Classical Music | Baritone

Recorded on 08/19/2015, uploaded on 04/27/2016

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

L'absent (The Absent One)

O silence of nights whose voice

alone is sweet

When I no longer hear her voice,

Mysterious rays

that glide across the moss

In the shadow of these woods.

Tell me if her eyes,

at the hour when all is sleeping,

Gently open,

And if my beloved,

while I remain awake,

Remembers the absent one.

When the moon is in the heavens,

bathing with its light

The great woods and the blue sky,

When the evening bells

tolling for prayer

Vibrate so pure an echo;

Tell me if her soul,

pensive for a moment

Arises with their song,

And if the peaceful harmony

of their tones

Reminds her of the absent one.

Translated by Stephen Lancaster

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.