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?

Twilight

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?

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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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