Forêts Paisibles (Jean-Philippe Rameau)

Louis Fuzelier wrote the lyrics for Rameau's ballet-opera Les Indes Galantes. In 1736 they added a fourth part Les Sauvages; in North America, a Spaniard and a Frenchman compete for the love of Zima, daughter of a native chief. She prefers one of her own people, so everybody joins in the Dance of the Peace Pipe to music which Rameau was recycling for at least the third time. And then they sing this song to the same music. Hey, it's a great tune.

Forêts paisibles,	Peaceful forests
Jamais un vain désir ne trouble ici nos coeurs.	Never (may) a vain desire trouble here our hearts.
S'ils sont sensibles,	If they are sensitive,
Fortune, ce n'est pas au prix de tes faveurs.	Fortune, it is not at the price of your favours.
Dans nos retraites,	In our retreats,
Grandeur, ne viens jamais offrir tes faux attraits!	Greatness, never come to offer your false attractions!
Ciel, tu les as faites	Heaven, you have made them
Pour l'innocence et pour la paix.	For innocence and for peace.
Jouissons dans nos asiles,	Let’s enjoy our refuges,
Jouissons des biens tranquilles!	Let’s enjoy peaceful things.
Ah! peut-on être heureux,	Ah! Can one be happy
Quand on forme d'autres voeux?	When one has other wishes?

Jamais actually means always, but when it's associated with a ne then the two together mean never.

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This short extract is a sort of rondeau. Two soloists sing the first verse as a duet, and the same material is then expanded to four parts by the chorus. The soloists sing the second and third verses to variations on the original music, but after each verse the chorus repeats its treatment of the first verse.

I mention all this because I am/was one of the soloists when Gay Abandon sing/sang this in London (4 May 2009) and Leeds (13 June).

Démons et Merveilles (Maurice Thiriet)

Jacques Prévert wrote these lyrics as part of his screenplay for the 1942 film Les Visiteurs du Soir, an allegory of the eternal struggle between good and evil.

Démons et merveilles,	Demons and wonders,
Vents et marées	Winds and tides
Au loin déjà la mer s'est retirée	In the distance already the sea has withdrawn
Et toi comme une algue	And you like a piece of seaweed
Doucement caressée par le vent	Gently caressed by the wind
Tu remues en revant.	You stir dreaming.
Démons et merveilles,	Demons and wonders,
Vents et marées	Winds and tides
Au loin déjà la mer s'est retirée	In the distance already the sea has withdrawn
Mais dans tes yeux entr'ouverts	But in your half-opened eyes
Deux petites vagues sont restées	Two little waves have remained
Démons et merveilles,	Demons and wonders,
Vents et marées	Winds and tides
Deux petites vagues pour me noyer.	Two little waves to drown me.

Trois Beaux Oiseaux du Paradis (Maurice Ravel)

One of three songs which Ravel wrote to his own words in 1915, shortly after the outbreak of the First World War. Blue, white and red are the colours of the french flag (and the flags of many other countries).

Trois beaux oiseaux du Paradis,	Three beautiful birds of paradise,
(Mon ami z'il est à la guerre)	(My friend has gone to war)
Trois beaux oiseaux du Paradis	Trois beautiful birds of paradise,
Ont passé par ici.	Have passed through here.
Le premier était plus bleu que ciel,	The first was more blue than the sky,
Le second était couleur de neige,	The second was the colour of snow
Le troisième rouge vermeil.	The third red, bright red.
“Beaux oiselets du Paradis,	“Beautiful little birds of Paradise,
Qu'apportez par ici?”	What (do you) bring through here?”
“J'apporte un regard couleur d'azur.	“I am bringing a blue-eyed look.
“Et moi, sur beau front couleur de neige,	“And me, on a beautiful forehead the colour of snow
Un baiser dois mettre, encore plus pur”	A kiss should place, even more pure”
“Oiseau vermeil du Paradis,	“Vermillion bird of paradise,
Que portez-vous ainsi?”	What do you bring as well?”
“Un joli cœur tout cramoisi …	“A beautiful heart all crimson …
“Ah! je sens mon cœur qui froidit …	“Ah, I feel my heart is becoming cold …
Emportez-le aussi”.	Take it also.”

Z'il. The z doesn't really mean anything, it's just a way of keeping the two vowels apart. It's like the t introduced when elle a is inverted to a-t-elle.

Rouge vermeil. Tempting to use vermilion, but that's the english for vermillon. Vermeil is an adjective meaning bright red, and qualifying rouge (red).

Un regard couleur d'azur. Azur (azure) is a literary way of saying blue. There are more brown eyes than blue in France, and the tendency was even more marked before the days of easy travel. So someone with blue eyes was likely to be foreign.

CPDL

Les Fleurs et les Arbres (Camille Saint-Saëns)

The second of two unaccompanied chorales opus 68, published some time in the 1880s. The first is Calme des Nuits.

Les fleurs et les arbres,	The flowers and the trees,
Les bronzes, les marbres,	The bronzes, the marbles,
Les ors, les émaux,	The golds, the enamels,
La mer, les fontaines,	The sea, the springs,
Les monts et les plaines	The mountains and the plains
Consolent nos maux.	Console our pains.
Nature éternelle	Eternal nature,
Tu sembles plus belle	You seem more beautiful
Au sein des douleurs,	To a heart in sorrow,
Et l’art nous domine,	And art reigns over us,
Sa flame illumine	Its flame illuminates
Le rire et les pleurs.	The laughter and the tears.

CPDL

Calme des Nuits (Camille Saint-Saëns)

The first of two unaccompanied chorales opus 68, published some time in the 1880s. The second is Les fleurs et les Arbres.

Calmes des nuits, fraicheur des soirs,	Still periods of the nights, coolness of the evenings,
Vaste scintillement des mondes,	Vast shimmering of the worlds,
Grand silence des antres noirs	Great silence of black caverns
Vous charmez les âmes profondes.	You charm profound spirits.
L’éclat du soleil, la gaité,	The burst of sunlight, merriment,
Le bruit plaisent aux plus futiles;	Noise please the more frivolous;
Le poéte seul est hanté	The poet alone is haunted
Par l’amour des choses tranquiles.	By the love of quiet things.

CPDL

Tant que vivray (Claudin de Sermisy)

First published in 1527, this is one of about 175 chansons by Claudin de Sermisy, who gets a name-check in Rabelais’ Gargantua and Pantagruel.

Tant que vivray en âge florissant,	So long as I live at a flourishing age,
Je serviray d'amour le dieu puissant,	I will serve love's powerful god,
En faictz, et dictz, en chansons, et accords.	In actions and words, in songs and harmonies.
Par plusieurs fois m'a tenu languissant,	Many times (he) left me languishing,
Mais après dueil m'a faict réjouyssant,	But after mourning made me rejoice,
Car j'ay l'amour de la belle au gent corps.	Since I have the love of a beautiful woman with a fine body.
Son alliance	An alliance with her
C'est ma fiance:	That's my pledge:
Son cœur est mien,	Her heart is mine,
Le mien est sien:	Mine is hers:
Fi de tristesse,	Boo to sadness,
Vive lyesse,	Long live joy,
Puis qu'en amour a tant de bien.	Since in love there is so much good.
Quand je la veulx servir, et honorer,	When I want to serve her, and honour (her),
Quand par escripts veux son nom décorer,	When with fine scripts (I) want to decorate her name,
Quand je la veoy, et visite souvent,	When I see her, and visit her often,
Les envieux n'en font que murmurer,	Envious people just murmer about it
Mais notr'amour n'en sçaurait moins durer;	But our love won't therefore endure less;
Aultant ou plus en emporte le vent.	So far or further will the wind carry it.
Malgré envie	Despite envy
Toute ma vie	All my life
Je l'aimeray,	I will love her
Et chanteray,	And I will sing,
C'est la premiere,	“She is the first
C'est la derniere,	She is the last
Que j'ay servie, et serviray.	That I have served, and will serve”.

The french text is from our Editions Outremontaises edition, slightly different in places from CPDL.

I've based my translation on an anonymous one lent to me by friend and fellow-Cantabilean David Adshead which begins “While I am in my prime”. In most other contexts that would be better but in this blog I'm trying to be more literal and give singers a clue as to what the individual words mean.

La belle au gent corps. La belle is literally the beautiful (female), so she may be a bit younger than woman implies. Gent meant graceful or elegant, with overtones of being well-born. I'll lay good money that someone somewhere has translated this phrase as fair maid.

Fi de. Well yes, you could perhaps translate this as Fie upon. But I couldn't.

Il est bel et bon (Pierre Passereau)

A jolly 16th-century chanson in archaic language.

Il est bel et bon, commère, mon mari.	He is handsome and good, dear, my husband.
Il estoit deux femmes toutes d'ung pays,	There were two women, both from the same area,
disanst l'une à l'aultre – “Avez bon mary.”	saying one to the other, “got a good husband?”
Il ne me courrousse, ne me bat aussy.	He doesn't abuse me, or beat me either.
Il faict le mesnaige,	He does the housework,
il donne aux poulailles,	he gives (food) to the poultry
et je prens mes plaisirs.	and I take my pleasure.
Commère, c'est pour rire	Dear, it’ll make you laugh
Quand les poulailles crient:	to hear the cries of the poultry:
Petite coquette, (co co co co da), qu'esse-cy?	You little charmer, what’s this?

Commère was used by a woman to (or about) a female friend who she liked chatting with. Now it means more of a gossip. I’ve used dear as a placeholder; a restrained englishwoman probably wouldn't feel the need to say anything at all, and an ebullient american might well say girlfriend. Unfairly, as ever, the male equivalent compère is still quite a positive word for a friend.

Co co co co da is great fun to sing. It picks up the first syllable of coquette, and when the altos and basses sing it under the sopranos’ and tenors’ petite coquette then it sounds as if the poultry are clucking away. But perhaps there's also an echo of cocu or cuckold – maybe je prens mes plaisirs (I take my pleasure) means more than just sitting around chatting.

CPDL