Barcarolle

Dites, la jeune belle,
Où voulez-vous aller ?
La voile [ouvre]1 son aile,
La brise va souffler !

L'aviron est d'ivoire,
Le pavillon de moire,
Le gouvernail d'or fin ;
J'ai pour lest une orange,
Pour voile une aile d'ange,
Pour mousse un séraphin.

Dites, la jeune belle !
Où voulez-vous aller?
La voile [ouvre]1 son aile,
La brise va souffler !

Est-ce dans la Baltique,
[Sur]2 la mer Pacifique,
Dans l'île de Java ?
Ou bien [dans la]3 Norwége,
Cueillir la fleur de neige,
Ou la fleur d'Angsoka ?

Dites, la jeune belle,
Où voulez-vous aller?
[La voile ouvre son aile,
La brise va souffler!]4

-- Menez-moi, dit la belle,
À la rive fidèle
Où l'on aime toujours.
-- Cette rive, ma chère,
On ne la connaît guère
Au pays des amours.

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Berlioz: "enfle"
² Berlioz, Gounod: "Dans"
³ Berlioz, Gounod: "est-ce en"
⁴ omitted by Berlioz and Gounod

Authorship

by Pierre-Jules-Théophile Gautier (1811-1872) , "Barcarolle", from La Comédie de la Mort, published 1838

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Delphin Balleyguier (-1899) , "Le pays des amours - Barcarolle", published 1860 [high voice and piano], from Les chansons des troubadours, no. 6, Paris, Heugel
by François Emmanuel Joseph Bazin (1816-1878) , "Dites, la jeune belle"
by Jules Beer (1843-1913) , "Où voulez-vous aller ?", published 1880 [soprano and piano], Paris, Brandus
by Ludwig Benedictus , "Barcarolle", published 1875 [high voice and piano], Paris, Durand, Schoenewerk
by Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) , "L'Île Inconnue", op. 7 no. 6 [voice and orchestra], from Les Nuits d'Été, no. 6, also set in German
by Honoré Bizalion , "Barcarolle", published 1855 [voice and piano], Paris, Schonenberger
by Louis-Charles-Bonaventure-Alfred Bruneau (1857-1934) , "Barcarolle", 1932, copyright © 1933 [high voice and piano], from Plein Air, dix poèmes [de Théophile Gautier], no. 7, Paris, Éditions "Au Ménestrel" Heugel
by Allyre Bureau (1810-1859) , "Où voulez-vous aller?", 1834. [high voice and piano]
by Auguste Cœdès (1835-1884) , "Dites, la jeune belle", subtitle: "Barcarolle", op. 10, published 1867. [soprano and piano]
by Marius Constant (1925-2004) , "L'île inconnue", published 1984 [soprano or tenor and instrumental ensemble], from Nuits d'été daraus, no. 3, a re-orchestration of the melody by Berlioz ; Paris, München, Salabert
by Monique Decître , "Barcarolle", 1946, published 1946 [medium voice, unaccompanied], from Veillées et feux de camp, no. ?, Paris, Dumas
by Alphonse Devin-Duvivier (1827-?) , "Mirage", subtitle: "Caprice", published 1852 [high voice and piano], Paris, Chabal
by Émile Durand (1830-1903) , "La brise va souffler - Barcarolle", published 1879 [high voice and piano], from Trois mélodies, no. 3, Paris, Théodore Michaelis
by Eugène Gautier (1822-1878) , "La brise va souffler"
by L. Giunti-Bellini , "Barcarolle", c1855.
by Charles Gounod (1818-1893) , "Où voulez-vous aller?", subtitle: "Barcarolle", 1839. [voice, piano, and violin or violoncello or flute or harmonium]
by Serge Gut (1927-) , "Barcarolle" [soprano and piano]
by Charles Haenni (1867-1953) , "Barcarolle", published 1976 [voice and piano], from the collection Choix de romances, vol 2, no. ?, Villeret, C. Superchi
by Paul Henrion (1819-1901) , "Dites, la jeune belle - Barcarolle", published 1876 [high voice and piano], Paris, Ch. Egrot
by Z. Jaume Saint-Hilaire, Mlle. , "La rive inconnue", subtitle: "Barcarolle", published 1862 [voice and piano], from Paroles en musique + 8 Mélodies et chansons, no. 2, Paris, E. Saint-Hilaire
by Léon Jouret (1828-1905) , "Barcarolle"
by Jean-Georges Kastner (1810-1867) , "Barcarolle", published 1854 [six-part men's chorus and piano ad libitum], from Les chants de la vie, no. 17, Paris, Brandus
by Gautier Lajoinie , "Barcarolle", first performed 2011. [voice, guitar, and percussion]
by Ernest Lépine (1835-1906) , "Barcarolle", published 1858 [high voice and piano], Paris, Henri Heugel
by Ferdinand (or François) Masini (1804-1863) , "Dites, la jeune belle"
by Victor Massé (1822-1884) , "Barcarolle", 1851, published 1867 [voice and piano], from the collection Vingt mélodies pour chant et piano, no. 16, Paris, Choudens
by Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880) , "Barcarolle", 1852 [voice and piano or orchestra], from Les voix mystérieuses, no. 6.
by Édouard Pascal , "L'île inconnue - Où voulez-vous aller", published 1845 [voice and piano], from 25 Morceaux de chant, 2^ème recueil, no. 14, Paris, Pacini
by Émile Pessard (1843-1917) , "Dites, la jeune belle", published 1876. [voice and piano]
by Jean Theodore Radoux (1835-1911) , "Barcarolle", published 1863 [voice and piano], Paris, E. Heu
by Ferdinand Raynal , "Barcarolle" [high voice and piano], Bordeaux, Ravayre-Ravier
by Henri Reber (1807-1880) , "La rive inconnue", published 1880 [voice and piano], from Vingt mélodies pour chant et piano - 2^ième receuil, no. 6, Paris, Richault
by James Hotchkiss Rogers (1857-1940) , "Barcarolle", published 1905 [medium voice and piano], from Two French Songs, for medium voice with piano accompaniment, no. 1, New York, G. Schirmer
by Anselm Vinée (1847-1921) , "Barcarolle" [voice and piano]

by Percy Reeve (1855-?) , "Love at sea", published 1886, Milan, Ricordi

by Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) , "Das unbekannte Land", op. 7 no. 6, published 1894 [voice and orchestra], from Die Sommernächte. Sechs Gesänge für 1 Singstimme mit Orchester, no. 6, Leipzig, Rieter-Biedermann, also set in French

by Armorell Cochran (1879-?) , "Barcarolle", copyright © 1912, New York, Luckhardt & Belder

ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Say, young beauty, where do you wish to go?", copyright ©
ITA Italian (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Dite, mia giovane bella", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GER German (Bertram Kottmann) , "Die Insel Unbekannt", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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