Songs

Crépuscule (1906) Op.95 no.9

Part of a series or song cycle:

Crépuscule

Charles van Lerberghe

Ce soir, à travers le bonheur,

Qui donc soupire, qu’est-ce qui pleure?

Qu’est-ce qui vient palpiter sur mon cœur,

Comme un oiseau blessé?

Est-ce une voix future,

Une voix du passé?

J’écoute, jusqu’à la souffrance,

Ce son dans le silence.

Île d’oubli, ô Paradis!

Quel cri déchire, dans la nuit,

Ta voix qui me berce?

Quel cri traverse

Ta ceinture de fleurs,

Et ton beau voile d’allégresse?

Crépuscule

English Translation © Richard Stokes

This evening, amid the happiness,

Who is it that sighs and what is it that weeps?

What comes to flutter in my heart,

Like a wounded bird?

Is it a premonition,

A voice from the past?

I listen, till it hurts,

To that sound in the silence.

Isle of oblivion, O paradise!

What cry in the night cracks

Your voice that cradles me?

What cry pierces

Your girdle of flowers,

And your lovely veil of happiness?

Composer

"Gabriel Urbain Fauré (12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers. Among his best-known works are his Pavane, Requiem, nocturnes for piano and the songs "Après un rêve" and "Clair de lune". Although his best-known and most accessible compositions are generally his earlier ones, Fauré composed many of his most highly regarded works in his later years, in a more harmonically and melodically complex style." (Wikipedia)

For more information about the life and work of Gabriel Fauré please see the Wikipedia article here.

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