Songs
Romance 'Silence inéffable'
(1883)
L43
Romance 'Silence inéffable'
Silence ineffable de l’heureOù le cœur aimant sur un cœurSe laisse en aller et s’endort,—Sur un cœur aimant qui l’adore! …Musique tendre des paroles,Comme un sanglot de rossignols,Si tendre qu’on voudrait mourir,—Sur la bouche qui les soupire! …L’ivresse ardente de la vieFait défaillir l’amant ravi,Et l’on n’entend battre qu’un cœur,—Musique et silence de l’heure! …
Romance 'Ineffable silence'
Ineffable silence of the hourWhen the loving heart abandons itselfAnd sleeps on a loving heart—Which adores it! …Tender music of the words,Like a sobbing nightingale,So tender one would wish to die—On the mouth that sighs them! …Ardent intoxication of lifeMakes the enraptured lover swoon,And one hears the beating of a single heart,—Music, and the silence of the hour! …
Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
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 & Tchaikovsky: Ilona Domnich & Sholto Kynoch
-
Romance 'Silence inéffable'
Silence ineffable de l’heure
Où le cœur aimant sur un cœur
Se laisse en aller et s’endort,
—Sur un cœur aimant qui l’adore! …
Musique tendre des paroles,
Comme un sanglot de rossignols,
Si tendre qu’on voudrait mourir,
—Sur la bouche qui les soupire! …
L’ivresse ardente de la vie
Fait défaillir l’amant ravi,
Et l’on n’entend battre qu’un cœur,
—Musique et silence de l’heure! …
Romance 'Ineffable silence'
Ineffable silence of the hour
When the loving heart abandons itself
And sleeps on a loving heart
—Which adores it! …
Tender music of the words,
Like a sobbing nightingale,
So tender one would wish to die
—On the mouth that sighs them! …
Ardent intoxication of life
Makes the enraptured lover swoon,
And one hears the beating of a single heart,
—Music, and the silence of the hour! …
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 & Tchaikovsky: Ilona Domnich & Sholto Kynoch
About Oxford Lieder
Oxford Lieder is one of the world's leading promoters of song and the winner of a prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society Award. The focal point of each year is the two-week Oxford Lieder Festival in October.
Find out More