Les danses de Lormont

Composition Details

Performed in Concert

Program Notes:

Lormont is a seaside holiday town in Bordeaux

Conductor Notes:

A lively duet for soprano and alto with piano that makes a good choral work. In 2016, with the Borealis String Quartet on hand, Stephen Smith wrote a virtuosic violin obbligato that worked well. Contact Stephen directly if you want to know more.

Composer / Arranger Notes:

Text: Marceline Desbordes-Valmore

Translation:

Chasing the clouds of our songs Hand in hand Let’s dance! Let’s dance! We are the pallid girls of Lormont The breeze picks us up and carries us. They say our feet give wing to the dance We’re carried by the wind. With its big voice the sea accompanies us, The sea, which pounds the shore and breaks the reeds, Seeing us gliding over the mountain, Mistakes us for birds. Look, look, the mountain is on fire! It’s Lormont aflame at sunset, Look, we dance our joyous round on the mountainside Like a bright red circle.