{"id":4661,"date":"2018-12-18T17:09:24","date_gmt":"2018-12-18T16:09:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.luca-casagrande.com\/blog\/?p=4661"},"modified":"2018-12-18T17:12:30","modified_gmt":"2018-12-18T16:12:30","slug":"les-nuits-dete-hector-berlioz-1803-1869","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/luca-casagrande.com\/blog\/les-nuits-dete-hector-berlioz-1803-1869\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cLES NUITS D\u2019\u00c9T\u00c9\u201d \u2013 HECTOR BERLIOZ (1803 – 1869)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 \u2013 8 March 1869)<\/strong> was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts (Requiem). Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works, and conducted several concerts with more than 1,000 musicians. He also composed around 50 songs. His influence was critical for the further development of Romanticism, especially in composers like Richard Wagner, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Franz Liszt, Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler and many others
\nLes Nuits d\u2019\u00e9t\u00e9 was born quietly in 1840-41<\/strong>, in the months following Rom\u00e9o et Juliette. Berlioz\u2019s supreme gift to the repertoire of song was composed originally for voice and piano; the orchestra version, for the most part, came much later.<\/strong> The poems are from a collection of 1838 by Berlioz\u2019s friend and fellow critic Th\u00e9ophile Gautier (1811-72) titled La Com\u00e9die de la mort. From the po\u00e9sies diverses in the second half of the volume Berlioz selected two light poems and four sultry ones for setting to music. The title is Berlioz\u2019s own, another mark of his ongoing infatuation with Shakespeare.
\nSo far as we know the piano-vocal version was not performed in public concert. When Berlioz left Paris for his journeys of 1842-43 he was accompanied by his mistress, the singer Marie Recio. Partly to legitimize her presence, I think, he asked Marie to participate in his concerts by offering a pair of songs, one of which was Absence. After a lovers\u2019 misunderstanding in Frankfurt, he took the piano-vocal Absence and scored it for orchestra. This she sang for the first time in Leipzig on 23 February 1843.
\nIn early 1856, Berlioz returned to the Nuits d\u2019\u00e9t\u00e9 to orchestrate the ravishing Spectre de 1a rose, with its new introduction, for the mezzo-soprano Anna Bockholtz-Falconi to sing at his forthcoming concert in Gotha. The Swiss publisher Rieter-Biedermann was present at the performance that February; delighted by what he heard, he approached Berlioz with the idea of orchestrating the remaining four of the Nuits d\u2019\u00e9t\u00e9 for publication. Berlioz needed little convincing.
\nThe texts are among the best Berlioz ever set, resplendent with the characteristic imagery of the French lyric of the 1830s: young lovers culling wild strawberries in spring, the aroma of a faded rose blossom, a grey tomb in the shadow of a yew tree, distance from a rose-colored smile. It is Romantic poetry of far-off places and climes, the final barcarole, for example, alluding to Java and Scandinavia, the Baltic and the Pacific in one of the best of Berlioz\u2019s many armchair voyages. Here Berlioz is at the pinnacle of his powers of orchestration, as can be heard in the opening cello arpeggio of Le Spectre de la rose and the languid pairing of flute and clarinet in octaves in the tune that follows. The ostinati in Sur les lagunes undulate in suggestion of a barque afloat; at the swooning phrase \u201cAh! sans amour, s\u2019en aller sur la mer,\u201d even the alliterative sibilants inform the orchestral texture. The end of Au cimeti\u00e8re is made exquisitely tragic by the dissonant clarinet clashes against the tonic triad, persistently delaying resolution. Note also the nod to Beethoven\u2019s Eighth in the rhythmic structure of the Villanelle, and in Le Spectre de la rose and Absence the dissolves into revery-induced parlando declamation. All these represent stages in the maturation of the French m\u00e9lodie, a genre that went on to attract Berlioz\u2019s spiritual descendants for the remainder of the century.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. <\/em>Villanelle<\/strong><\/em>
\nQuand viendra la saison nouvelle,
\nQuand auront disparu les froids,
\nTous les deux nous irons, ma belle,
\nPour cueillir le muguet aux bois.
\nSous nos pieds \u00e9grenant les perles
\nQue l\u2019on voit au matin trembler.
\nNous irons \u00e9couter les merles siffler.
\nLe printemps est venu, ma belle,
\nC\u2019est le mois des amants b\u00e9ni;
\nEt l\u2019oiseau satinant son aile,
\nDit ses vers au rebord du nid.
\nOh! Viens donc, sur ce banc de mousse
\nPour parler de nos beaux amours,
\nEt dis-moi de ta voix si douce,
\nToujours!
\nLoin, bien loin, \u00e9garant nos courses,
\nFaisant fuir le lapins cach\u00e9,
\nEt le daim, au miroir des sources
\nAdmirant son grand bois pench\u00e9;
\nPuis chez nous, tout heureux, tout ais\u00e9s,
\nEn paniers enla\u00e7ant nos doigts,
\nRevenons, rapportant des fraises des bois.<\/p>\n

Villanelle<\/strong><\/em>
\nWhen the new season has come,
\nwhen the cold has disappeared,
\ntogether we will go, my lovely one,
\nto gather lilies-of the valley in the woods.
\nBeneath our feet picking the pearls
\nthat one sees trembling in the morning.
\nWe will go to hear the blackbirds whistle.
\nSpring has come, my lovely one,
\nthis is the month blessed by lovers;
\nand the bird, smoothing its wing,
\nspeaks its verses from the rim of its nest.
\nOh! Come here, onto this mossy bank
\nto speak of our beautiful love,
\nand say to me, in your sweet voice,
\nForever!
\nFar, very far, wandering from our path,
\nsetting to flight the hidden rabbit,
\nand the buck, in the mirror of the spring
\nadmiring its great twisted antlers;
\nthen home, all happy and at ease,
\nlacing our fingers together like baskets,
\nwe\u2019ll return, carrying wild strawberries.<\/p>\n

2. Le spectre de la rose<\/strong><\/em>
\nSoul\u00e8ve ta paupi\u00e8re close
\nQ\u2019effleure un songe virginal!
\nJe suis le spectre d\u2019une rose
\nQue tu portais hier au bal.
\nTu me pris, encore emperl\u00e9e
\nDes pleurs d\u2019argent, de l\u2018arrosoir,
\nEt, parmi la f\u00eate etoil\u00e9e,
\nTu me promenas tout le soir.
\nO toi qui de ma mort fu cause,
\nSans que tu puisses le chasser,
\ntoute les nuits mon spectre rose
\nA ton chevet viendra danser.
\nMais ne crains rein, je ne r\u00e9clame
\nNe messi ni De Profundis,
\nCe l\u00e9ger parfum est mon \u00e2me,
\nEt j\u2019arrive du paradis.
\nMon destin fut digne d\u2019envie,
\nEt pour avoir un sort si beau
\nPlus d\u2019un aurait donn\u00e9 sa vie;
\nCar sur ton sein j\u2019ai mon tombeau,
\nEt sur l\u2019alb\u00e2tre o\u00f9 je repose
\nUn poet avec un baiser
\nEcrivit: \u201cCi-git une rose,
\nQue tous les rois vont jalouser.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ghost of the rose<\/strong><\/em>
\nLift your closed eyelids,
\ntouched by a virginal dream!
\nI am the ghost of a rose
\nwhich you wore last night at the ball.
\nYou took me, still pearled
\nwith silver tears from the watering can,
\nand, throughout the star-filled festival
\nyou carried me all the evening.
\nOh you who were the cause of my death,
\nwithout your being able to chase it away,
\nevery night my rose-colored ghost
\nwill dance by your pillow.
\nBut fear nothing; I claim
\nneither mass nor requiem.
\nThis light perfume is my soul,
\nand I have come from paradise.
\nMy destiny is worthy of envy
\nand to have a fate so beautiful
\nmore than one might have given his life;
\nsince your bosom is my tomb,
\nAnd upon the alabaster where I rest
\na poet has written with a kiss:
\n\u201cHere lies a rose
\nwhich all kings might envy.\u201d<\/p>\n

3. Sur les lagunes<\/strong><\/em>
\nMa belle amie est morte,
\nJe pleurerai toujours;
\nSous la tombe elle emporte
\nMon \u00e2me et mes amours.
\nDans le ciel, sans m\u2019attendre,
\nElle se retourna;
\nL\u2019ange qui l\u2019emmena
\nNe voulut pas me prendre.
\nQue mon sort est amer!
\nAh! Sans amour s\u2019en aller sur la mer!
\nLa blanche creature
\nEst couch\u00e9e au cercuil;
\nComme dans la nature
\nTout me parait en deuil!
\nLa colombe oubli\u00e9e
\nPleure et songe a l\u2019absent.
\nMon \u00e2me pleure et sent
\nQu\u2019elle est d\u00e9paraill\u00e9e!
\nQue mon sort est amer!
\nAh! Sans amour s\u2019en aller sur la mer!
\nSur moi la nuit immense
\nS\u2019\u00e9tend comme un linceul.
\nJe chante ma romance
\nQue le ciel entend seul:
\nAh! Comme elle \u00e9tait belle
\nEt comme je l\u2019aimais!
\nJe n\u2019aimerai jamais
\nUne femme autant qu\u2019elle\u2026
\nQue mon sort est amer!
\nAh! Sans amour s\u2019en aller sur la mer!<\/p>\n

On the lagoons<\/strong><\/em>
\nMy beautiful friend is dead;
\nI will weep forever.
\nInto the tomb she has carried
\nmy soul and my heart.
\nTo heaven, without waiting for me,
\nshe has returned;
\nthe angel who led her
\ndid not want to take me.
\nHow bitter is my fate!
\nAh! To go to sea without love!
\nThe fair creature
\nis lying in her coffin;
\nhow everything in nature
\nseems to me to be in mourning!
\nThe forsaken dove
\nweeps and dreams of the absent one.
\nMy soul weeps and feels
\nthat it has lost its partner!
\nHow bitter is my fate!
\nAh! To go to sea without love!
\nOver me the immense night
\nspreads itself like a shroud.
\nI sing my romance
\nwhich only heaven hears:
\nAh! How beautiful she was
\nand how I loved her!
\nI will never love
\nanother woman as much as I loved her\u2026
\nHow bitter is my fate!
\nAh! To go to sea without love!<\/p>\n

4. l\u2019Absence<\/strong><\/em>
\nReviens, reviens, ma belle aim\u00e9e!
\nComme une fleur lon du soleil,
\nLa fleur de ma vie est ferm\u00e9e
\nLoin de ton sourire vermeil!
\nEntre nos c\u0153urs quelle distance!
\nTant d\u2019espace entre nos baisers!
\nO sort amer! \u00f4 dure absence!
\nO grands d\u00e9sirs inapais\u00e9s!
\nReviens, reviens\u2026
\nD\u2019ici l\u00e0bas que de campagnes,
\nQue de villes et de hameaux,
\nQue de vallons et de montagnes,
\nA lasser le pied des chevaux!
\nReviens, reviens\u2026<\/p>\n

Absence<\/strong><\/em>
\nReturn, return, my beloved!
\nLike a flower far from the sun,
\nthe flower of my life is closed
\nfar from your brilliant smile!
\nBetween our hearts what distance!
\nWhat space between our kisses!
\nO bitter fate! O hard absence!
\nO great, unappeasable desires!
\nReturn, return\u2026
\nBetween here and there what fields,
\nwhat cities and towns,
\nwhat valleys and mountains
\nto weary the feet of the horses!
\nReturn, return\u2026<\/p>\n

5. Au Cimiti\u00e8re (Claire de lune)<\/strong><\/em>
\nConnaisez-vous la blanche tombe,
\nO\u00f9 flotte avec un son plaintif
\nL\u2019ombre d\u2019un if?
\nSur l\u2019if une p\u00e2le colombe
\nTriste et seule au soleil couchant,
\nChante son chant:
\nUn air maladivement tendre,
\nA la fois charmant et fatal,
\nQui vous fait mal
\nE qu\u2019on voudrait toujour entendre;
\nUn air comme en soupire aux ciex
\nL\u2019ange amoureux.
\nOn dirait que l\u2019\u00e2me \u00e9veill\u00e9e
\nPleure sous terre \u00e0 l\u2019unisson
\nDe la chanson,
\nEt du malheur d\u2019\u00eatre oubli\u00e9e
\nSe plaint dans un roucoulement
\nBien doucement.
\nSur les ailes de la musique
\nOn sent lentement revenir
\nUn souvenir.
\nUne ombre, une forme ang\u00e9lique
\nPasse dans un rayon trembant
\nEn voile blanc.
\nLes belles de nuit* demiclose
\nJettent leur parfum faible et doux
\nAutour de vous,
\nEt la fant\u00f4me aux molles poses
\nMurmure en vous tendant les bras:
\nTu reviendras!
\nOh! Jamais plus, pr\u00e8s de la tombe,
\nJe n\u2019irai, quand descend le soir
\nAu manteau noir,
\nEcouter la p\u00e2le colombe
\nChanter sur la pointe de l\u2019if
\nSon chant plaintif.<\/p>\n

At the cemetery (Moonlight)<\/strong><\/em>
\nDo you know the white tomb,
\nwhere floats, with a plaintive sound,
\nthe shadow of a yew-tree?
\nOn the yew a pale dove,
\nsad and alone in the sunset,
\nsings its song:
\nA melody morbidly tender,
\nat once charming and deadly,
\nwhich will do you harm
\nand which one wishes to listen to forever;
\na melody like the sighing in heaven
\nof an angel in love.
\nOne might say that an awakened soul
\nweeps beneath the earth together
\nwith the song,
\nand, in sorrow at having been forgotten,
\nlaments by cooing
\nvery sweetly.
\nOn the wings of the music
\none slowly feels returning
\na memory.
\nA shadow, an angelic form
\npasses in a ray of trembling light,
\nveiled in white.
\nThe half-closed Marvels of Peru*
\nspread their delicate and sweet perfume
\nabout you,
\nand the ghost, standing limply,
\nmurmurs, holding her arms out to you:
\n\u201cYou will return!\u201d
\nOh! Never again will I go near the tomb
\nwhen evening falls
\nin its black robe,
\nto listen to the pale dove
\nsinging, on the branch of the yew-tree,
\nits plaintive song.<\/p>\n

6. L\u2019Ile inconnue<\/strong><\/em>
\nDites, la jeune belle,
\nO\u00f9 voulez-vous aller?
\nLa voile enfle son aile,
\nLa brise va souffler.
\nL\u2019aviron est d\u2019ivoire,
\nLe pavillon de moire,
\nLe gouvernail d\u2019or fin;
\nJ\u2019ai pour lest une orange,
\nPour voile une aile d\u2019ange,
\nPour mousse un s\u00e9raphin.
\nDites\u2026
\nEst-ce dans la Baltique?
\nDans la mer Pacifique?
\nDans l\u2019\u00eele de Java?
\nO\u00f9 bien est-ce en Norv\u00e8ge,
\nCuillir la fleur de neige,
\nOu la fleur a\u2019Angsoka?
\nDites, dites, o\u00f9 voulez-vous aller?
\nMenez moi, dit la belle,
\nA la rive fid\u00e8le
\nO\u00f9 l\u2019on aime toujours!
\nCette rive, ma ch\u00e8re,
\nOn ne la conna\u00eet gu\u00e8re
\nAu pays des amours.
\nO\u00f9 voulez-vous allez?
\nLa brise va souffler.<\/p>\n

The unknown island<\/strong><\/em>
\nTell me, pretty young girl,
\nwhere do you wish to go?
\nThe sail spreads its wing,
\nthe breeze is beginning to blow.
\nThe oar is of ivory,
\nthe flag of silk,
\nthe rudder of pure gold;
\nfor ballast I have an orange,
\nfor sail the wing of an angel,
\nfor cabin-boy, a seraph.
\nTell me\u2026
\nIs it to the Baltic sea?
\nTo the Pacific ocean?
\nTo the island of Java?
\nOr is it rather to Norway,
\nto gather snow-flowers,
\nor the flowers of Angsoka?
\nTell me, tell me, where do you want to go?
\n\u201cTake me,\u201d says the pretty one,
\n\u201cto the faithful shore
\nwhere people love forever!\u201d
\nThat shore, my dear,
\nis almost unknown
\nin the country of love.
\nWhere do you want to go?
\nThe breeze is beginning to blow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 \u2013 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts (Requiem). Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works, and conducted several concerts with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4662,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/luca-casagrande.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/luca-casagrande.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/luca-casagrande.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/luca-casagrande.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/luca-casagrande.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4661"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/luca-casagrande.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4666,"href":"https:\/\/luca-casagrande.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4661\/revisions\/4666"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/luca-casagrande.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/luca-casagrande.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/luca-casagrande.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/luca-casagrande.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}