Songs
Rondel chinois
(1881)
L17
Rondel chinois
Sur le lac bordé d’azaléeDe nénuphar et de bambouPasse une jonque d’acajouÀ la pointe d’or effilée.Une Chinoise dort voiléeD’un flot de crêpe jusqu’au cou.Sur le lac bordé d’azalée,De nénuphar et de bambou.Sous la véranda denteléeUn mandarin se tient deboutFixant de ses yeux de hibouLa dame qui passe isoléeSur le lac bordé d’azalée.
Chinese Rondel
On the lake, bordered with azaleas,water-lilies and bamboo,a mahogany junk with a gold-pointed bowglides by.A Chinese girl sleeps, veiledto her neck in a cascade of crepe.On the lake, bordered with azaleas,water-lilies and bamboo.Beneath the scalloped verandaa mandarin stands watchingwith his owl-like eyesthe lady gliding by aloneon the lake bordered with azaleas.
Translation © Richard Stokes, author of A French Song Companion (Oxford, 2000)
If you would like to use our texts and translations, please click here for more information.
Composer
(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 here for the full Wikipedia article.
See Full Entry
Sorry, no further description available.
Previously performed at:
- 13 Oct 2018: Debussy: A Life in Song
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Rondel chinois
Sur le lac bordé d’azalée
De nénuphar et de bambou
Passe une jonque d’acajou
À la pointe d’or effilée.
Une Chinoise dort voilée
D’un flot de crêpe jusqu’au cou.
Sur le lac bordé d’azalée,
De nénuphar et de bambou.
Sous la véranda dentelée
Un mandarin se tient debout
Fixant de ses yeux de hibou
La dame qui passe isolée
Sur le lac bordé d’azalée.
Chinese Rondel
On the lake, bordered with azaleas,
water-lilies and bamboo,
a mahogany junk with a gold-pointed bow
glides by.
A Chinese girl sleeps, veiled
to her neck in a cascade of crepe.
On the lake, bordered with azaleas,
water-lilies and bamboo.
Beneath the scalloped veranda
a mandarin stands watching
with his owl-like eyes
the lady gliding by alone
on the lake bordered with azaleas.
If you would like to use our texts and translations, please click here for more information.
Composer
(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 here for the full Wikipedia article.
See Full Entry
Sorry, no further description available.
Previously performed at:
- 13 Oct 2018: Debussy: A Life in Song
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