Beau Soir
Music by Claude Debussy
Poem by Paul Borget
NYSSMA Level 5
Beau soir is one of Debussy's very early songs, written when he was still a teenager. Musically it sets a dream like, enchanted sound and the text paints rich images.
This holds several demands for a beginning singer in that it has an range of about an octave and a half, requiring a good projection of high and low notes, it has several sustained notes, and can be rhythmically tricky for the singer to get at first.
Lorsque au soleil couchant les rivières sont roses
Et qu'un tiède frisson court sur les champs de blé,
Un conseil d'être heureux semble sortir des choses
Et monter vers le coeur troublé.
Un conseil de goûter le charme d'être au monde
Cependant qu'on est jeune et que le soir est beau,
Car nous nous en allons, comme s'en va cette onde:
Elle à la mer, nous au tombeau. *
Translation from Wikipedia Page
When streams turn pink in the setting sun,
And a slight shudder rushes through the wheat fields,
A plea for happiness seems to rise out of all things
And it climbs up towards the troubled heart.
A plea to relish the charm of life
While there is youth and the evening is fair,
For we pass away, as the wave passes:
The wave to the sea, we to the grave.
Sheet Music
Recording
Recording + Voice
Recording of Piano
*This text has been hyperlinked as much as possible to the correct word on forvo.org which provides recordings of the word spoken by native speakers. Click here to find out more about this great tool.
