Fauré - En Sourdine

I have been obsessed with this song for years after hearing the Gérard Souzay recording.
Performing it last weekend with Chris Weston on piano was such a treat.

Sound and video by Bobby Williams ( https://bobbywilliams.co.uk )

The text is by Paul Verlaine and I'll include an English translation below:

En Sourdine - "Muted"

Calm in the twilight
Cast by loft boughs,
Let us steep our love
In this deep quiet.
Let us mingle our souls, our hearts
And our enraptured senses
With the hazy languor
Of arbutus and pine.
Half-close your eyes,
Fold your arms across your breast,
And from your heart now lulled to rest
Banish forever all intent.
Let us both succumb
To the gentle and lulling breeze
That comes to ruffle at your feet
The waves of russet grass.
And when, solemnly, evening
Falls from the black oaks,
That voice of our despair,
The nightingale shall sing.