On April 15, 2019, as, by chance, I found myself in the proximity of Notre-Dame in Paris, witnessing the infernal fumes rising toward the heavens, I was reminded of Francis Carcos’s poem, which I had set to music many years ago. One verse in particular echoed within me:
« That we could not make do without her lest we spoil all from her past… »
( « …. qu’on ne saurait se passer d’elle sans tout gâcher de son passé ») As time passed, these words seemed increasingly prophetic to me, especially in light of the many proposals to rebuild Notre-Dame with “contemporary touches”. Gérard Talbot.
Fluctuat
She cannot be seen, only sensed
Through the summer mist
Over the rushing water, that divine Barque,
Oh Paris, of the Cité.
The chateau of towers Notre-Dame
Camps there harmoniously
As if at the heart of a ship
Whose bridges appear like oars
Whilst at the front, standing high,
The mast of the Sainte-Chapelle,
Spire of gold, suddenly reminds us
That we could not make do without her
Lest we spoil all from her past.
On ne voit pas, on la devine
À travers la brume d’été,
Sur l’eau qui court, cette divine
Barque, ô Paris, de la Cité.
Le château des tours Notre-Dame
S’y campe harmonieusement
Comme au plein cœur d’un bâtiment
Dont les ponts auraient l’air de rames
Tandis qu’à l’avant, haut dressé,
Le mât de la Sainte-Chapelle,
Flèche d’or, soudain nous rappelle
Qu’on ne saurait se passer d’elle
Sans tout gâcher de son passé.
Francis Carco (1886-1958),
a French author, born at Nouméa, New Caledonia.
Fluctuat, the title of this poem is inspired by the Latin motto of Paris "Fluctuat nec mergirtur".The motto is as an abbreviation of a longer Latin verse:
"Niteris incassum navem submergere Petri - Fluctuat at numquam mergitur illa ratis."
"In vain you strive to submerge the ship of Peter - this vessel rocks but is never submerged."
Music: Gérard Talbot
Conductor: Andrej Vesel
Orchestra:
Kingsley Lin, Jenia Pavlova, Helga Korbar, Tetiana Lutsyk, , Emilia Lapko, Zhuldyz Kussainova, Danielé Brekytė, Zhangir Zhubanov, Zarina Imayakova, Daria Nikitina Lyall, Ignazio Alayza, Dmitry Ulianchenko, Lucija Pejković, Zsuzsanna Pázmándi, Antoni Orlowski, Tivadar Mohácsi, Iris Maaß, Irem Mercan, Johanna Gossner, Achille Dalabona, David Glaser, Maria Chlebus, Kaja Włostowska.
Choir:
Mayu Kawada, Sofía Blandón Quiroz, Tanja Ruždjak, Valeriia Komarova, Monika Retter,
Magdalena Bruckmüller, Carolina Iulia Astanei, Althea Wetter.
Sound engineer: Lukas Lützow
Video: Expand Films Vienna
Recorded and filmed at the Church Maria am Gestade, Vienna.
5 сен 2024
