The Song of the Flea

"The Song of the Flea" (Russian: Песня о блохе) is a song with piano accompaniment, composed by Modest Mussorgsky in 1879. The lyrics are from the Russian translation of Goethe's Faust.

Originally A Song for Soprano, Later Sung Mostly by Bass

In 1879, Mussorgsky quit a civil service job, and, from August to November, accompanied contralto Darya Leonova (Дарья Леонова, 1829-1896) on a tour to Southern Russia, as her piano accompanist. He was much impressed by Leonova's singing, and composed The Song of the Flea during this trip or soon after he had returned to St. Petersburg, dedicating it to Leonova. It is unknown when the song was played in a public recital for the first time, but it is recorded that this song was sung in recitals by Leonova in April and May 1880.

The music score of the Song of the Flea was published after Mussorgsky's death, in 1883 with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov as the editor. Its orchestration by Igor Stravinsky became available in 1914.

The Song of the Flea is probably the best known of the 65 or so songs that Mussorgsky composed.[1] It was originally composed for a soprano, but it has been sung by bass singers, such as Feodor Chaliapin. Chaliapin's rendition of the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.[2]

The tenor, Vladimir Rosing, also recorded The Song of the Flea, once for Vocalion in the early 1920s, and again for Parlophone in 1933.

Lyrics

The lyrics used were from the Russian translation by Alexander N Strugoshchkov (1808-878) of "Mephistopheles' song at Auerbach Cellar" (Russian: Песня Мефистофеля в погребке Ауербаха) in Part One of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust.[3]

Russian Transliteration [4] English translation
---
Жил, был король когда-то.
При нём блоха жила.
Блоха ! Блоха !
Милей родного брата
Она ему была.
Блоха, ха, ха, ха, ха, ха. Блоха.
Ха, ха, ха, ха, ха. Блоха !
---
Зовёт король портного.
— Послушай, ты, чурбан,
Для друга дорогого
Сшей бархатный кафтан !
Блохе кафтан ? Ха, ха, ха, ха, ха, ха.
Блохе ? Ха, ха, ха, ха, ха. Кафтан !
Ха, ха, ха, ха, ха. Ха, ха, ха, ха, ха.
Блохе кафтан?
---
Вот в золото и бархат блоха наряжена,
И полная свобода ей при дворе дана.
При дворе хе-хе-хе-хе-хе блохе ха-ха-ха,
Ха-ха-ха-ха-ха-ха блохе.
---
Король ей сан министра и с ним звезду даёт,
И с нею и другие пошли все блохи в ход а-ха.
И самой Королеве и фрейлинам ея
От блох не стало мочи, не стало и житья ха-ха.
---
И тронуть-то боятся не то чтобы их бить,
А мы, кто стал кусаться, тотчас давай душить.
Ха-ха-ха-ха-ха ха-ха-ха,
Ха-ха-ха-ха-ха ха-ха-ха-ха,
А а-ха-ха ха-ха.
---
Zhil, buil karol' kagda-ta,
Pri nyom blakha zhila,
Blakha ! Blakha !
Milyey radnova brata
Ana yemu buila.
Blakha, kha,kha,kha, kha,kha. Blakha.
Kha,kha,kha,kha,kha! Blakha!
---
Zavyot karol' partnova:
"Paslushay, tui,churban!
Dlya druga daragova
Sshyey barkhatnuiy kaftan!"
Blakhye kaftan? Kha,kha, kha,kha,kha, kha.
Blakhye? Kha,kha,kha,kha,kha!
Kha,kha,kha, kha,kha. Kha, kha,kha,kha, kha.
Blakhye kaftan?
---
Vot v zolata i barkhat blakha naryazhena,
Yi polnaya zbaboda yei pri dvarye dana.
Pri dvorye khye-khye-khye-khye-khye, Blakhye kha-kha-kha,
Kha-kha-kha-kha-kha-kha Blokhye.
---
Karol' yei san ministra yi z nim zvezdu dayot,
Yi z nyeyu yi drugiye pashli fsye Blokhi f khod a-kha.
Yi samoi Karolyevye yi fryeilinam yeya
Ad blokh nye stala mochi, nye stala yi zhit'ya kha-kha.
---
Yi tranyut'ta bayatsya nye ta shtobui yikh bit',
A mui, khto stal kusat'sya, totchas davai dushit'.
Kha-kha-kha-kha-kha kha-kha-kha,
Kha-kha-kha-kha-kha kha-kha-kha-kha,
A a-kha-kha kha-kha.
---
There lived a king once upon a time,
With him lived a Flea.
A Flea! A Flea!
Dearer than his own brother
It was to him.
A Flea, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. A Flea.
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! A Flea!
---
The king called for a tailor:
"Listen, you, stupid guy,
For my dear friend
Make a velvety caftan!"
For the Flea a caftan? Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
For the Flea? Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! A caftan
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
For the Flea a caftan?
---
Wearing gold and a coat my Flea lived,
And complete freedom in the palace it was given.
In the palace ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, for the Flea ha-ha-ha,
Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, for the Flea.
---
The King made it a minister and gave it a medal,
And all its relatives were given the same, a-ha.
And the Queen and her ladies-in-waiting
Could not touch the Flea, and were afraid, ha-ha.
---
What a pity that they cannot touch or kill the Flea,
As for us, we will kill it as soon as it bites us.
Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, ha-ha-ha,
Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, ha-ha-ha-ha,
A a-ha-ha ha-ha.

The Song of the Flea by Other Composers

There are works of the Song of the Flea by other composers: Ludwig van Beethoven, Hector Berlioz, Richard Wagner and Ferruccio Busoni. Beethoven's song has orchestrations by Igor Stravinsky and Dmitri Shostakovich.

See also

References

  1. Mephistopheles' Song of the Flea, for voice & piano or orchestra, edited by Rimsky-Korsakov
  2. "Grammy Hall of Fame". Recording Academy. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  3. Текст песни Ф.И. Шаляпин - Блоха
  4. Transliteration as the song is usually sung in standard Russian. For example, "был" is written here as "buil", not as "byl"; "когда-то" as "kagda-ta", not as "kogda-to"; and "родного" as "radnova", not as "rodnovo".
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