Au clair de la lune

Not to be confused withClair de Lune.

"Au clair de la lune"from a children's book,c. 1910–1919.

"Au clair de la lune"(French pronunciation:[oklɛʁdəlalyn(ə)],lit. 'By the Light of the Moon') is a Frenchfolk songof the 18th century. Its composer and lyricist are unknown. Its simplemelody() is commonly taught to beginners learning an instrument.

Lyrics

Chords, melody and words

The song appears as early as 1820 inLe Voiture Verseés,with only the first verse. Four verses were later re-published in the 1858 compilationChants et Chansons populaires de la France.

In the 1870 compilationChansons et Rondes Enfantines,only the first two verses of the original four were retained.

"Au clair de la lune, Mon ami Pierrot, Prête-moi ta plume Pour écrire un mot. Ma chandelle est morte, Je n'ai plus de feu. Ouvre-moi ta porte Pour l'amour de Dieu. " Au clair de la lune, Pierrot répondit: "Je n'ai pas de plume, Je suis dans mon lit. Va chez la voisine, Je crois qu'elle y est, Car dans sa cuisine On bat le briquet. " Au clair de la lune, L'aimable Lubin; Frappe chez la brune, Elle répond soudain: –Qui frappe de la sorte? Il dit à son tour: –Ouvrez votre porte, Pour le Dieu d'Amour. Au clair de la lune, On n'y voit qu'un peu. On chercha la plume, On chercha du feu. En cherchant d'la sorte, Je n'sais c'qu'on trouva; Mais je sais qu'la porte Sur eux se ferma. "

"By the light of the moon, My friendPierrot, Lend me yourquill To write a word. My candle is dead, I have no light left. Open your door for me For the love of God. " By the light of the moon, Pierrot replied: "I don't have any quill, I am in my bed Go to the neighbor's, I think she's there Because in her kitchen Someone is lighting the fire. " By the light of the moon Likeable Lubin Knocks on the brunette's door. She suddenly responds: – Who's knocking like that? He then replies: – Open your door for the God of Love! By the light of the moon One could barely see. The pen was looked for, The light was looked for. With all that looking I don't know what was found, But I do know that the door Shut itself on them.

Some sources report that "plume" (pen) was originally "lume" (an old word for "light" or "lamp" ), which makes more sense of the song’s contextual framework.Much of the lyrics have sexual innuendos.

In music

19th-century French composerCamille Saint-Saënsquoted the first few notes of the tune in the section "The Fossils", part of his suiteThe Carnival of the Animals.

French composerFerdinand Héroldwrote a set of variations for piano solo in E-flat major.

Claude Debussy,composer of the similarly named "Clair de lune"from hisSuite bergamasque,uses "Au clair de la lune" as the basis of his song "Pierrot" (Pantomime,L. 31) fromQuatre Chansons de Jeunesse.

Erik Satiequoted this song in the section "Le flirt" (No. 19) of his 1914 piano collectionSports et divertissements.

In 1926,Samuel Barberrewrote "H-35: Au Claire de la Lune: A Modern Setting of an old folk tune" while studying at theCurtis Institute of Music.

In 1928,Marc Blitzsteinorchestrated "Variations sur 'Au Claire de la Lune'."

In 1955, Swiss composerFrank Martinwrote a setting of Au clair de la lune for one of his children to practice octaves (Primo part). It consists of three variations provided by the Secondo part.

In 1964, French pop singerFrance Gallrecorded a version of this song, with altered lyrics to make it a love song.

In 2008, aphonautographpaper recording made byÉdouard-Léon Scott de Martinvilleof "Au clair de la lune" on 9 April 1860, was digitally converted to sound by researchers at theLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.This one-line excerpt of the song is the earliest recognizable record of the human voice and the earliest recognizable record of music.According to those researchers, the phonautograph recording contains the beginning of the song, "Au clair de la lune, mon ami Pierrot, prête moi".

In 2008, composerFred Momotenkocomposed an eponymous tribute score for 4-partvocal ensembleand surround audio.

In visual art

In the 1804 painting and sculpting exposition,Pierre-Auguste Vafflardpresented a painting depictingEdward Youngburying his daughter by night. An anonymous critic commentedon the monochromatic nature of that painting with the lyrics:

Young et sa fillebyPierre-Auguste Vafflard(1804)

Au clair de la lune Les objets sont bleus Plaignons l'infortune De ce malheureux Las! sa fille est morte Ce n'est pas un jeu Ouvrez-lui la porte Pour l'amour de Dieu.

By the light of the moon All things are blue Cry for the misfortune Of this poor soul Sadly! His daughter is dead It is no game Open the door to her For the love of God.

In literature

The "Story of my Friend Peterkin and the Moon" inThe Ladies Pocket Magazine(1835) mentions the song several times and ends:

Indeed, what must have been the chagrin and despair of this same Jaurat, when he heard sung every night by all the little boys of Paris, that song of "Au clair de la lune", every verse of which was a remembrance of happiness to Cresson, and a reproach of cruelty to friend Peterkin, who would not open his door to his neighbor, when he requested this slight service.

In his 1952 memoirWitness,Whittaker Chambersreminisced:

In my earliest recollections of her, my mother is sitting in the lamplight, in a Windsor rocking chair, in front of the parlor stove. She is holding my brother on her lap. It is bed time and, in a thin sweet voice, she is singing him into drowsiness. I am on the floor, as usual among the chair legs, and I crawl behind my mother's chair because I do not like the song she is singing and do not want her to see what it does to me. She sings: "Au clair de la lune; Mon ami, Pierrot; Prête-moi ta plume; Pour écrire un mot."

Then the vowels darken ominously. My mother's voice deepens dramatically, as if she were singing in a theater. This was the part of the song I disliked most, not only because I knew that it was sad, but because my mother was deliberately (and rather unfairly, I thought) making it sadder: "Ma chandelle est morte; Je n'ai plus de feu; Ouvre-moi la porte; Pour l'amour de Dieu."

I knew, from an earlier explanation, that the song was about somebody (a little girl, I thought) who was cold because her candle and fire had gone out. She went to somebody else (a little boy, I thought) and asked him to help her for God's sake. He said no. It seemed a perfectly pointless cruelty to me.

In their 1957 playBad Seed: A Play in Two Acts,Maxwell AndersonandWilliam Marchwrite: "A few days later, in the same apartment. The living-room is empty: Rhoda can be seen practicing 'Au Clair de la Lune' on the piano in the den." In F. Scott Fitzgerald's novelTender is the Night,Dick and Nicole Diver's children sing the first verse at the request of the film producer Earl Brady.

The song is featured in the story "For the God of Love, For the Love of God" inLauren Groff's 2018 collectionFlorida,and the story takes its title from the lyrics.

See also

• Au clair de la lune recording— The first audio recording discovered

External links

• FrenchWikisourcehas original text related to this article:Au clair de la lune
• Works related toAu clair de la luneat Wikisource
• Media related toAu clair de la luneat Wikimedia Commons
• Listen1931 recording byYvonne Printemps.