This song reflects the sublime harmony of a peaceful early summer’s day in May. Nature, indeed the whole world, is in perfect balance and can be felt through all our senses: the pleasant shade of the leafy canopy at noon, the radiance of the moonlight in the evening, the scents of the forest, the brilliant green and colorful flowers in the meadows, the sound of singing, the lazily flowing stream, the endless horizon... The enchanting and peaceful atmosphere of the original song for solo voice is perhaps even more vivid in this three-part setting by Denis Rouger for female voices.
This art song was originally composed not for chamber choir, but for solo voice and piano. Denis Rouger has carefully adapted it to suit the requirements and expressive possibilities offered by a larger ensemble, without losing any of the qualities of the original. Each part in the choir has a melodic line drawn from the harmonic and rhythmic framework. In the process, the variety and refinement of the choral language combines with an enormous flexibility in form and expression, as French melodies or German art songs demand from a soloist and pianist.
The songs have been recorded by the figure humaine chamber choir on the CD Kennst du das Land... (Carus 83.495).
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Pronouncing Aid
- Mai
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Digital text (without sheet music) incl. printing licence, html file, singing text, originalhtml file, singing text, original (Sample)MaiPuisque mai tout en fleurs dans les prés nous réclame,
Viens, ne te lasse pas de mêler à ton âme
La campagne, les bois, les ombrages charmants,
Les larges clairs de lune au bord des flots dormants,
Le sentier qui finit où le chemin commence,
Et l’air et le printemps, et l’horizon immense,
L’horizon que ce monde attache humble et joyeux,
Comme une lèvre au bas de la robe des cieux.
Viens, et que le regard des pudiques étoiles
Qui tombe sur terre à travers tant de voiles,
Que l’arbre pénétré de parfums et de chants,
Que le souffle embrasé de midi dans les champs,
Et l’ombre, et le soleil, et l’onde, et la verdure,
Et le rayonnement de toute la nature
Fassent épanouir, comme une double fleur,
La beauté sur ton front et l’amour dans ton cœur !Victor Hugo (1802–1885)
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Digital text (without sheet music) incl. printing licence, html file, singing text, german translationhtml file, singing text, german translation (Sample)Mai
Da der blumenreiche Mai auf den Wiesen nach uns verlangt,
komm, werde es nicht leid, deine Seele zu vereinigen
mit dem Land, den Wäldern, den charmanten, Schatten spendenden Blätterdächern,
dem weiten Mondschein an den Ufern der schlafenden Ströme;
dem Pfad, der endet, wo der Weg beginnt,
und der Luft und dem Frühling und dem weiten Horizont,
dem Horizont, den diese Welt ergeben und fröhlich
wie eine Lippe an den Saum des Himmelskleides anbringt.
Komm, und der Blick der schamhaften Sterne,
der durch so viele Schleier auf die Erde fällt,
der Baum, durchdrungen von Gerüchen und Gesängen,
dass der glühende Lufthauch am Mittag auf den Feldern,
und der Schatten und die Sonne und die Welle und das Grün
und das Strahlen der ganzen Natur
wie eine zweifache Blume mögen die Schönheit
auf deiner Stirn und die Liebe in deinem Herzen erblühen lassen!Victor Hugo (1802–1885)
Übersetzung: Christiane Rouger-Ortwein (*1977)
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Composer
Gabriel Fauré
| 1845-1924French composer, 1845-1924.
He was a pupil of Camille Saint-Saëns and studied at the Paris School of Sacred Music. Fauré worked as an organist and choirmaster and gave piano lessons and recitals in Parisian salons. He was able to improvise brilliantly on the piano, which is also reflected in his compositions. He was director of the Paris Conservatoire from 1905 to 1920.
Fauré mainly wrote vocal, piano and chamber music. He is best known for his piano songs for solo voice and his Requiem, which was also performed at his own funeral service.
Personal details
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Songwriter / Librettist
Victor Hugo
| 1802-1885
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Arranger
Denis Rouger
| 1961Denis Rouger gained his initial musical experience as the son of a Parisian family of musicians and during his studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, where he received first prizes in harmony, fugue and counterpoint.
He was a lecturer and choirmaster at the University of Paris-Sorbonne for 20 years and choirmaster at Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral for 10 years. He is honorary conductor of the Parisian church La Madeleine. He also collaborates with numerous ensembles in Germany. He has been invited as a guest conductor by radio choirs, the Balthasar-Neumann-Chor, the Baden-Württemberg State Youth Choir and the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. Concerts have taken him to Italy, the Netherlands, Canada, Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland (Lucerne Festival).
He gives master classes in Sweden, Bulgaria, France, Germany, as well as in Switzerland.
Denis Rouger has been Professor of Choral Conducting at the Stuttgart State University of Music and Performing Arts since 2011. The chamber choir he founded at the university in the fall of 2011 won first prize at the International Choir Competition in Mosbach (Germany) in 2014.
In addition to his work as a choirmaster, he composes and arranges French and German songs for choir. His arrangements on the CDs Kennst Du das Land ... and ... wo die Zitronen blühn (Carus) were well received by the press and radio. In collaboration with Carus-Verlag, he has edited the choir book Französische Chormusik, which received the German Music Edition Award “Best Edition” in 2019.
In 2016, Denis Rouger founded the figure humaine kammerchor (www.figurehumaine.de), with which he regularly gives concerts at renowned festivals.
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