Gabriel Fauré: Le papillon et la Fleur: (Arr. Denis Rouger): Chœur Mixte et Piano/Orgue

Victor Hugo’s text describes an unequal love between a fluttering, “heavenly” butterfly and a flower “rooted in the earth”. Both resemble each other in their beauty, but their love cannot be fulfilled as long as the butterfly has no roots, or the flower has no wings. The piano accompaniment in Fauré’s setting reflects in its dance-like 6/8 movement both the enraptured hovering of the butterfly, and the deep-rootedness of the flower in the earth.This art song was originally composed not for chamber choir, but for solo voice and piano. Denis Rouger has carefully adapted it to suit the requirements and expressive possibilities offered by a larger ensemble, without losing the any of the qualities of the original in the process. Each part in the choir has a melodic line drawn from the harmonic and rhythmic framework. In the process, the variety and refinement of the choral language combines with an enormous flexibility in form and expression, as French melodies or German art song demand from a soloist and pianist. The songs have been recorded by the figure humaine chamber choir on the CD "Kennst du das Land ..." (Carus 83.495).