Songs

Chanson écossaise

by Maurice Ravel

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Text

Chanson écossaise
English source: Robert Burns

Ye banks and braes o’ bonnie Doon,
How can ye bloom sae fresh and fair?
How can ye chaunt, ye little birds,
And I’m sae weary fu’ o’ care?

Ye’ll break my heart, ye warbling bird,
That warbles on the flowry thorn,
Ye mind me o’ departed joys.
Departed never to return.

Oft hae I rov’d by bonnie Doon,
By morning and by evening shine
To hear the birds sing o’ their loves
As fondly I sang o’ mine.

Wi’ lightsome heart I stretch’d my hand
And pu’d a rosebud from the tree.
But my fause lover stole the rose,
And ah, she left the thorn wi’ me.

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

Robert Burns

Robert Burns , also known as Rabbie Burns, the Bard of Ayrshire and various other names and epithets, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the…

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