Songs
Quant j'ai ouy le tabourin
by Claude Debussy From Trois Chansons de Charles d'Orléans L99 1898-1908
Quant j'ai ouy le tabourin
French source:
Charles d'Orléans
Sonner pour s’en aller au may,
En mon lit n’en ay fait affray
Ne levé mon chef du coissin;
En disant: il est trop matin,
Ung peu je me rendormiray,
Quant j’ai ouy le tabourin
Sonner pour s’en aller au may.
Jeunes gens partent leur butin;
De Nonchaloir m’acointeray,
A lui je m’abutineray;
Trouvé l’ay plus prochain voisin,
Quant j’ai ouy le tabourin!
When I heard the drum
English translation ©
Richard Stokes
Summoning us to go maying,
I neither leapt from my bed
Nor lifted my head from the pillow.
And I said: it is too early.
I shall sleep a little longer:
When I heard the drum
Summoning us to go maying.
Let the young divide their spoils,
I shall be happy to remain indifferent
And share my spoils with him –
For he was my nearest neighbour,
When I heard the drum beat.
Translation © Richard Stokes, author of A French Song Companion (Oxford, 2000)
Quant j'ai ouy le tabourin
French source:
Charles d'Orléans
When I heard the drum
English source:
Richard Stokes
Quant j’ai ouy le tabourin
When I heard the drum
Sonner pour s’en aller au may,
Summoning us to go maying,
En mon lit n’en ay fait affray
I neither leapt from my bed
Ne levé mon chef du coissin;
Nor lifted my head from the pillow.
En disant: il est trop matin,
And I said: it is too early.
Ung peu je me rendormiray,
I shall sleep a little longer:
Quant j’ai ouy le tabourin
When I heard the drum
Sonner pour s’en aller au may.
Summoning us to go maying.
Jeunes gens partent leur butin;
Let the young divide their spoils,
De Nonchaloir m’acointeray,
I shall be happy to remain indifferent
A lui je m’abutineray;
And share my spoils with him –
Trouvé l’ay plus prochain voisin,
For he was my nearest neighbour,
Quant j’ai ouy le tabourin!
When I heard the drum beat.
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
Charles d'Orléans
Charles of Orléans was Duke of Orléans from 1407 and prominent medieval poet.