Saturday, December 15, 2012

The moon, un flambeau


"Moon River" is medicine for melancholy.  It is gentle and, either by its own power or its connection to Audrey Hepburn, "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and other times and places, it reverberates with the power of love, of dreaming, of how, in spite of everything, we endure and, perhaps, thrive.  We are altered, not defeated.

After two years of Latin in junior high school, French - in high school - seemed so much more sophisticated, lent itself more easily to dreaming and the vocabulary, shaped with such unfamiliar care in the mouth, so much more succulent.  Other than the occasional word and how nearly to pronounce it, the portion of poem below is what I remember best.  It sidled up in curiously continental fashion today to address itself to countless heavy hearts.

Alfred de Musset
CHANSON (SONG)

Quand on perd, par triste occurrence,
      Son espérance
      Et sa gaieté,
Le remède au mélancolique,
      C’est la musique
      Et la beauté !
 


When you lose, by sad occurrence,
His hope
And gaiety,
The cure for melancholy,
This is the music
And beauty!

I nearly forgot.  This is the other thing I remember.


Credit goes to:
Sacred Heart Choristers - Sacred Heart Catholic Church - Warner Robins, GA - Mrs. Lindsey Skinner, Director of Music - May 8, 2011

4 comments:

Sultan said...

One loves Un Flambeau Jeanette et Isabella

Marylinn Kelly said...

Laoch - One does, indeed. A lovely song in its own right, perhaps we need to hear much more in French to extract that specific magic, even if we don't know what the words mean. xo

Heidrun Khokhar, KleinsteMotte said...

This is an odd combo Moon River and Un Flambeau. How did you end up with this?
Both are lovely pieces.

Marylinn Kelly said...

Heidrun - The curious synaptical leaps of my mind - one thing melts into another. The medicine of MOON RIVER, thoughts of French class and its words of some comfort. They are both lovely, aren't they? xo