Sur le Pont d'Avignon
French song
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
“Sur le pont d’Avignon” (pronounced [syʁ lə pɔ̃ daviɲɔ̃]) (“On the Bridge of Avignon”; Occitan: Sus la pèira d’Avinhon) is a French song about a dance performed on the Pont d’Avignon (officially Pont Saint-Bénézet) that dates back to the 15th century. The dance actually took place under the bridge and not on the bridge (sous le Pont d’Avignon, not sur).[1][2]
Dance description
- The dance starts out with everyone in pairs, dancing around each other.
- When the chorus is done dancers must stop in front of their partners, and traditionally the male will bow on the first part then tip his hat on the second.
- When the chorus begins again the dancers repeat step one.
- When this stops, so does the dance. The girl curtsies to one side, then the other.
- For the first part, dancers repeat step one, and if they have an audience, turn on their heels and bow to them.
Lyrics
Chorus
Sur le pont d’Avignon
l’on y danse, l’on y danse.
Sur le pont d’Avignon
l’on y danse tous en rond.
1. Les beaux messieurs font comme ça,
et puis encore comme ça.
Chorus
2. Les belles dames font comme ça, … Chorus
3. Les filles font comme ça, … Chorus
4. Les musiciens font comme ça, … Chorus
On the bridge of Avignon
they are dancing there, they are dancing there.
On the bridge of Avignon
all dance in circles there.
The fine gentlemen go like this (bow)
and then again like this.
Chorus
The beautiful ladies go like this (curtsy) …
The young girls go like this (salute) …
The musicians go like this (they all bow to women) …
Any number of verses may be invented, depicting other professions or various characters.
Melody
![% Arrangement by Jean-Baptiste Weckerlin [[:fr:s:Sur le pont d’Avignon (Weckerlin 1870)]]
% who uses slightly different words for the verse
header { tagline = ##f }
layout { indent = 0
context { Score
emove "Bar_number_engraver" }
context { Voice
emove "Dynamic_engraver" }
}
global = { key g major ime 2/4 }
chorvoice =
elative c' { global set midiInstrument = "flute"
autoBeamOff set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t empo 4=100
g'8^>f g g4 | a8^> a a4 | b8. c16 d8 g, | fis8. g16 a8 d, |
g8^> g g4 | a8^> a a4 | b8. c16 d8 g, | a fis g r8 bar "||"
}
versevoice =
elative c' { set midiInstrument = "flute"
g'8. g16 g8 g | set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t empo 4=50 a4^> g8 r8 |
empo 4=100 g8. g16 g8 g | empo 4=50 a4^> g8 r8 bar "||" empo 4=100
}
chorlyrics = lyricmode {
Sur le pont d’A -- vi -- gnon,
l’on y dan -- se, l’on y dan -- se.
Sur le pont d’A -- vi -- gnon,
l’on y dan -- se tous en rond. }
verselyrics = lyricmode {
Les mes -- sieurs font comme ça,
les da -- mes font comme ça.
}
chorright =
elative c'' { global set midiInstrument = "vibraphone" mark markup "Allegretto"
<g d b>8pp <g d b> <g d b> r8 | <a fis d> <a fis d> <a fis d> r8 |
<< { b8. c16 d8 g, | fis8. g16 a8 d, } { d4~ d8 s8 | d4~ d8 s8 } >> |
<g d b>8 <g d b> <g d b> r8 | <a fis d> <a fis d> <a fis d> r8 |
<< { b8. c16 d8 g, } { d4~ d8 s8 } >> | <a' e c>8 <fis d c> <g d b>^"Fine" r8 bar "||"
}
verseright =
elative c' { set midiInstrument = "vibraphone"
<g' d>8. <g d>16 <g d>8 <g d> | <a e>4^> <g d>8 r8 |
<g bes,>8. <g bes,>16 <g bes,>8 <g bes,> | <a c,>4^>^"D.C. al fine" <g bes,>8 r8 bar "||"
}
chorleft =
elative c { global set midiInstrument = "vibraphone"
g8p d' g r8 | d, a' d r8 | g8. a16 b8 r8 | << { a8. b16 c8 } { d,4~ d8 } >> r8 |
e,8 b' e r8 | d, a' d r8 | g8. a16 b8 r8 | c, d g r8 bar "||"
}
verseleft =
elative c { set midiInstrument = "vibraphone"
b'8. b16 b8 b8 | c4-> (b8) r8 |
<ees, g>8. <ees g>16 <ees g>8 <ees g> | <ees fis!>4-> (<ees g>8) r8 bar "||"
}
voicepart =
ew Staff
{ clef treble chorvoice versevoice }
addlyrics { chorlyrics verselyrics }
pianopart =
ew ChoirStaff %{ PianoStaff %} <<
ew Staff
{ clef treble chorright verseright }
addlyrics { chorlyrics verselyrics }
ew Staff
{ clef bass chorleft verseleft }
>>
score {
<<
% voicepart % activating this line will create a separate vocal staff above.
pianopart
>>
layout { }
}
score {
{
<<
{ chorvoice versevoice }
{ chorright verseright }
{ chorleft verseleft }
>>
<< chorvoice chorright chorleft >>
}
midi {
context { Score midiChannelMapping = #'instrument }
context { Staff
emove "Staff_performer" }
context { Voice consists "Staff_performer" }
}
}](http://upload.wikimedia.org/score/h/9/h9gdofdal8vyg4pptmvarnu96gxde2d/h9gdofda.svg)
Source[3]
In other media
In 1951, the National Film Board of Canada produced the 5-minute animated film Sur le pont d’Avignon, in which extravagantly dressed marionettes pantomime the song.[4]
In 1992, a cartoon titled The Real Story of … Sur le pont d’Avignon was produced by CINAR and France Animation, featuring the song and a ghost story revolving around a clockmaker and an enchanted organ.[5][6]
Mary Stewart’s 1955 romantic thriller “Madam, Will You Talk?” is set in Avignon and features two of the main characters getting to know each other while on a day trip to “the old bridge of the song … its four remaining arches soaring out across the green water”. They sing the song “in the style of Jean Sablon,” and the child character tells the adult “the story of St. Benezet who confounded the clerics of Avignon, and built the bridge where the angels had told him.”
