"Beau Soir" (French for "Beautiful Evening") is a French art song written by Cla… Read Full Bio ↴"Beau Soir" (French for "Beautiful Evening") is a French art song written by Claude Debussy. It is a setting of a poem by Paul Bourget. Debussy was twenty or twenty one when he wrote this song (ca.1883), and his music was marked by the aesthetics of the period.
It has also been successfully arranged for various instruments
lots more : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beau_Soir#Performances_and_Recordings

Beau soir
Claude Debussy Lyrics

Instrumental

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Most interesting comments from YouTube:

Violet W

5y↑23

Beau Soir
0:04
Lorsque au soleil couchant les rivières sont roses
Et qu'un tiède frisson court sur les champs de blé,
Un conseil d'être heureux semble sortir des choses
Et monter vers le coeur troublé.

1:18
Un conseil de goûter le charme d'être au monde
Cependant qu'on est jeune et que le soir est beau,
Car nous nous en allons, comme s'en va cette onde:
Elle à la mer, nous au tombeau.

Translation for non-French speakers:

Beautiful Evening
When streams turn pink in the setting sun,
And a slight shudder rushes through the wheat fields,
A plea for happiness seems to rise out of all things
And it climbs up towards the troubled heart.
A plea to relish the charm of life
While there is youth and the evening is fair,
For we pass away, as the wave passes:
The wave to the sea, we to the grave.

Mia

5y↑4

Lyrics:
Lorsque au soleil couchant les rivières sont roses,
Et qu'un tiède frisson court sur les champs de blé,
Un conseil d'être heureux semble sortir des choses
Et monter vers le coeur troublé.
Un conseil de goûter le charme d'être au monde
Cependant qu'on est jeune et que le soir est beau
Car nous nous en allons,
Comme s'en va cette onde:
Elle à la mer,
Nous au tombeau

Heyward Moak

Lorsque au soleil couchant les rivières sont roses,
Et qu'un tiède frisson court sur les champs de blé,
Un conseil d'être heureux semble sortir des choses
Et monter vers le coeur troublé.
Un conseil de goûter le charme d'être au monde
Cependant qu'on est jeune et que le soir est beau
Car nous nous en allons,
Comme s'en va cette onde:
Elle à la mer,
Nous au tombeau

All comments from YouTube:

Violet W

5y↑23

jsphotos

5y↑49

Superb! The music notes neglect to mention that Jean-Yves Thibaudet accompanies at the piano

Zakia Hart

5y↑3

typical

Gaubert Art Management

4y↑5

Fleming's tempo and color modulation are perfect... creating a very impressionistic sound. Along with Jean-Yves Thibaudet on the piano, this performance is of the highest level. Thank you for posting this.

Mia

5y↑4

Peri

We sang this in my high school choir years ago, same lyrics, I was alto, love this song so much

billyboylb

14y↑1

Actually, I did take a listen. She is quite amazing. There's just something very "accessible" and simple about Streisand's version, but Renne has a great voice. I have one of her CDs.

fan2jnrc

14y↑27

(I try to translate): When, in the sunset, rivers are pink And a mild ripple runs on the fields, An advice to be happy seems to come from the things, And to rise up into the anguished hearts. An advice to enjoy the spell to be alive, While we are young and while the sky is beautiful, Because we are sliping away, like this wave : This wave is going to the sea ; we are going to the grave

Jasmine Somerville

11y↑4

Studying this for my Senior Recital.. Hers is by far the best i've heard. true talent! Proffesional and great clarity. Puts feelign into her songs.

Lewis Breland

2y↑1

Gorgeous! Streisand does a great job, too.

ewhite3746

12y↑1

how is it possible for a human being to make sounds like these? i feel like i've gone to heaven listening to her :)

JaLemondrop

14y↑2

I am a voice primary getting a degree for music and I am lucky enough to be singing this song. The 2 against 3 is DEFINITELY the reason it sounds so out of time. That's is part of the difficulty in this piece. Using rubato and being able to stay together with the piano. This is a BEAUTIFUL rendition of this song. And to you men out there singing this, I would be very interested to hear it!

Donna Lee

Ehhem you meant piece not song

Zdena Volfová

12y

Překrásné- díky za tento zážitek- miluji Debussyho. Zpěvačka rovněž uchacující.

ilikebeingsmart

15y↑1

I've been singing this song since high school, but a little lower. It is so beautiful, and I sang it every chance I could for performance. Elle à la mer, nous au tombeau.

LODS ANDRE

7y↑2

Beautiful voice !!

Barbara Weselak Franch

6y↑2

Elle chante très bien, beaucoup des choses et évidemment ça aussi. Bravo

tobin jordan

8y↑36

I remember auditioning with this piece for my place in the New England Music Festival. It got me a place as first soprano. Ah Nostolgia

Karen Tannenbaum

7y↑4

I sang this for Indiana State Competition. Got a 1st. I felt it.

Zakia Hart

5y↑4

Her voice is beautiful it's like a rich alto tone.

Zakia Hart

Mimi Hilaire thanks!

Mimi Hilaire

4y↑2

Shes a full lyric soprano. Often they have richer voices. Check out more of her stuff. You're in for such a big treat.

7JANEWAY

4y↑1

Possibly mezzo soprano, but not contralto (alto). A mezzo soprano can have a timbre much like the contralto, but reaches higher notes.
I know there are exceptions to this out there, but this is true in general.

Jean-Pierre Cardi

7y↑2

Such a beautifull voice.. perfect rendition:

Diamond Reid

8y↑4

Wow...she never ceases to amaze.

disturbanite8

13y

Simply beautiful. Either version is good whether without or with vocals. No matter what, this piece will always be enthralling even if horribly composed.

operacrasher

15y

As good as it gets!!!

JohnSnow

12y

Difficult for me to listen - just ... difficult. Renee... IS her song. Her singing. She IS... her song. Profoundly. I love her, AND.. this song.

saxamaphoneguy1

10y

I bet she's great! Eileen is definitely one of the more underrated singers! I'll have a listen, thanks for the recommendation.

Doris Reinert

6y↑1

Pure perfection. She is such a class act. Beautiful beyond words.

Heyward Moak

Mark Young

divina !

Mooncelt

15y

I do not like her performance, but this is one of the loveliest pieces in the vocal repertoire.

billyboylb

14y↑3

i love the STreisand version..simple and hauntingly beautiful

matthewk

I love Streisand’s version. Fleming is an opera singer and French art song is not opera. Her vibrato is too pronounced and the rolled r’s sound unnatural. The final note isn’t nearly as light and effortless as Streisand’s. No comparison.

Craig Taylor

11y

Put in nautical terms, her voice is like a dreadnought. Very powerful indeed.

fan2jnrc

14y

Wonderful poem by the great french writer and novelist Paul Bourget, Henry James' and Edith Wharton's friend, alas forgotten in France today (he was not politically correct...).

Melomane41

12y

I shall be eternally grateful to Renée Fleming for all the wonderful interpretations she has given to the world of opera but her rendering of French melody is deficient and brings nothing extra that others have not already given.

LADYHAGUA2010

6y↑1

Very nice, congratulation!💙❤💙❤💙

Rachel Cregier

7y↑16

To provide an exact translation:When in the setting sun, the rivers are red, and when a warm breeze runs of the fields of grain, an advice to be happy seems to leave from everything, and rises forward the heart, troubled: an advice to taste the pleasure of being alive while one is young and the evening is beautiful. For we shall go like the wave goes: it to the sea, we to the grave.

Joannas Arcamedes

5y↑2

beautiful music....

Steven Albert Bartlett

7y↑2

Stunningly...Beautiful..

fan2jnrc

14y↑1

Lorsqu'au soleil couchant les rivières sont roses, Et qu'un tiède frisson court sur les champs de blé, Un conseil d'être heureux semble sortir des choses, Et monter vers les cœurs troublés. Un conseil de goûter le charme d'être au monde, Cependant qu'on est jeune et que le ciel est beau, Car nous nous en allons, comme s'en va cette onde : Elle, à la mer ; nous, au tombeau...

Greenberri16

13y

@Sush108 Rene Fleming has established herself as one of the most respected vocalists of our time. In my opinion, she has developed an artistic identity that is both unique and beautiful. If you personally dislike her as an musician, that's fine, but if you are trying to argue that she is not a "true" artist, please realize that you are arguing against the views of almost anybody that actually knows something about classical singing.

Daily Dose of Lynz

11y

Beautiful!

Whatsmynameagain03

12y

@mannail888 Dude... I know what the piece is about, and I think she conveyed it beautifully here. Apparently, so do a LOT of other people. Who are you to say they are wrong for feeling what was apparently trying to be conveyed? I just don't understand.

Midori's Piano Salon

beautiful💓

Artaxerses

6y↑42

Please name the pianist ! Ms Fleming does not sing "a cappella" -and he or she (the pianist) plays the best way possible...

Violet W

5y↑18

Jean-Yves Thibaudet plays the piano

Urban Anchorite

15y↑1

Amazing

mannail888

12y

I cannot agree with you more"brittysoko": level-headed, straight to the point and unbiased in your comment. It's just so sad that a lot of people choose to steep themselves in self-degradation. This so-called singer, for all her hideousness, is not to be blamed entirely. It's those critics affiliated with big time media corporations and scholars hailing from prestigious academic institutions, along with the PR propaganda machine, that have sowed mediocrities among the gullible majority.

Melomane41

12y

@BrianDonaldMcKay Footnote: Eileen Farrell, another American soprano, gives a remarkably sensitive and satisfying interpretation, impressively harnessing a imposing voice in the process.

runbambirun

15y↑1

Lovely

Melomane41

12y

I suspect that this is one of those occasions where an exceptional singer doesn't quite make it, because of not being a native speaker. Technically and vocally great but ... somehow the interpretation doesn't convince me. Listen to how she glides evenly through the climactic phrase, 'Et que le soir est beau'; couldn't there be the slightest hesitation before 'beau' to give it emphasis? For French Mélodie, I usually end up preferring French singers.

fromme93

14y↑3

im singing this piece. Can someone please tell me if her pronounciation is correct?? thank you!

HU1914

12y

Brava Renee!!!!!

Satoshi Ogihara

7y↑1

Is this really Rene Fleming? Very different from my memory.

Whatsmynameagain03

12y↑1

@BrianDonaldMcKay French, spoken and sung, is done so on a line - it's all straight forward and through. In a lot of cases, while singing, someone will slide from one note to the next because not doing so makes phrases sound "notey" and destroys the inherent musical beauty in the text. So I'm not quite sure what your point is.

Alicia Abundiz

5y↑1

Does anyone know how many BPM this is?

james robacker

9y↑4

just gorgeous....what else,from Renee

tinamarielovestosing

15y

She did.... you should check it out, it's pretty good.

Legracenote

11y

Thank you for introducing me to her. Weep indeed. :)

mayapappaya2011

11y↑1

You know... I just listened to Maggie Tayte's version and I still like Renee's version better. Maybe just because I like her voice better. I just thought that, while Maggie had impeccable diction and was very comfortable with the piece, she overcompensated and used too much marcato in her voice and I just though it was all a bit to beatish (metronomic). That's just my simple opinion. I'm glad, though, that people are discussing this... it's exciting that people still listen to beautiful music :)

Melomane41

12y

Ok let's be specif. Lines 1 & 2 are expressive and well pronounced. L 3. "heureux": t he first vowel is very open and quite incorrect; an expert like Thomas Grubb would have pointed it out immediately. Renée pronounces the m in "semble", a very anglophone habit. L4: an innapropriate stress on the "Et" which follows the music rather than the text. L5: the n of "un" is pronounced; totally incorrect.

mannail888

12y

@Whatsmynameagain03 On one hand: I was called a friend, on the other: I was branded an imbecile all by the same person. And that's a very fine and accurate indicator of who that person is and pretty sums up how much aesthetics, the principles dealing with everything of arts in relation to humanity, that person possess.

pastre999

15y

Listening to La Fleming's voice is like eating full fat chocolate ice cream, topped with cherries, strawberry sauce, smarties and crushed oreos. Thick, creamy and toooooo delicious!!!!

HLirene Li Taiwan

5y↑1

💙

ternitamas

11y

a soprano but has great sounding and rich low notes

cobalt jones

15y↑1

Big sexy voice. I'd like to hear her tackle the Last Four Songs by Strauss.

mannail888

12y

@Whatsmynameagain03 Partisan to the point of blindness, Flemingphiles overlook the essential problem with her pathetically all purpose approach to everything she does, be it on the gramophone, the recital platform or the lyric stage, which is that one-fifths of the emotions she seeks to express are dishonest, feigned effusions masked in academically correct technique. Stylistically, she's all over the place. The piece deals with the philosophy of life, of a world filled with doom and gloom.

caraphyllis

13y↑1

@Baritime Many great male singers have recorded this song. Just browse YouTube and you'll find them. You're in good company.

keelermatt77

6y↑4

this is by debussy. lyrics by bourget.

Kayla Collingwood

13y

She sings some sections well, but I was not impressed by others, especially the beginning. Which is a shame because she could sing the whole thing much better.

Atul Mamtora

Very nice.

vivegedda

13y↑1

@Sush108 I agree 100 %

billyboylb

14y↑6

I'd prefer the Streisand version.

mannail888

12y

But Fleming sounds as if she's more concerned with the freshness of her morning grapefruit, and how she's not being treated like a Callas by the powers-that-be of the institution she happens to be performing at the moment. All through the chanson, there's no remorse at past wrongdoings, no regrets at lost opportunities and no bitterness at relationships gone sour. More of a human soul, with heart to spare, would and should imbue this piece with all those attributes and more.

liz cosette

does anyone know the artist of the paintings used?

Doris Reinert

Typo - Monet

Doris Reinert

Money - "The Magpie"

alayna001

10y↑2

Oh my heart.... It hurts

Jessica Enriquez

14y

wow

jean1938N

13y↑1

LE TEXTE : . . . et monter vers LE COEUR troublé !

QueenK

14y

Not sure about the name, but I'm pretty sure it's painted by Van Gough.

Rodrigo Miranda

I don't think she is been accompanied by a MIDI file. Please name the pianist.

jsphotos

Jean-Yves Thibaudet (piano)

Morten H

8y↑6

I miss clarity in her rather breathy and over-covered sound.

Milan Perišić

6y↑1

Then you should listen to Garden performing the piece. She has performed with Debussy in her career. Afterwards, we can talk about stylistic correctness.

Frank Daykin

7y↑7

I agree! I generally like Renee, but the phrasing is terrible, pitch sometimes suspect, and the portamenti are COMPLETELY unstylistic! I cringed throughout.

Melomane41

12y

The following "con" of conseil is unstressed to the point of being poorly pronounced. The o nasal of "monde" is sung as a nasal. L 7 "qu'on" sung as "qu'an";v"et "que" sound like "kou". This not onlyy offends a French ear but it implies that the singer is more concerned about voice than text. If others do better, why bother?

Kian Makenna

im 14 and singing this for solo and ensemble.

Kian Makenna

Wait who is this?

Sloane

Kian Makenna do you live in Shorewood?

Kian Makenna

Bristle Wing yeah I do live in Wisconsin lol

Sloane

Kian Makenna do you live in Wisconsin because I am too lol

operageek1011

13y

Seriously do any of you really know what you are talking about? Or are you just jealous of her talent?

NapatMusic

16y

thank you++

Alex Mercedes

6y↑2

Who is the pianist?

jsphotos

Jean-Yves Thibaudet (piano)

loboestepario2424

13y↑1

@doraycidkyrene You are so right!

Melomane41

12y

French is a naturally legato language. But this does not stop good singers, particularly French ones, from expressing nuances of the text. Do listen to Eileen Farrell, who, after all, is American.

CWYT

15y

nice

Dembai

5y↑1

Dire dire docks rips this off. Lol

TheFriendlyBeluga

12y

@mannail888 The problem is, is that you are saying things that are incorrect. I understand opinions, you do not like her for this and that but the reasons which you have put forth aren't totally correct which is why I proposed a rebuttal. I can use large words too; also don't be supercilious and I won't either. The reason I am incensed is because you attacked her understanding of the piece. Listen to the piece again and think about the different interpretations rather than yours alone.

José Murillo

8y↑5

Sorry, this is not an impresionist piece. It is pure symbolisme.

Morten H

7y↑9

Musically speaking, it is impressionism!

jgutiermusica

14y

Who is the pianist?

Warren Hamlet

11y↑1

If you think this is good (and it is) Listen to Eilene Farrells rendition........ and weep.

Jeffery Hunter

14y

Its not VG honey, it is Monet and its simply another church in the background on the river (probably Notre Dame) or something on the Loire. But I know its not Van Gough..VG never painted that impressionistically.

mannail888

12y

Debussy, in the great beyond, must have contemplated what is it that he had done to receive such a horrendous smearing of his work.

Whatsmynameagain03

12y↑1

@mannail888 I'm pretty sure you are, though. And it's pretty obvious that you don't understand the lyricism required to sing French classical music. Sad, but oh well. Some people choose to be critical of what they don't understand. You can go ahead and belong to that group. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I guess, no matter how dumb it may be.

Matt Pope

10y

Ultimately it's about some literary, self-conscious french in a bar discussing death, wooing women with a 'poem about death' but really talking about sex

Michael Gast

4y↑1

Matthew Pope LOL! Bad day for you, huh?

Keefer

8y↑7

She a babe.

Patrick Hamrock

Love it

Whatsmynameagain03

12y

@brittysoko I'm fairly certain it's her voice you're taking issue with, and you're welcome to do so, but to go so far as to say she sounds "drunk and indulgent" is just insulting and ridiculous.

K Z

Ha ha. Do you have a version in French? Seriously, it's a shame...

Tomeres

11y

I'm not implying that diction isn't important, it's of utmost importance, but making healthy, beautiful sounds are primary to being able to interpret, and communicate music and it's text! Actually there are some piece's like that! Have you heard Rachmoninov's Vocalise? It's a soprano piece, and I'm pretty sure it's all on "oo"!

mannail888

12y

@TheFriendlyBeluga "Whatsmynameasgain03" and "TheFriendlyBeluga" are one for all, all for one. No need to spend time rebutting such silly and uncivilized blabbings. I have already concluded my last word on Fleming in chansons and I didn't feel the need to add any further comment to augment my appraisal on her.

Be Clear

I adore Renee Fleming, but all this slurping around.

mannail888

12y

@Whatsmynameagain03 Once again, you unloaded things that are completely incomprehensible to anyone other than yourself. And that's pretty much explains you grasp,or more accurately, lack of the principles of aesthetics, and that's why Fleming is good for you and you, "Whatsmynameagain03", are good for Fleming.

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