Automne

Mezzo soprano Lauren Spavelko and pianist Mariko Kaneda perform on November 13, 2008 in Jemison Auditorium at Ohio Wesleyan University. (The film's a little weird, but there's nothing I can do about that. I hope you enjoy my singing!) This is the second of my pieces for the recital. I love French chanson. The line is always so beautiful, and the colors are so rich. The feelings in this piece are sad and reflective, but I think the text is just lovely. Automne Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) Text by Armand Silvestre (1837-1901) Automne au ciel brumeux, aux horizons navrants, Aux rapides couchants, aux aurores pâlies, Je regarde couler, comme l'eau du torrent, Tes jours faits de mélancolie. Sur l'aile des regrets mes esprits emportés, Comme s'il se pouvait que notre âge renaisse! Parcourent, en rêvant, les coteaux enchantés, Où jadis sourit ma jeunesse! Je sens, au clair soleil du souvenir vainqueur, Refleurir en bouquet les roses deliées, Et monter à mes yeux des larmes, qu'en mon coeur Mes vingt ans avaient oubliées! Autumn of misty skies, of heart-rending horizons, Of hasty sunsets, of pale dawns, I see flowing like the waters of a torrent, Your days filled with melancholy. My thoughts, carried away on wings of regret, As if our lifetime could be reborn! Roam dreaming through the enchanted hills, Where, in days gone by, my youth delighted! I feel, in the bright sunlight of triumphant recollections, The scattered roses blooming again in a bouquet, And I feel tears rising to my eyes, which in my heart My twenty years had forgotten!