Victor Hugo’s poem S’il est un charmant gazon inspired numerous composers in the 19th and 20th centuries. In addition to Gabriel Fauré, figures such as Franz Liszt, Charles-Marie Widor, César Franck, Jules Massenet and Camille Saint-Saëns all composed settings of this Rêve d'amour. The poem first appeared in 1834 under the title Nouvelle chanson sur un vieil air in Hugo’s collection Les Chants du Crépuscule. Unlike Liszt and Widor, Fauré set all three verses. The dreamy piano motif, which appears as a prelude, interlude, and postlude, creates a suitably atmospheric backdrop for the voice.
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 ...wo die Zitronen blühn (Carus 83.514).
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- Rêve d'amour
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- Rêve d'amour
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Digital text (without sheet music) incl. printing licence, html file, singing text, german translationhtml file, singing text, german translation (Sample)LiebestraumWenn es eine bezaubernde Wiese gibt,
die der Himmel wässert,
der zu jeder Jahreszeit
blühende Blumen entspringen,
auf der man mit vollen Händen
Lilien, Geißblatt und Jasmin pflückt,
dann möchte ich daraus den Weg machen,
auf den dein Fuß sich setzt!Wenn es eine liebende Brust gibt,
die für die Ehre einsteht,
deren zärtliche Hingabe
nichts Verdrießliches an sich hat,
wenn diese edle Brust immerzu
für eine ehrenwerte Absicht schlägt,
dann möchte ich daraus das Kissen machen,
auf das deine Stirn sich legt!Wenn es einen Liebestraum gibt,
nach Rose duftend,
in dem man jeden Tag
liebliche Dinge findet,
einen Traum, den Gott segnet,
in dem sich die Seele mit der Seele vereint,
oh, dann möchte ich daraus das Nest machen,
in das dein Herz sich legt!Victor Hugo (1802–1885)
Übersetzung: Christiane Rouger-Ortwein (*1977)
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Digital text (without sheet music) incl. printing licence, html file, singing text, originalhtml file, singing text, original (Sample)Rêve d’amour
S’il est un charmant gazon
Que le ciel arrose,
Où naisse en toute saison
Quelque fleur éclose,
Où l’on cueille à pleine main
Lys, chèvrefeuille et jasmin,
J’en veux faire le chemin
Où ton pied se pose !S’il est un sein bien aimant
Dont l’honneur dispose,
Dont le tendre dévouement
N’ait rien de morose,
Si toujours ce noble sein
Bat pour un digne dessein,
J’en veux faire le coussin
Où ton front se pose !S’il est un rêve d’amour
Parfumé de rose,
Où l’on trouve chaque jour
Quelque douce chose,
Un rêve que Dieu bénit,
Où l’âme à l’âme s’unit,
Oh ! j’en veux faire le nid
Où ton cœur se pose !Victor Hugo (1802–1885)
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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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