

Song of the lentisk gatherers
English translation © Richard Stokes

O joy of my soul, joy of my heart,
Treasure so dear to me;
Joy of the soul and of the heart,
You whom I love with passion,
You are more beautiful than an angel.
Oh when you appear, angel so sweet,
Before our eyes,
Like a lovely, blond angel
Under the bright sun -
Alas, all our poor hearts sigh!

Translation © Richard Stokes, from A French Song Companion (Oxford, 2000)

Chanson des cueilleuses de lentisques
French source: Michel-Dimitri Calvocoressi

Song of the lentisk gatherers
English source: Richard Stokes

Ô joie de mon âme,
O joy of my soul, joy of my heart,
Joie de mon cœur,
Treasure so dear to me;
Trésor qui m’est si cher;
Joy of the soul and of the heart,
Joie de l’âme et du cœur,
You whom I love with passion,
Toi que j’aime ardemment,
You are more beautiful than an angel.
Tu es plus beau qu’un ange.
Oh when you appear, angel so sweet,
Ô lorsque tu parais,
Before our eyes,
Ange si doux
Like a lovely, blond angel
Devant nos yeux,
Under the bright sun -
Comme un bel ange blond,
Alas, all our poor hearts sigh!
Sous le clair soleil,
Hélas! tous nos pauvres cœurs soupirent!

Composer

Maurice Ravel

Joseph Maurice Ravel was a French composer, pianist and conductor.  In the 1920s and 1930s he was internationally regarded as France's greatest living composer. He was one of the first composers to acknowledge the potential of recording in making…

Poet

Michel-Dimitri Calvocoressi

Michel-Dimitri Calvocoressi was a music writer and critic, and promoter of musicians such as Franz Liszt and Modest Mussorgsky.

Performances

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