C. Debussy, Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut

[takkutakiainen]

the problem, like with most professionals, is overdoing it. Sometimes a pianist should be like a translator of a book. Translators should not try to improve a work of a genius, neither should pianists. 2 stars. -composer. No, I'm not uploading any of my music/playing on youtube.

Sorry for being annoying but Im learned a very demanding taste especially with debussy.

[fortune32]

well not really, more like: "And the moon descends on the temple that once was"

The "once" is important i think, cause in french Qui fut, in more poetic then "that was". So once fits in well.."descends" could be replaced, but my english is too poor for me to think of any alternatives..

hope it helps..

[20eman]

No, I think that "the temple that was" fits better. Saying "the temple that was" is somewhat literary and archaic, in the same way that the passé simple - "fut" - in French is literary and archaic. It also implies that the temple "was" and no longer "is", so the word once is not required.

[fortune32]

True, I thought of that while writing my comment. Maybe now that I read it again, "that was" is not as ugly as I had first thought.

[musicangel25]

oo i'm learning this

[scratch8d]

what does the name of this translate to?

[20eman]

"...And the moon descends on the temple that was."

[Physdelicdreaming]

@scratch8d I know that this comment is a year old, but this is direct translation by me (I speak French)

The title would be more like - "And the moon descends on the temple [which was]", 'qui fut' gives you the impression it once stood, but I think we can all tell through the music, non? :-)