The hallmark of the Comedian Harmonists was its members' ability to blend their voices together so that the individual singers could appear and disappear back into the vocal texture and were noted for using their voices to imitate musical instruments. Their repertoire was wide, ranging from the folk and classical songs arranged by Frommermann to the more appealing and witty popular songs of the day by writers such as Peter Igelhoff, Werner Heymann and Paul Abraham.
In 1927, actor Harry Frommermann was inspired by The Revelers, a United States jazz-influenced popular vocal group, to create a German group of the same format. After some initial failures, the Harmonists soon found success, becoming popular throughout Europe, touring the United States, and appearing in 21 movies.
The group's success continued into the early 1930s, but eventually ran into trouble with the Nazi regime: three of the group members - Frommermann, Collin, and Cycowski - were either Jewish or of Jewish descent, and Bootz had married a Jewish woman. The Nazis progressively made the group's professional life more difficult, initially banning pieces by Jewish composers, and finally prohibiting them from performing in public. The group's last concert was in Munich on March 25, 1934.
Florestan 1er Prince de Monaco
Comedian Harmonists Lyrics
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Miscellaneous
Les Portes de Paris
GRINGOIRE
Les portes de Paris
Déjà se ferment sur la nuit
La nuit de tous les cris
Et de tous les désirs
La nuit de tous les vices
Qui s′assouvissent
Dans le lit de Paris
Cabaret de tous les délires
Sur le Pont-au-Change
Ce soir j'ai rencontré un ange
Qui m′a souri
Et qui loin de ma vue a disparu
Dans les rues de Paris
Je l'ai suivie, je l'ai perdue
J′ai poursuivi la nuit
De tous les rires
Et de tous les désirs
La nuit de tous les vices
Qui s′assouvissent
Dans le lit de Paris
Cabaret de tous les délires
Les portes de Paris
Déjà se ferment sur la nuit
La nuit de tous les crimes
De tous les rires
Et de tous les désirs
Frollo et Quasimodo suivent Esmeralda dans les ruelles. Mais Phoebus fait
Le guet. Esmeralda marche dans la nuit en fredonnant. Quasimodo tente
D'enlever Esmeralda. Phoebus et ses gardes interviennent. Frollo se sauve.
Les gardes arrêtent Quasimodo. Phoebus s′empare d'Esmeralda.
These lyrics to "Les Portes de Paris" sung by Gringoire in Notre-Dame de Paris tells the story of a night in Paris that is full of passion, vice, and desire. The song describes how the city's gates have closed on the night that is full of all sorts of cries, laughs, and desires that people indulge in. The lyrics mention that the city's night is full of all sorts of vices that are being fulfilled in the cabarets of Paris.
Gringoire, the singer of the story, meets an angelic woman on the Pont-au-Change, who smiles at him and disappears from his sight. He tracks her through the streets of Paris but loses her in the night of all the laughter and desires. The lyrics repeat that Paris is full of vices that people indulge in until its gates close on the night of all the crimes, all the laughs, and all the desires.
The song is a representation of Paris's nightlife, which is full of love, passion, and danger. It highlights the sinful and seductive nature of Parisian culture and the city's embrace of its vices. The lyrics reflect the dark contrast of Paris's night and day, with the lyrics' representation of the city's wild and uninhibited nightlife differing from its public persona as a city of light and love.
Line by Line Meaning
Les portes de Paris
The gates of Paris
Déjà se ferment sur la nuit
Already closing on the night
La nuit de tous les cris
The night of all the screams
De tous les rires
Of all the laughs
Et de tous les désirs
And of all the desires
La nuit de tous les vices
The night of all the vices
Qui s'assouvissent
That are satisfied
Dans le lit de Paris
In the bed of Paris
Cabaret de tous les délires
Cabaret of all the madness
Sur le Pont-au-Change
On the Pont-au-Change
Ce soir j'ai rencontré un ange
Tonight I met an angel
Qui m'a souri
Who smiled at me
Et qui loin de ma vue a disparu
And who disappeared from my sight
Dans les rues de Paris
In the streets of Paris
Je l'ai suivie, je l'ai perdue
I followed her, I lost her
J'ai poursuivi la nuit
I chased the night
De tous les rires
Of all the laughs
Et de tous les désirs
And of all the desires
La nuit de tous les vices
The night of all the vices
Qui s'assouvissent
That are satisfied
Dans le lit de Paris
In the bed of Paris
Cabaret de tous les délires
Cabaret of all the madness
Les portes de Paris
The gates of Paris
Déjà se ferment sur la nuit
Already closing on the night
La nuit de tous les crimes
The night of all the crimes
De tous les rires
Of all the laughs
Et de tous les désirs
And of all the desires
Writer(s): Francois Joseph Charles Salabert, Sacha Alexandre Georges Guitry, Werner Richard Heymann, Albert Lucien Willemetz
Contributed by Camden P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Etienne Peyre
Merci pour le partage. Une pièce malheureusement bien rare et qui fait du bien à entendre !