Debussy's The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian

An English translation of the text of Debussy's mystic work, conducted on the February BBC Music Magazine cover CD by Thierry Fischer

Published: February 20, 2012 at 9:00 am

Debussy

The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian

Gentle people, a moment of silence!

Find yourself in the presence

of God, as in prayer:

because here you will know, by mystery,

the most holy suffering

of this young martyr

who draws his everlasting youth

from the fountain of his blood.

Very gentle people, hear sounds and songs.

We ask, in the name of

Saint Denis and the Oriflamme.

Then look how blue the sky is,

How red the blood, in the name of God,

For the salvation of your soul.

First Mansion

The Court of Lilies

Prélude

The Twins, Mark and Marcellian

Brother, what will the world be like without our love?

In my soul, your heart lies heavy

like a stone in a catapult.

I feel its weight; I throw it from the darkness towards the light

Brother, what will the world be like without our love?

I was gentler than the dove,

You are redder than the surroundings.

Always, never! Never, always!

Iron does not scare you, fire cannot tame me.

Beloved Christ, what will the world be like without our love?

Narrator (the Saint)

If I am worthy to serve your Son, the Martyr of martyrs;

If I am given from the Lord Christ

this stigmata of his pain

in my strong hand

Adonai, God of the invincible cohorts,

grant, grant, this prayer, which is sharpened

by the iron of the last arrow.

I aim.

My God, If I am worthy,

I ask you to give me a sign.

- We no longer see the arrow!

- Silence!

- It’s going to fall!

- No, it doesn’t fall!

- The arrow does not fall.

Glory, O Christ the King

And now I disarm myself!

I am the Archer with a sure aim.

Remember, I am the target.

Remember that terrible hope and that I will be worthy to ask God for the most dazzling signs.

Chorus (The archers of Emesa)

Sebastian! Sebastian! Sebastian!

Narrator (the Saint)

My brothers, my brothers, I hear

The melody of holy combat,

The divine choir of the seven scourges,

The annunciation of the heavens,

And the march of the new god

Alongside the new man,

And the ends of the earth

Trembling like the edges of a banner unfurling,

And the thunder in the tombs which unites

Dead souls to their bones.

Chorus (The archers of Emesa)

Sebastian! Sebastian! Sebastian!

You are a witness!

Narrator (The Saint)

Blow, Blow,

Quickly, with the forge’s bellows!

So that the flame shoots up, so that the sparks

Fly like intoxicated bees, so that the fervour becomes

Seven times more fervent, O Archers,

Archers, if you ever loved me!

I would have bare feet and legs,

Like the agile grape-picker

Who learns to tread the red grapes

In the steaming bowl!

I will dance higher, higher

Than the flame, seven times higher,

I say to you.

Killers, see, I disarm myself.

I put down my bow, throw my arrow behind me,

give up my harness. See, I shimmer with joy like at the start of a battle when the spirits in my heart jangle like the spears in the quiver.

I am ready, I am ready!

My feet are bare for the dew of Christ,

And my knees are bare for the wonderful transformation.

O Gemini, harmonious sound of the double flute, arms of the great lyre,

Sing the glory of Christ,

Brothers, what would the world be without our love?

Oh sweet miracle, sweet miracle!

The lily! The lily!

Ecstatic Dance of Sebastian on the Live Coals

The Twins, chorus

Sing praises, all the shadows are fading.

God is and always will be God.

Celebrate his name with fire.

Sing of his gracious works.

Praise his works in all places

Spread his mysterious name.

Narrator (the Saint)

I dance in the heat of the burning lilies.

Glory, O Christ the King!

I tread in the whiteness of the lilies.

Glory, O Christ the King!

I press the soft lilies.

Glory, O Christ the King!

My feet are naked in the dew!

I love you, King.

It is as if my soul

Were made with willow leaves,

It is as if my veins

Were made of music and the dawn!

It’s as if I were shaking off

A frost of sonorous stars.

I love you, King.

Chorus Seraphicus

Hail! O Light,

light of the world,

Cross, broad and deep,

Sign of victory,

And palm of glory,

And tree of life!

Narrator (the Saint)

I hear another song.

I hear the seven eternal lutes.

The lilies produce all the light,

They compose the whole melody.

You cut them back, and they re-grow.

You break them, they rise again.

Their stem is imperishable.

See, see! They look at me

Like angels covering their eyes

For the terrified.

Chorus Seraphicus

Here are the seven witnesses of God,

Who lead the passionate fighters.

All the heavens sing!

Second Mansion

The Magic Chamber

Prélude

Narrator (The Saint)

I’ve found the exit. The byways

Are unclear. Don’t stray!

The gates! The gates! I am going

to tear them off their sealed hinges.

Who are you? You are

Shackled to the work of charmers,

Magicians.

The Virgin Erigone

I was mowing the ears of corn,

Forgetting the asphodel.

My soul, under the mild skies,

Was sister of the swallow;

My shadow was like a wing,

Which I trailed in the harvested fields,

And I was the Virgin,

faithful to my shadow and my song.

Narrator (the Saint)

Guardian of the closed gate, enchanted creature, listen!

I want you to open for me.

Phantom, phantom of charms, I call on you.

I will break down the gate; and the King of glory will enter.

Unknown messenger, created

Or not created,

I salute you. I bow before you.

I vouch for my spirit; I vouch for my

Eternal love. Unseal

the cross of your arms and

reveal the imprint of the Divine Body.

See his bloodstained body,

See the horror of his torture!

Alas, cry, cry for your crimes!

He was killed for our sins.

God, make us the same as your body!

God, come back to us in death!

Love, that I will be sated!

Lord Love, here is my life.

Vox Coelestis

Who cries for my child so sweet,

my lily, born in pure flesh?

He is radiant on my knees,

He is without blemish or injury.

See. And in my hair

All the stars praise his clarity.

From his face he illuminates

my sorrow and the summer night.

Third Mansion

The Council of the False Gods

Fanfares

Narrator (the Saint)

César, I already have my crown,

I don’t fear iron.

I have no other art than prayer.

César, know that I have chosen my god.

Only Christ shines, the Unique One!

With his hand he governs the force of

the empty skies like the sailor

controls the sail.

Between you and the day, he is there.

Between you and the dead sun,

He is there, the Unique One.

Musicians (zither players)

Paean, Golden Lyre, Silver Bow.

Lord of Delos and of Sminthe,

Great king crowned with light,

Paean! O Apollo!

Narrator (the Saint)

Stop! Stop,

O zither players,

Celebrating a demon who no longer has a chariot,

Nor arrows, who no more has the nerves

for the lyre and the bow, no more

crown to hide his shame. Silence! Silence!

César, listen to the other lyre.

I will not sing my praises.

Ah! I have too much love on my lips

To sing; and my heart strangles me

Until I can hear it no more. That he would remember you, César!

For your wise men and your believers.

I will dance the passion

Of this young Asiatic man,

Of this tortured prince;

César, look. And remember

The star which was nailed to the living heart of the heavens,

as a token of

the radiant word

spoken by the Anointed One.

You will know this.

Narrator (the Saint)

Have you seen him, the one who I love?

Have you seen him?

Then he said: ‘My soul is sorrowful

until death. Rest here

And watch.’ And he knelt

and prayed. ‘Take this cup from me, Lord.

Nevertheless, not as I want,

But how you want.’

The Women of Byblos

Ah! You weep for the beloved!

You weep for the archer of Lebanon.

O sisters! O brothers!

Alas! You weep for Adonis!

He is dying, the beautiful Adonis!

He is dead, the beautiful Adonis!

Women, weep!

See the beautiful adolescent

Lying in purple blood.

Give him balms and incense.

Vox Sola

‘I suffer,’ he moaned. Listen!

‘I suffer! What have I done?

I suffer and I bleed.

The world is red with my torment.

Ah! What have I done? Who beat me?

I breathe my last breath, I die – O beauty!

I die, but to be reborn forever.’

The Woman of Byblos

Adonis! Adonis!

Alas! Weep! Weep!

Narrator (The Saint)

Who is the young man sitting at the entrance of the sepulchre?

You are looking for the crucified man,

And why are you searching for the living among the dead?

He is there, stood before us. He says:

Do not weep any more.

Vox Sola

Stop, o mourners!

The world is Light, as he says.

He will live as god, virgin and young man, flourishing!

He is reborn, he is renewed.

O twin brother of the seasons, arise!

Death is immortal, god, by your blood.

The Woman of Byblos

The god, there is the god!

He has arisen.

Chorus

Chorus of Syrians

Lo! Lo! Adonis!

O sisters, o brothers, rejoice!

The Lord is resurrected!

He leads the dance of the stars.

Lo! Lo! Let down your hair,

Lo! Lo! Unknot your belts, women!

From darkest Hades, where our souls go,

He comes back to us, the Blessed One!

Narrator (the Saint)

Help, lord! In my support,

My spirit, my flame, my King!

César, the evil one.

I have broken your idol, I have broken

Your gold, like you yourself will be broken,

You will be trampled on.

In truth I say to you,

Jesus will glorify me.

Christ and I, we are One.

Eternal Glory!

Christ reigns! You are only mud.

Death is life.

Chorus of Syrians

He is dead, the beautiful Adonis!

Weep! Weep!

He descends towards the black gates.

All that is beautiful, the gloomy Hades takes.

Lower the torches.

Eros! Weep! Weep!

Fourth and Fifth Mansions

The Wounded Laurel

Prélude

Narrator (the Saint)

César said: ‘Take him

To the wood of Apollo; tie him

To the trunk of the most beautiful of the laurel trees;

Then unleash on his naked body your arrows

Until you empty your quivers

Until his body is like that of a wild hedgehog.

Yes, my archers, this is what I want.

I must fulfil my destiny,

I must be killed by the hands of men,

Your hands… your brotherly hands.

O trembling of my soul!

I feel that my soul and the tree tremble

To the bottom of the most hidden roots.

Do you not see the three startled women?

The three veiled women who are sitting at the foot of the altar.

They are quivering. I see them.

He is here, the shepherd. Look.

He carries a sheep around his neck,

on his shoulders.

My blood starts to flow, in the shadow that believes.

Draw near.

Night is falling. You must look closely, closely, to make a good hit.

Do not tremble, do not cry!

But be intoxicated! Be intoxicated

with blood, like in battle.

Aim carefully. I am the Target.

From the depths, from the depths

I call forth your terrible love.

Be the first! Blessed will be the first star!

Your love!

Your love!

Eternal love!

Chorus of Syrians

Alas! Alas!

Ah! Weep, o women of Syria.

Weep: ‘Alas, my Lord!’

All the flowers have withered.

He goes to the pale prairie!

Weep! Cry!

He descends towards the black gates.

All that is beautiful, the gloomy Hades takes.

Lower the torches.

Eros! Weep! Weep!

Paradise

Interlude

Chorus of Martyrs

Glory! Let our wounds shine beneath our armour.

Who is coming?

The lily of the cohort,

Its stem is the strongest

Praise the name it bears: Sebastian!

Chorus of Virgins

You are praised

Faraway, star speaks to star

And says one name: yours.

God crowns you.

All the night, like a drop that dissolves on your forehead, Sebastian.

Chorus of Apostles

You are a Saint. Whoever says your name

Will see the son of man.

Whoever holds you in his heart will shine with your grace.

John gives you his place,

You will drink from his cup, Sebastian.

Chorus of Angels

You are beautiful. Take six angel wings,

And scale the heights

Of music’s fires

Sing a new hymn

To the heaven which is studded with

Your immortal wounds,

Sebastien.

The Soul of Sebastian

I come, I rise.

I have wings.

Everything is white.

My blood is the manna

That whitens the desert of Sin.

I am the drop and the spark of life.

I am a soul, Lord,

A soul in your soul.

Chorus of All Saints

Praise the Lord for the immensity of his strength.

Praise the Lord on the dulcimer and organ.

Praise the Lord on the sistrum and the cymbal

Praise the Lord on the flute and the zither.

Alleluia.

Translation by Rebecca Franks

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