Une voix dans le désert explained

Une voix dans le désert ("A Voice in the Desert") is a recitation, with a soprano soloist and orchestra, written by the English composer Edward Elgar in 1915 as his Op. 77. The French words are by the Belgian poet Émile Cammaerts.

It was first produced, in London at the Shaftesbury Theatre, on 29 January 1916, with the recitation by the Belgian dramatic performer Carlo Liten,[1] the soprano Olga Lynn,[2] and an orchestra conducted by the composer.

The words were translated into English by Cammaerts' wife, Tita Brand.

The work was published as a piano reduction (the vocal parts with piano accompaniment) by Elkin & Co. in 1916.

Synopsis

The reality of the First World War was horrific. In August 1914 Belgium had been invaded by the German army: the big cities had been destroyed, the carnage on both sides was incalculable, and King Albert and his army were driven to the banks of the river Yser in West Flanders.

The Pall Mall Gazette in review of Une voix dans le désert described the scene on stage:

Lyrics

English translation

A Voice in the Desert

A hundred yards from the trenches,

Close to the battle-front,

There stands a little house,

Lonely and desolate.

Not a man, not a bird, not a dog, not a cat,

Only a flight of crows along the railway line,

The sound of our boots on the muddy road

And, along the Yser, the twinkling fires.

A low thatched cottage

With doors and shutters closed,

The roof torn by a shell,

Standing out of the floods alone ...

Not a cry, not a sound, not a life, not a mouse,

Only the stillness of the great graveyards,

Only the crosses – the crooked wooden crosses –

On the wide lonely plain.

A cottage showing grey

Against a cold black sky,

Blind and deaf in the breeze

Of the dying day,

And the sound of our footsteps slipping

On the stones as we go by ...

Suddenly, on the silent air,

Warm and clear, pure and sweet,

As sunshine on the golden moss,

Strong and tender, loud and clear,

As a prayer,

Through the roof a girl's voice rang,

And the cottage sang!

Soprano solo

When the spring comes round again,

Willows red and tassels grey

When the spring comes round again,

Our cows will greet the day,

They'll sound their horn triumphant,

White sap and greening spear

Sound it so loud and long,

Until the dead once more shall hear.

We shall hear our anvils,

Strong arm and naked breast

And in our peaceful meadows,

The scythe will never rest.

Ev'ry church will ope its door,

Antwerp, Ypres and Nieuport,

The bells will then be ringing,

The foe's death knell be ringing.

The shall sound spade and shovel,

Diksmuide and

And gaily gleam the trowel,

While through the air the pick is swinging.

From the ports our boats will glide.

Anchor up and mooring slipt

The lark on high will be soaring

Above our rivers wide.

And then our graves will flower,

Heart'sease and golden rod

And then our graves will flower

Beneath the peace of God.

Not a breath, not a sound, not a soul,

Only the crosses, the crooked wooden crosses ...

"Come, it is getting late

'Tis but a peasant girl

With her father living there . . . .

They will not go away, nothing will make them yield,

They will die, they say,

Sooner than leave their field."

Not a breath, not a life, not a soul,

Only a flight of crows along the railway line,

The sound of our boots on the muddy road ...

And along the Yser the twinkling of the fires.

Français

Une voix dans le désert

C'était sur le front,

A cent pas des tranchées,

Une petite maison

Morne et désolée.

Pas un homme, pas une poule, pas un chien, pas un chat,

Rien qu'un vol de corbeaux le long du chemin de fer,

Le bruit de nos bottes sur le pavé gras,

Et la ligne des feux clignotant sur l'Yser.

Une chaumine restée là,

Porte fermée et volets clos,

Un trou d'obus dans le toit,

Plantée dans l'eau comme ... un flot.

Pas un cri, pas un bruit, pas une vie, pas un chat,

Rien que le silence des grands cimetières

Et le signe monotone des croix, des croix de bois,

Par la plaine solitaire.

Une chaumine toute grise

Sur le ciel noir,

Aveugle et sourde dans la brise

Du soir,

Et le bruit amorti de nos pas

Glissant sur le pavé gras ...

Puis, tout à coup,

Chaude, grave et douce,

Comme le soleil sur la mousse,

Tendre et fière, forte et claire,

Comme une prière,

Une voix de femme sortit du toit

Et la maison chanta!

Soprano solo

Quand nos bourgeons se rouvriront,

Saules rouges et gris chatons

Quand nos bourgeons se rouvriront,

Nos vaches meugleront.

Elles sonneront du cor

Coqs rouges et fumiers d'or

Elles sonneront si fort,

Qu'elles réveilleront les morts.

Frapperont nos marteaux,

Bras nus et torses chauds

Et ronfleront nos scies,

Autour de nos prairies.

S'ouvriront nos églises,

Nieuport, Ypres et Pervijze

Pervyse,

Et tonneront nos cloches

Le dur tocsin des Boches.[3]

Tinteront nos truelles

Dixmude et Ramscapelle

Et reluiront nos pelles

Et cogneront nos pioches.

Glisseront nos bateaux,

Goudron noir et mouette

Chantera l'alouette

Le long de nos canaux,

Et fleuriront nos tombes

Mésanges et pigeons bleus

Et fleuriront nos tombes,

Sous le soleil de Dieu.

Plus un souffle, plus un bruit, plus un chat,

Rien que la signe des croix de bois ...

"Venez donc, il est tard, ne nous arrêtons pas,

Ce n'est qu'une paysanne restée là

Avec son vieux . . . . . . . . père.

Rien ne peut les convaincre, ils ne veulent pas partir,

Ils disent qu'ils aiment mieux mourir

Que de quitter leur terre."

Plus un souffle, plus une vie, plus un chat,

Rien qu'un vol de corbeaux le long du chemin de fer,

Le bruit de nos bottes sur le pavé gras, ...

Et la ligne des feux clignotant sur l'Yser.

Recordings

References

Notes and References

  1. Carlo Liten was born in 1879 in Antwerp, Belgium of a Belgian father and Italian mother. He was a distinguished theatre actor and reciter, at the time well-known in Europe and America. He performed in Elgar's Carillon, Le drapeau belge and Une voix dans le désert. After World War I he acted in three films "The Strongest" (1920), "L'Affaire du train" (1921) and "Les Mystères de Paris" (1922). It was said of him by John Palmer (assistant editor of the London Saturday Review) that Liten "had the most wonderful voice in the memory of any living person ... for resonance, servicableness and charm the most remarkable I have ever heard from any actor. Add to this mastery of gesture and expression dictated by a refined intelligence and we get a rare personality."
  2. Olga Lynn (1882–1961) was a famous singing teacher associated with Covent Garden Opera House. Her autobiography is "Oggie, The Memoirs of Olga Lynn", pub. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1955.
  3. Boche: French slang meaning "rascal", an offensive term applied by French soldiers to German soldiers in World War 1.
  4. Foreman, Lewis (ed.),Oh, My Horses! Elgar and the Great War, Elgar Editions, Rickmansworth, 2001