Lamento ‑ La chanson du pêcheur

Ma belle amie est morte:
Je pleurerai toujours;
[Sous]1 la tombe elle emporte
Mon âme et mes amours.
Dans le ciel, sans m'attendre,
Elle s'en retourna;
L'ange qui l'emmena
Ne voulut pas me prendre.
Que mon sort es amer!
Ah!  sans amour, s'en aller sur la mer!

La blanche créature
Est couchée au cercueil.
Comme dans la nature
Tout me paraît en deuil!
La colombe oubliée
Pleure et songe à l'absent;
Mon âme pleure et sent
Qu'elle est dépareillée.
Que mon sort est amer!
Ah!  sans amour, s'en aller sur la mer!

Sur moi la nuit immense
[S'étend]2 comme un linceul;
Je chante ma romance
Que le ciel entend seul.
Ah!  comme elle était belle,
[Et comme]3 je l'aimais!
Je n'aimerai jamais
Une femme autant qu'elle.
Que mon sort est amer!
Ah!  sans amour, s'en aller sur la mer!

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Viardot: "Dans"
² Fauré: "Plane"
³ Fauré: "Et combien"; Viardot: "Comme"

Authorship

by Pierre-Jules-Théophile Gautier (1811-1872) , "Lamento - La chanson du pêcheur", 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 Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) , "Sur les lagunes", op. 7 no. 3 (<<1841) [voice and orchestra], from Les Nuits d'Été, no. 3, also set in German
by Paul Bertrie , "La chanson du pêcheur", subtitle: "Lamento", published 1872 [voice and piano], Paris, Ed. E. Heu
by Édouard Boilly (1799-1854) , "La chanson du pêcheur" [tenor and piano]
by Édouard Bruguière (-1863) , "Ma belle amie est morte - Lamento", published c1838 [high voice and piano], Paris, Ed. Castelin & Fils
by Louise Clarke , "My love is dead - Ma belle amie est morte", published 1896, Melbourne, Sydney, W. H. Glen & Co.
by Alexandre Gustave Daussoigne-Méhul (1830-1902) , "Ma belle amie est morte !", published 1873 [high voice and piano], Paris, G. Flaxland
by Félicien César David (1810-1876) , "La chanson du pêcheur", 1845, published 1866 [medium voice and piano], E. Gérard
by Jules Toussaint De Sutter (1889-1959) , "Lamento - Ma belle amie est morte", 1937. [soprano and piano]
by Alban Dorcy , "Lamento", copyright © 1890 [medium voice and piano], from Vingt mélodies pour chant et piano, no. 4, Paris, Durdilly
by (François-Clément) Théodore Dubois (1837-1924) , "Lamento - La chanson du pêcheur", published 1903. [medium voice and piano]
by Sylvain Dupuis (1856-1931) , "La chanson du pêcheur - Lamento", from Six mélodies, no. 6, Bruxelles, Schott
by Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) , "Chanson du pêcheur (Lamento)", op. 4 no. 1 (1872), published 1877 [voice and piano or orchestra], Paris, Choudens
by Ferdinand-François Féret (1823-?) , "Ah ! Sans amour s'en aller sur la mer !", published 1856. [voice and piano]
by Anna François , "Lamento", op. 32 no. 1, published 1899 [medium voice and piano], from Deux mélodies, no. 1, Paris, G. Legouix
by André Gédalge (1856-1926) , "La chanson du pêcheur", 1878. [voice and piano]
by L. Giunti-Bellini , "Lamento", c1855.
by Charles Gounod (1818-1893) , "La chanson du pêcheur", 1841, published 1895. [high voice and piano]
by Charles Gounod (1818-1893) , "Ma belle amie est morte", subtitle: "Lamento", 1872, published 1872.
by Théodore Jadoul (1848-?) , "Ma belle amie est morte", 1874. [high voice and piano]
by Pierre Joret , "Lamento - Chanson du pêcheur", published 1890 [voice and piano], from Douze mélodies, no. 1, Paris, L. Laloue
by Léon Jouret (1828-1905) , "La chanson du pêcheur", Bruxelles, Ed. Meynne Cons. Royal d'Anvers
by Théodore Jouret (1821-1887) , "La chanson du pêcheur"
by René Jacques Koering (1940-) , "Sur les lagunes", published 1984 [voice and orchestra], from Nuits d'été daraus, no. 2, a re-orchestration of the melody by Berlioz ; Paris, München : Salabert
by Louis (Brouillon) Lacombe (1818-1884) , "Lamento - La chanson du pêcheur", op. 56 no. 2, published 1860 [voice and piano], Paris, G. Brandus et S. Dufour
by Gautier Lajoinie , "Lamento (Ma belle amie est morte)", first performed 2011. [voice and guitar]
by Charles Lefebvre (1843-1917) , "Lamento - La Chanson du pêcheur", published c1873 [voice and piano], from Six poésies mises en musique, no. 4, Paris, G. Hartmann
by Charles Ferdinand Lenepveu (1840-1910) , "Lamento", published 1881 [baritone and piano], Paris, Lemoine
by Hippolyte Monpou (1804-1841) , "Sur la mer", 1837. [high voice and piano]
by Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880) , "Ma belle amie est morte", 1852, published 1852 [high voice and piano], from Les voix mystérieuses, no. 4, Paris, Heugel
by Émile Paladilhe (1844-1926) , "Chanson du pêcheur", subtitle: "Lamento", published 1872 [medium voice and piano], Paris, G. Hartmann
by Georges-Louis Pantillon (1896-1992) , "La chanson du pêcheur", published 1925 [four-part men's chorus a cappella], Ed. La Chaux-de-Fonds
by Felipe Pedrell (1841-1922) , "La chanson du pêcheur", subtitle: "Lamento", published 1877 [high voice and piano], from Consolations - 12 Mélodies sur des poésies de Théophile Gautier, no. 11, Milan: Francesco Lucca
by Jules Philipot (1824-1897) , "Lamento", op. 120, published 1874 [medium voice and piano], from Poèmes et Chants, Poésies de Théophile Gautier, no. 1, Paris, Léon Grus
by Edmond de Polignac, prince (1834-1901) , "Sur les lagunes - Lamento", published 1905, stanzas 1-2 [medium voice and piano], Paris, Astruc
by Frederick A. Post , "La chanson du pêcheur", published 1886 [medium voice and piano], Milan, Ricordi
by Paul Charles Marie Puget (1848-1917) [pseudonym] , "Lamento - La chanson du pêcheur", published 1881 [high voice and piano], from the collection Vingt mélodies, Vol. 1, no. 19, Paris, Girod
by Jean Theodore Radoux (1835-1911) , "La chanson du pêcheur", subtitle: "Lamento", published 1874 [high voice and piano], Paris, L. Gregh
by Jules Regnaud , "Lamento - La chanson du pêcheur", op. 2 no. 2, published 1865 [medium voice, piano, and violin or cello], from Deux mélodies de Théophile Gautier, no. 2, Paris, Flayland
by Mathilde, Baroness Willy de Rothschild (1832-1924) , "La chanson du pêcheur", published 1875 [voice and piano], from Trois nouvelles mélodies, no. 3, from Trente mélodies, no. 8, Paris
by Charles Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) , "Lamento", 1850. [medium voice and piano]
by Gabriel Saint-Quentin (1846-1926) , "Ma belle amie est morte (Lamento)" [medium voice and piano], Paris, J. Hamelle
by Alice Salvator , "Lamento", published 1863 [high voice and piano], Paris, Gambogi frères
by Étienne Soubre (1813-1871) , "La chanson du pêcheur", 1847 [soprano and piano], from Quatre mélodies, no. 4.
by Jean-Léonard Terry (1816-1882) , "Lamento du pêcheur"
by Jozef Troch , "Que mon sort est amer", published 1845 [voice and piano], from the collection Les echos de la dendre: Album de chant 1845, no. 5, Bruges
by Pauline Viardot-García (1821-1910) , "Lamento", published 1886, stanzas 1,3 [high voice and piano], Paris, Enoch
by Eugène-Léon Vivier (1817-1900) , "La chanson du pêcheur", subtitle: "Lamento", published 1850 [voice and piano], London, Wessel & Cie.; Berlin, H. Schleisinger

by Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) , "Auf den Lagunen", op. 7 no. 3, published 1894 [voice and orchestra], from Die Sommernächte. Sechs Gesänge für 1 Singstimme mit Orchester, no. 3, Leipzig, Rieter-Biedermann, also set in French

ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "My beautiful love is dead", copyright ©
GER German (Bertram Kottmann) , "Lied des Fischers", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "La mia bella amica è morta", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

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

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