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5050 - A la Claire Fontaine

Traditional French Canadian

arranged for brass quintet by Roger Harvey

Difficulty: Easy

Price: £20.00

Programme note:

The song may have appeared as early as 1604 when the first permanent French settlement was established in the maritimes. As with all traditional songs, numerous versions of both music and lyrics can be found, and versions known in France vary from those known in Canada. It has an adult theme of lost love, the lyrics telling of a lover bathing in a fountain, hearing a nightingale singing, and thinking about her long lost lover whom she lost after failing to give her rosebud. The nightingale's heart laughs but hers weeps. The rosebud is a euphemism for maidenhood, and thus she wishes it were still intact and could still be given to her long lost lover.The refrain is "Il y a longtemps que je t'aime, Jamais je ne t'oublierai." "I've loved you for a long time, I will never forget you." It was sung by the Québécois as a sign of resistance aginst thre British, the Rose representing the British, the clear fountain representing the Saint Laurent River, and the sentence "I've loved you for a long time, I will never forget you" is intended for France and the French land of Quebec.

Performance note:

Play expressively and gently throughout, without rushing the phrasing. Ensure that the solo line is the most prominent, other parts being supportive but subsidiary.