Fantoches
French source:
Paul Verlaine
Qu’un mauvais dessein rassembla
Gesticulent, noirs sous la lune.
Cependant l’excellent docteur
Bolonais cueille avec lenteur
Des simples parmi l’herbe brune.
Lors sa fille, piquant minois,
Sous la charmille, en tapinois,
Se glisse, demi-nue, en quête
De son beau pirate espagnol,
Dont un amoureux rossignol
Clame la détresse à tue-tête.
Scaramouche and Pulcinella
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
Drawn together by some evil scheme,
Gesticulate, black beneath the moon.
Meanwhile the excellent doctor
From Bologna is leisurely picking
Medicinal herbs in the brown grass.
Then his daughter, pertly pretty,
Beneath the arbour, stealthily,
Glides, half-naked, in quest
Of her handsome Spanish pirate,
Whose grief a lovelorn nightingale
Proclaims as loudly as he can.
Translation © Richard Stokes, author of A French Song Companion (Oxford, 2000)
Fantoches
French source:
Paul Verlaine
Scaramouche and Pulcinella
English source:
Richard Stokes
Scaramouche et Pulcinella
Scaramouche and Pulcinella
Qu’un mauvais dessein rassembla
Drawn together by some evil scheme,
Gesticulent, noirs sous la lune.
Gesticulate, black beneath the moon.
Cependant l’excellent docteur
Meanwhile the excellent doctor
Bolonais cueille avec lenteur
From Bologna is leisurely picking
Des simples parmi l’herbe brune.
Medicinal herbs in the brown grass.
Lors sa fille, piquant minois,
Then his daughter, pertly pretty,
Sous la charmille, en tapinois,
Beneath the arbour, stealthily,
Se glisse, demi-nue, en quête
Glides, half-naked, in quest
De son beau pirate espagnol,
Of her handsome Spanish pirate,
Dont un amoureux rossignol
Whose grief a lovelorn nightingale
Clame la détresse à tue-tête.
Proclaims as loudly as he can.
Composer
Claude Debussy
(Achille) Claude Debussy was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Please click…
Poet
Paul Verlaine
Paul-Marie Verlaine was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the fin de siècle in international and French poetry. Born in Metz, Verlaine was educated at the Lycée Impérial…
Performances
Previously performed at:
- 29. Marie-Laure Garnier, Célia Oneto Bensaid, Quatuor Hanson: La bonne Chanson 19 Oct 2022
- 10. Claire Booth & Christopher Glynn: Mussorgsky & Rimsky-Korsakov 16 Oct 2022
- Mastercourse Concert 27 Oct 2018
- Debussy: A Life in Song 13 Oct 2018