So They Say

This week, I've listened several times to Morten Lauridsen's composition "Dirait-On" from his cycle "Les Chansons Des Roses" ("Songs of Roses"). The French lyrics are from a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926).

At his website, Lauridsen states that "Dirait-On," "is composed as a tuneful chanson populaire, or folksong, that weaves together two melodic ideas first heard in fragmentary form in preceding movements."

For this week's "YouTube clip for a peaceful weekend," here is this beautiful, enchanting piece.

Paix:
  
From here, a non-literal English translation of the lyrics:

"Abandon enveloping abandon,
Tenderness brushing tendernesses,
Who you are sustains you
eternally, so they say;

"Your very being is nourished
by its own enlightened reflection;
so you compose the theme
of Narcissus redeemed."