Madrigal (Fauré)

[n 1] This one, titled "Pour un chœur alterné" by the author, is from Silvestre's 1878 collection, La chanson des heures.

With its theme of young men and women accusing each other of selfishness and cruelty in affairs of the heart, Fauré set it as a mischievous wedding present for his friend and ex-pupil André Messager, who was the dedicatee.

The pianist and scholar Graham Johnson comments that the song has "the wittiness and suggestiveness of a speech by the best man at a wedding.

[4] Fauré later incorporated the song in its orchestral form into his incidental music to Masques et bergamasques (1919).

[5] (Les jeunes gens) Inhumaines qui, sans merci, Vous raillez de notre souci, Aimez !

(Les jeunes filles) Sachez, amoureux inconstants, Que le bien d'aimer n'a qu'un temps.