The Lisette Project
Lisette: A Song’s Journey from Haiti & Back
ITHACA, NY & OAKLAND, CA
Texts & Translations
Lisette quitté la plaine
Duvivier de la Mahautière
Lisette quitté la plaine,
Lisette has left the plain
Mon perdi bonher à moué
I have lost my joy.
Gié à moin semblé fontaine
My eyes look like fountains
Dipi mon pas miré toué.
Since I last saw you.
Le jour quand mon coupé canne,
By day, when I cut sugar cane,
Mon songé zamour à moué ;
I miss my beloved;
La nuit quand mon dans cabane
By night when I lay in bed,
Dans dromi mon quimbé toué
In sleep I hold you.
Si to allé à la ville,
If you go to the city,
Ta trouvé geine Candio
You’ll find young dandies
Qui gagné pour tromper fille
Who deceive women
Bouche doux passé sirop.
With their mouths sweeter than syrup
To va crer yo bin sincère
You’ll think they are sincere
Pendant quior yo coquin tro ;
While they are very cunning
C’est Serpent qui contrefaire
They are deceptive serpents
Crié Rat, pour tromper yo.
Who cry “Rat” to deceive them.
Dipi mon perdi Lisette,
Since I lost Lisette,
Mon pas touchié Calinda
I haven’t touched the calinda
Mon quitté Bram-bram sonnette.
I have left the Bram-bram sonnette
Mon pas batte Bamboula
I haven’t beat the bamboula
Quand mon contré laut’ négresse,
When I meet other women
Mon pas gagné gié pou li ;
They do not catch my eye.
Mon pas souchié travail pièce
I do not care about work
Tout qui chose a moin mouri.
All that mattered to me has died.
Mon maigre tant com’ gnon souche
I am skinny as a stem
Jambe à moin tant comme roseau ;
My leg is like a reed
Mangé na pas doux dans bouche,
Food is not sweet to my mouth
Tafia même c’est comme dyo
Booze is like water.
Quand mon songé, toué Lisette
When I think of you Lisette
Dyo toujour dans jié moin.
Tears fill my eyes.
Magner mion vini trop bête
My manners have become stupid
A force chagrin magné moin
From the force of my despair
Liset’ mon tandé nouvelle
Lisette I heard news
To compté bintôt tourné :
You intend to return soon
Vini donc toujours fidelle.
Come then still faithful.
Miré bon passé tandé.
Seeing is better than hearing.
N’a pas tardé davantage
Delay no more
To fair moin assez chagrin,
You’ve made me sad enough
Mon tant com’ zozo dans cage,
I am like a bird stuck in a cage
Quand yo fair li mouri faim.
When they starve it to death.
Chanson Nêgre
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Lisetto quitté la plaine
Lisette has left the plain
Moi perdi bonheur à moi
I have lost my joy.
Yeux a moi semblent fontaine
My eyes look like fountains
Dipis moi pas miré toi
Since I last saw you.
Le jour quand moi couper canne
By day, when I cut sugar cane,
Moi penser a z’amour moi
I miss my beloved;
La nuit quand moi dans cabanne
By night when I lay in bed,
Dans dormir moi quimbe toi
In sleep I hold you.
Quand toi zaller à la ville
If you go to the city,
Toi trouver jeune cangnion
You’ll find young dandies
Qui gagné pour tromper fille,
Who deceive women
Parler doux comme sirop,
With their speech sweeter than syrup
Toi sembler bouche sincère ;
You’ll think they are sincere
Tandis cœur yo coquin trop :
While they are very cunning
C’est serpent qui contrefaire
They are deceptive serpents
Crier rat pour tromper yo.
Who cry “Rat” to deceive them.
Maigrir moi tant comme souche,
I am skinny as a stem
Jambe à moi comme roseau ;
My leg is like a reed
Sirop n’a pas doux dans bouche,
Syrup is not sweet to my mouth
Taffiat même est comme d’iau ;
Even booze is like water.
Plus danser dimanche et fête,
No more dancing on Sundays and at parties
Plus chanter siffler oiseau,
No more singing or whistling like birds
Manier moi venir tout bête
My manners have become stupid
Tant chagrin manié moi.
From the force of my despair.
Lisette, a moi toi nouvelle,
Lisette I heard news
Toi qu’aller bientôt venir,
You intend to return soon
Venir donc toujours fidelle,
Come then still faithful.
Va bon passé tems ici ;
Seeing is better than hearing.
N’a pas tardé davantage,
Delay no more
Toi moi faire assez chagrin
You’ve made me sad enough
Si cœur à toi pas volage,
I am like a bird stuck in a cage
Toi doit souvenir Colin
When they starve it to death.
Dialogue Kreyol
Michel Étienne Descourtilz
Évahim:
Aza, gete m kòm zanmi twe
Aza! Look at your friend
Vizaj mwen fondi sanble cire
See my face undone like wax!
Tan la twe tan lwanye de mwe
I was so far away from you.
Jodi la gete mwen sourire.
Today, see me smiling
Zoranj astò li dous au cœur
Orange still has its sweetness
Evahim pi genyen tristesse
Evahim has no more sadness.
Twe fè goute mwen gran bonè
You fill me with bliss
A zanmi twe gro de tendresse.
You, my loving friend.
Aza:
Kè a mwen si lala kraze
Aza groaned like you.
Mwen pa genyen kè a z’ouvrage
I did not have the heart to work.
A twe nuit, jou, mwen te sonje,
Day and night thinking of you
Sa fè li kraze davantage
I was suffering even more.
Mwen pa kapab soufri ankò
Overwhelmed by the blows of life,
Mwen te mouri lwen de zanmi mwen
I was going to die away from my friend.
Vla k Aza nan plas lan mò
But instead of dying
Nan kè a twe m trouve la vie
In your heart I found life.
Évahim:
Bouch a twe dous dous pase siro!
Aza! Your kisses are sweeter than honey!
Aza:
Beze twe dou pase bannann o.
Yours are sweeter than plantains!
Évahim & Aza:
Lan men zanmi jouska de lo
From the hands of a friend
Li soukre pase sik a canne
Even water is sweeter than sugar cane.
Évahim:
Ay zanmi m toujou tout pou ou
My friend, I am yours forever.
Bay men sou kè mwen
Put your hand on my heart.
Li sa kèk chose
Feel this.
Aza:
Li boule semble kè a mwen
Mine burns just the same
Kre byen pi k se pour même cause
And for the same reason.
Dans le cœur de Marie
Juste Chanlatte
Dans le cœur de Marie
In the heart of Marie
Les aimables vertus
All desirable virtues
Ont fixé leur patrie,
Have affixed their allegiance,
Leurs nobles attributs.
Their noble attributes.
Idoles de ces beaux climats
Symbols of her temperate nature
Les bienfaits naissent sur ses pas;
Good deeds are born where she treads;
Par sa présence
In her presence,
La bienfaisance
Goodwill
Sait acquérir un nouveau prix:
Acquires yet a new prize:
Célébrer cet objet chéri,
N’est-ce pas célébrer Henry? (bis.)
To celebrate this beloved object,
Is it not to celebrate [King] Henry?
Auguste et tendre mère
August and tender mother
De son sexe ornement,
Precious jewel among women.
Du trône ange prospère
To the throne, a generous angel
D’Henry soutien charmant ;
To Henry, a charming support.
Elle ajoute à ses verts lauriers
She adds to her green laurels
L’éclat des tendres oliviers ;
The brilliance of tender olive trees
Illustre vigne!
Illustrious vine!
Son jet insigne
From her remarkable branch
Pousse des rejetons fleuris:
Shoot flowering offspring.
Célébrer cet objet chéri,
N’est-ce pas célébrer Henry?
To celebrate this beloved object,
Is it not to celebrate [King] Henry?
“Quoi ? tu te tais Peuple Indigène,” or “Hymne Haytiène”
Words by Juste Chanlatte (1804)
Sung to “La Marseillaise” by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle
De nos droits ennemis perfides,
Treacherous enemies of our rights,
Du Nouveau-Monde les tyrans,
Tyrants of the New World,
Déjà les Français homicides,
Already the homicidal French
Du Soleil frappaient les Enfans; (bis.)
Of the Sun struck down the children;
Ô ! du Ciel éclatans prodiges!
O! From Heaven with prodigious brilliance
Pour lever nos fronts abattus,
To raise our bent brows,
Jacque paraît, ils ne sont plus,
Jacques (Dessalines) appeared they* are no more
Et l’on en cherche les vestiges.
And we search for the remains.
Sous ce bon Père, unis,
With this good father, united,
À jamais réunis,
forever reunited,
Vivons, mourons ses vrais Enfants, (bis.)
Let us live and die his true children:
Libres, indépendants.
Free & independent!
*the French
Dialogue d’amour
Si lamou a vou si grand, Michie la,
If your love can be so great, my dear Sir,
Si l’amou a vou si grand, Michie la,
If your love can be so great, my dear Sir,
Si l’amou a vou si grand,
If your love can be so great,
Faut donne plein I’argent.
Then give me loads of silver.
Toutes mes cann’ sont brulées, Mariann’,
All my cane has burned, Mariann’
Sont brulées, Mariann’,
Has burned, Mariann’,
Toutes mes cann’ sont brulées,
All my cane has burned
Et je suis ruiné.
And I am ruined.
Si cann’ a vous brulé, Michié la,
If all your cane has burned, my dear sir,
Si cann’ a vous brulé, Michié la,
If all your cane has burned, my dear sir,
Si cann’ a vous brulé,
If all your cane has burned,
L’amou a nous flambé!
Then our love has also gone up in flames!
Lisette, ma chère amie
Camille Nickerson
Lisette, to quitte la plaine
Lisette, you have left the plain.
Mo perdu bonheur a mouin;
I have lost my joy.
Yeux a mouin ‘semblé’ fontaine
My eyes look like fountains
Dipuis mo pas miré tou.
Since last I saw you.
Le jour quand mo coupé canne
By day, when I cut sugar cane
Mo ponce l’amour a mouin ;
I think of my love.
La nuit quand mo dans cabanne
By night, when I am in bed
Dans dormi mo voir tou.
In sleep, I see you still.
Si to allé dans la ville
If you go to the city
To trouvé bon candio
You’ll find there are dandies
Qui gaignin pour trompé fille
Who are quick to dupe ladies
Bouche doux passé sirop.
With mouths sweeter than honey.
To va croi’ li bien sincère
You’ll think them sincere
Pendant que li ein cocaïne ;
While their hearts are deceitful.
Ce un serpent qui connain fait
This is a snake who cunningly
Comme un rat pou trompé’ bien!
Like a rat, knows well how to deceive.
Lisette, ma chère amie!
Lisette, my dear friend.
Lisette, to quitté la plaine
Lisette, you have left the plain
Mo perdu bonheur a mouin.
I have lost my joy.
Ave Maria
Louis Borno
Ave Maria, gratia plena
Hail Mary, full of grace,
Dominus tecum
The Lord is with thee.
Benedicta tu in mulieribus
Blessed art thou among women,
Et benedictus fructus ventris tuae, Jesus.
And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Ora pro nobis peccatoribus
Pray for us sinners,
Nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae
Now and at the hour of our death,
Ave Maria
Hail Mary.
Artist Bio’s
The British-born musicologist and pianist Nicholas Mathew is Professor of Music and the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Distinguished Professor in the Arts and Humanities at the University of California, Berkeley. Professor Mathew regularly appears as a recitalist and chamber performer, primarily on historical pianos, in the United States, Great Britain, and Australia. A widely published scholar and critic, he is an authority on the history of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century music, especially Beethoven, Haydn, Viennese musical culture, and historical performance practices. Professor Mathew is a frequent public speaker, to both general and specialist audiences, on musical and artistic matters. He is the author of Political Beethoven and The Haydn Economy.
Jean Bernard Cerin is a multifaceted artist and scholar who produces and performs in projects ranging from film, recital, oratorio, opera and folk music. Praised for his “burnished tone and focused phrasing,” (Chestnut Hill Local) Jean Bernard performs extensively as a baritone with leading early music ensembles across the United States, including Philadelphia-based Publick Pleasure & Choral Arts, Louisville’s Bourbon Baroque, Classical Uncorked in Seattle, Les Délices in Cleveland, and American Bach Soloists in San Francisco to name a few. This season he makes his debut with NYS Baroque in Syracuse. Song recitals sit at the heart of Jean Bernard’s performance output each season with his folk-classical crossover duo: Kuwento Mizik, the Lisette Project, and collaborators throughout the United States. His repertoire ranges from the standard romantic and early twentieth Western Classical music literature to collaborations with living composers and explorations outside of the western canon. In recent seasons, Jean Bernard premiered works by Seare Farhat (Moved by the Beauty of the Trees), Melissa Dunphy (Eat the Rich), Gilda Lyons (El Zopilote), John Conohan (Shenandoh & Big Rock Candy Mountains), Don Saint Pierre (Rumi Songs), and Mark Rimple (Politic Bodies). Jean Bernard Cerin is the artistic director of the Lisette Project, a performance and research collective focusing on the history of classical music in Haiti. He also directs the voice program at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
Praised as “excellent and engaging” (The Washington Post) with “a graceful tonal clarity that is a wonder to hear” (SF Chronicle), soprano Michele Kennedy is a versatile specialist in early and contemporary music. Winner of the 2023 American Prize in Voice, Michele’s recent solo highlights include Bach’s St. John Passion with the San Francisco Symphony & SF Bach Choir, Gabriel and Eve in Haydn’s Die Schöpfung with Washington Bach Consort, Handel’s Messiah with NYC’s Trinity Wall Street, Poulenc’s Gloria with Bach Society of Saint Louis, Smith Moore’s MLK Oratorio at UC Berkeley, and her Carnegie Hall debut with The Hollywood Film Orchestra. This season, she joins Portland Baroque Orchestra for Bach’s Magnificat and SF Choral Society for his beloved Mass in B Minor. A lifelong champion of new works, Michele has sung premieres with Experiments in Opera, Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble, Seraphic Fire, The Crossing, and The New York Philharmonic. She is thrilled to join Lorelei Ensemble in a world premiere tour of Julia Wolfe’s Her Story culminating with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood, and for the release of her first featured solo album with AGAVE, called In Her Hands, featuring trailblazing female composers from Barbara Strozzi and Clara Schumann to Florence Price and Margaret Bonds. Michele completed her musical studies at Yale University, Yale School of Music, and NYU. A lover of Redwood groves and Bay vistas, she lives with her husband, visual artist Benjamin Thorpe, and their daughter, Audra May. Please find more at www.michele-kennedy.com.