Learn French Pronunciation While Singing

 

Flower Duet

 

from the French opera Lakmé by Léo Delibes

 

Mezzo-Soprano voice part

 

Webpage by Cliff Lamere     25 Jun 2010, revised 24 July 2010

 

 

Learn French Pronunciation While Singing

 

1)  Study or review pronunciations in the phonetic table below.

2)  Listen to the song on the video to familiarize yourself with the melody.

3)  Aloud or to yourself, read the phonetic lyrics below several times (without video), trying to use proper pronunciation.

4)  When you can do this, read the French song lyrics several times, checking your pronunciation as you go.

5)  Read the lyrics for your voice part silently while listening to the video.  

6)  Try to sing along with the video.

7)  As practice, you may wish to try the following.  Start the video, but stop it after the first phrase has been sung.  Now, using the phonetic table, sing the melodic phrase you just heard (that audio may be difficult to understand and use as a guide).  Listen to the next phrase, stop the video, then sing that phrase.  Repeat this sequence until you reach the end of the song.

8)  Repeat step 7 until you are doing reasonably well.

9)  Sing along with the video from beginning to end.  Then, marvel at what you have accomplished.

 

 

 

SOME PRONUNCIATION RULES FOR WESTERN CONTINENTAL EUROPEAN LANGUAGES

 

Three American English vowels are quite different sounding than the western Continental European vowels from which they were derived.  Understanding these differences is important when learning to pronounce most European languages.  If you use the internet to learn foreign word pronunciations, the text descriptions are usually given in British English without saying so.  A person who speaks American English will learn to pronounce the words wrong. 

 

Letter

Sound in

American English

Sound in western

Continental European languages

 

 

 

A

 ay

ah

E

 ee

ay

I

 eye

ee

 

 

SOME PRONUNCIATION RULES FOR SPOKEN FRENCH


The consonants at the end of a French word are usually not pronounced.  When an ‘n’ is the final consonant or one of the final consonants, a nasal sound is made to suggest its presence.  The nasal sound is shown in the phonetics table as (n).  Final consonants are pronounced when the next word in the same sentence begins with a vowel.  However, in singing, if a rest falls between the two words, you must treat the first one as if it were the last word in a sentence.

When c, f, l, and r are the final consonant of a word, they are pronounced sometimes and silent other times (blanc = silent, avec = pronounced).  

 

The final 'e' of a French word is not pronounced when it follows a consonant.  Its function is to allow the consonant to be pronounced.  However, in the Flower Duet the final 'e' is sometimes on a musical note of its own, so it must be pronounced in a way not true of the spoken language. 

An 's' is pronounced like the English 'z' when the 's' is between two vowels, even if the second vowel begins the next word in the same sentence.  

 

The French J sounds like the 's' in vision, the 'g' in mirage, and the 'j' in déjà vu.  This sound is represent by ' zj '.

The French 'u' is pronounced like 'ee' but with the lips shaped to say 'oo'.  I have represented this difficult sound as ' ee ' because it sounds more like ee than oo.

 

 

FRENCH IS A BIT DIFFERENT WHEN SUNG

 

When singing, the rules for spoken French sometimes must be broken.  For example, the first Mezzo-Soprano line on page 1 contains the phrase "Sous le dôme épais où le blanc jasmin."  In spoken French, the 's' in épais must be pronounced because the next word in the sentence begins with a vowel.  (see next)

 

Musical Rest - The phrase is actually "Sous le dôme épais [ ] où le blanc jasmin."  The rest after épais acts like the end of a sentence.  In other words, the 's' at the end of épais is not pronounced.

 

Final Vowel Sung on a Separate Note  - When a French word ends in a vowel that is preceded by a consonant, it is not pronounced in spoken French.  However, in this song final vowels often are sung on a separate note of their own.  In that case, they must be pronounced.

 

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Left video below  

Natalie Dessay - Soprano

Delphine Haidan - Mezzo-Soprano

Right video below  (beautifully balanced)

Hei-Kyung Hong - Soprano
Jennifer Larmore - Mezzo-soprano

 

 

 

 

Sounds Used in the Phonetics Table (below)

 

American English

Description I Use

American English Sound

 

 

ah

like a in Father

ay

as in Play
ä as in Cat

ee

as in Seen

eh

as in Get

ih

as in Sit

oh

as in Hope

oo

as in Soon

 

 

Flower Duet (French) – Mezzo-Soprano

(including accent marks missing on sheet music)

English Phonetics 

(Final consonants have been added to the 

next word if they should be sung that way.  

Rests and pauses that affect pronunciation are shown.

Click HERE to use different phonetics table ( ă instead of -ah ).)

 

 

 Sous le dôme épais où le blanc jasmin  À la rose s'as-

 Soo  lih  doh  may-peh,  oo  lih  blah(n)  zjahs-mä(n).  Ah  lah  roh-zeh  sah-

 semble,  Sur la rive en fleurs, riant au matin

 sahm-bleh,  Seer  lah  Ree  vah(n)  fler,  ree-ahnt oh mah-tä(n),

 Viens, descendons ensemble.  Doucement glissons

 Vee-eh(n), day-sahn-dohn  sahn-sahm-bleh.  Doo-seh-mah(n)  glee-soh(n)

 de son flot charmant  Suivons le courant fuyant;  Dans

dih  soh(n)  floh  shahr-mah(n)  Swee-voh(n)  lih  coo-rah(n)  fee-yah(n):  Dah(n)

 l'onde frémissante,  D'une main noncha-

 lohn-deh  fray-mee-sahn-teh,  Dee-neh  meh(n)  nohn-shah-

 lante, Viens, gagnons le bord  Où la source dort

 lahn-teh,  Vee-eh(n),  gah-nyoh(n)  lih  bohr [ rest ] Oo  lah soor-seh dohr

 Et l'oiseau, l'oiseau chante!  Sous le dôme épais

Ay  lwah-zoh,  lwah-zoh  shahn-teh!  Soo  lih  doh-meh  ay-peh

 Sous le blanc jasmin  Ah! descen-

 Soo  lih  blah(n)  zjahs-mä(n)  Ah!  day-sahn-

 dons ensem-

 doh(n)  [ pause ]  ahn-sahm-
 ble!  bleh!

 

 

French Poem

English

(2 translations)

Sous le dôme épais
Où le blanc jasmin
À la rose s’assemble
Sur la rive en fleurs,
Riant au matin
Viens, descendons ensemble.

Doucement glissons de son flot charmant
Suivons le courant fuyant
Dans l’onde frémissante
D’une main nonchalante
Viens, gagnons le bord,
Où la source dort et
L’oiseau, l’oiseau chante.

Sous le dôme épais
Où le blanc jasmin,
Ah! descendons
Ensemble!

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sous le dôme épais
Où le blanc jasmin
À la rose s’assemble
Sur la rive en fleurs,
Riant au matin
Viens, descendons ensemble.

Doucement glissons de son flot charmant
Suivons le courant fuyant
Dans l’onde frémissante
D’une main nonchalante
Viens, gagnons le bord,
Où la source dort et
L’oiseau, l’oiseau chante.

Sous le dôme épais
Où le blanc jasmin,
Ah! descendons
Ensemble!

Under the dense canopy
Where the white jasmine
Blends with the rose
On the flowering bank
Laughing at the morning
Come, let us drift down together

Let us gently glide along  With the enchanting flow
Of the fleeing current
On the rippling surface
With a lazy hand
Let us reach the shore
Where the source sleeps
And the bird sings

Under the dense canopy
Under the white jasmine
Let us drift down 

together

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Under the thick dome 

where the white jasmine
With the roses entwined together
On the river bank covered with flowers 

laughing in the morning
Let us descend together!

Gently floating on its charming risings,
On the river’s current
On the shining waves,
One hand reaches,
Reaches for the bank,
Where the spring sleeps,
And the bird, the bird sings.


Under the thick dome 

where the white jasmine
Ah! calling us
Together!

 

 

OTHER VIDEOS OF THE FLOWER DUET

 

has many videos of this beautiful duet.  In many, the song is sung twice with an interlude in between. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhFC3AhLtag (Natalie Dessay)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUP2eXXQcY8 (with piano; soprano and mezzo well balanced)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yw8DkuCsVOw (mezzo part easy to hear)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71cxBNvq1Eo&feature=PlayList&p=FC6FFD47CFBDDC5B&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=24

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dXLkkQbmh0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqD9LMgdkNs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afPfzGfZwsA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSmog1svxXw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX-6Ej2lnwg

 

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View the Flower Duet - Soprano I voice part

 

 

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