An Earthsongs SATB companion piece to J’entends le moulin

Earthsongs has recently published an SATB (with divisi) arrangement by Donald Patriquin of the well-known French folk song V’la l’bon vent, also known as Trois beau canards. As with his J’entends le moulin, there is sufficient redundancy in the form of refrains to lessen the difficulty of a foreign language.

 

This bittersweet, humorous setting features an a cappella verse as well as a parody in which tenors sing in mocking falsetto. The piano part, while not quite as demanding as that of J’entends, is equal in interest to the choral voices. The emotional content of the song moves from the bitter realization that a hunter has shot and killed a young lady’s white swan, through the constant ‘love’ refrains – There the good wind, my love me awaits – to the practical though darkly humorous ending– All its feathers fly with the wind; Three ladies gather them up to make a camp bed for sleeping by all who pass by.

 

 

Mp3 available from the composer.