The shepherds | It wasn’t yet midnight when a new star lit the earth for him

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by Albert Rudhardt (1894 - 1944)

Translation © by Geneviève Usher

Les bergers

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

Il n'était pas encor minuit
Que la nouvelle étoile a lui
Pour éclairer la terre;

Puis soudain le ciel s'entrouvrit,
Et vêtus de lumière,
On pouvait voir en Paradis
Tous les anges réunis
En prière.
Par les déserts, marchant pieds nus,
Tous les bergers étaient venus
Jusqu'à la pauvre hutte.
Ils amusaient l'Enfant Jésus
Avec des airs de flûte.

Les anges chantaient: Gloria!
Et les pâtres: Hosanna!
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.

Text Authorship:

by Albert Rudhardt (1894 - 1944) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Frank Martin (1890 - 1974), "Les bergers", 1947 [flute, voice and piano], from Trois Chants de Noël, no. 3, Universal Edition [
text verified 1 time
]

Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):

ENG English (Geneviève Usher) , title 1: "The shepherds", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Fumiko Kanda

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 71

The shepherds

Language: English after the French (Français)

It wasn’t yet midnight when a new star lit the earth for him.
Suddenly the sky was bathed in light,
You could see all the angels in paradise united in prayer.
Every shepherd had come to the lowly stable,
Walking barefoot through the deserts.
They entertained baby Jesus playing their flutes.
The angels sang: Gloria!
And the shepherds: Hosanna!
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia! Alleluia.

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © by Geneviève Usher, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Albert Rudhardt (1894 - 1944)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2016-07-09
Line count: 9
Word count: 63