Lyrics from Alceste
Overture
ACT I
Grand Entree
Recitativo — Tenor
Ye happy people, with loud accents speak
Your grateful joy in Hymenean verse;
Admetus and Alceste claim the song.
Soli and Chorus
Triumph, Hymen, in the pair;
Thus united,
Thus delighted,
Brave the one, the other fair."
Solo and Chorus
Still caressing and caress'd,
Ever blessing, ever blest,
Live the royal happy pair.
This is, valour, thy reward,
This, o beauty, the regard,
Kind Heav'n pays the virtuous fair.
Aria — Tenor
Ye swift minutes as ye fly,
Crown them with harmonious joy!
Let soft quiet, peace and love
Still each happier hour improve.
While as day each day succeeds,
Lovely and heroic deeds
In fair virtue's path alone
Add a lustre to the throne.
Ye swift minutes as ye fly,
Crown them with harmonious joy!
Chorus
O bless, ye powers above,
The bridegroom and the bride,
Whose willing hands
Hath Hymen ty'd
In Love's eternal bands.
Ye little gods of love,
With roses strew the ground,
And all around
In sportive play
Proclaim the happy day.
[ACT II or III?]
Calliope's Song
Admetus sleeping.
Aria — Soprano [first version]
Gentle Morpheus, son of night,
Hither speed thy airy flight!
And his weary senses steep
In the balmy dew of sleep.
That, like Phoebus, blithe and gay,
He may rise
With surprise,
And retake the cheerful day.
Gentle Morpheus ... (Da Capo.)
Aria — Soprano [final version]
Gentle Morpheus, son of night,
Hither speed thy airy flight!
And his weary senses steep
In the balmy dew of sleep.
That when bright Aurora's beams
Glad the world with golden streams,
He, like Phoebus, blithe and gay,
May retaste the healthful day.
Gentle Morpheus ... (Da Capo.)
ACT IV
Scene, The River Styx.
Charon, Aria — Basso
Ye fleeting shades, I come
To fix your final doom!
Step in both bad and good;
And tilt it o'er the flood;
To Pluto's dreary shore
I'll waft you safely o'er
With this my ebon pole
Tho' high the waters roll.
The monarch and the slave
Alike admission have,
Nor can I brook delay;
Haste, haste, ye shades, away!
Ye fleeting shades ... (Da Capo.)
Chorus in Pluto's Palace
Thrice happy who in life excel,
Hence doom'd in Pluto's courts to dwell,
Where ye immortal mortals reign,
Now free from sorrow, free from pain.
To Alceste
Aria — Tenor [Pluto?]
Enjoy the sweet Elysian grove,
Seat of pleasure, seat of love;
Pleasure that can never cloy,
Love the source of endless joy.
Thus, thou unpolluted shade,
Be thy royal virtues paid.
Enjoy ... (Da Capo.)
Chorus
Thrice happy ... (Da Capo.)
[Another Scene]
Calliope sings to Admetus
Aria — Soprano [first version]
Come Fancy, empress of the brain,
And bring the choicest of thy train
To soothe the widow'd monarch's pain!
Let fair Alceste still display
Her charms, as on the bridal day.
Come Fancy ... (Da Capo.)
Aria — Soprano [final version]
Come Fancy, empress of the brain,
And bring the choicest of thy train
To soothe the widow'd monarch's pain!
Close by his side
In mimic pride
Let fair Alceste still display
Her charms, as on the bridal day.
Come Fancy ... (Da Capo.)
[Finale Scene]
Symphony
Before and during the entry of Alcides [Hercules]
Recitativo — Tenor (Attendant)
He comes, he rises from below,
With glorious conquest on his brow.
Chorus
All hail, thou mighty son of Jove!
How great thy pow'r! how great thy love!
Fiends, Furies, Gods, all yield to thee,
And Death hath set his captive free.
All hail ... (Da Capo.)
Sinfonia
Recitativo — Tenor (Apollo)
From high Olympus' top, the seat of God,
Descend Apollo and his tuneful choir,
With all their sportive train, to celebrate
Thy great and gen'rous triumph, son of Jove,
And hail Admetus with his happy bride.
Sing ye, ye shepherds, sing, and tread the ground
In mazy dances, and let shouts of joy.
Return in echo from the vaulted sky.
Aria — Tenor [Apollo]
Tune your harps, all ye Nine,
To the loud-sounding lays,
While the glad nations join
In the great victor's praise!
Sing his praise, sing his pow'r,
That in the joyful hour
Bless'd our monarch's arms
With the fair in all her charms.
(Segue il Ballo.)
Ballo Primo
L'ultimo Ballo
Chorus
Triumph, thou glorious son of Jove,
Triumph, happy pair, in love!
Valour's prize, virtue's claim,
Endless love, eternal fame!
FINIS
[Additional, or rejected, Air:]
Aria [ — Soprano] (Syren)
Thetis bids me hither fly
With this treasure of the main,
Emblem of the circling joy
That shall crown thy blissful reign.
ACT I
Grand Entree
Recitativo — Tenor
Ye happy people, with loud accents speak
Your grateful joy in Hymenean verse;
Admetus and Alceste claim the song.
Soli and Chorus
Triumph, Hymen, in the pair;
Thus united,
Thus delighted,
Brave the one, the other fair."
Solo and Chorus
Still caressing and caress'd,
Ever blessing, ever blest,
Live the royal happy pair.
This is, valour, thy reward,
This, o beauty, the regard,
Kind Heav'n pays the virtuous fair.
Aria — Tenor
Ye swift minutes as ye fly,
Crown them with harmonious joy!
Let soft quiet, peace and love
Still each happier hour improve.
While as day each day succeeds,
Lovely and heroic deeds
In fair virtue's path alone
Add a lustre to the throne.
Ye swift minutes as ye fly,
Crown them with harmonious joy!
Chorus
O bless, ye powers above,
The bridegroom and the bride,
Whose willing hands
Hath Hymen ty'd
In Love's eternal bands.
Ye little gods of love,
With roses strew the ground,
And all around
In sportive play
Proclaim the happy day.
[ACT II or III?]
Calliope's Song
Admetus sleeping.
Aria — Soprano [first version]
Gentle Morpheus, son of night,
Hither speed thy airy flight!
And his weary senses steep
In the balmy dew of sleep.
That, like Phoebus, blithe and gay,
He may rise
With surprise,
And retake the cheerful day.
Gentle Morpheus ... (Da Capo.)
Aria — Soprano [final version]
Gentle Morpheus, son of night,
Hither speed thy airy flight!
And his weary senses steep
In the balmy dew of sleep.
That when bright Aurora's beams
Glad the world with golden streams,
He, like Phoebus, blithe and gay,
May retaste the healthful day.
Gentle Morpheus ... (Da Capo.)
ACT IV
Scene, The River Styx.
Charon, Aria — Basso
Ye fleeting shades, I come
To fix your final doom!
Step in both bad and good;
And tilt it o'er the flood;
To Pluto's dreary shore
I'll waft you safely o'er
With this my ebon pole
Tho' high the waters roll.
The monarch and the slave
Alike admission have,
Nor can I brook delay;
Haste, haste, ye shades, away!
Ye fleeting shades ... (Da Capo.)
Chorus in Pluto's Palace
Thrice happy who in life excel,
Hence doom'd in Pluto's courts to dwell,
Where ye immortal mortals reign,
Now free from sorrow, free from pain.
To Alceste
Aria — Tenor [Pluto?]
Enjoy the sweet Elysian grove,
Seat of pleasure, seat of love;
Pleasure that can never cloy,
Love the source of endless joy.
Thus, thou unpolluted shade,
Be thy royal virtues paid.
Enjoy ... (Da Capo.)
Chorus
Thrice happy ... (Da Capo.)
[Another Scene]
Calliope sings to Admetus
Aria — Soprano [first version]
Come Fancy, empress of the brain,
And bring the choicest of thy train
To soothe the widow'd monarch's pain!
Let fair Alceste still display
Her charms, as on the bridal day.
Come Fancy ... (Da Capo.)
Aria — Soprano [final version]
Come Fancy, empress of the brain,
And bring the choicest of thy train
To soothe the widow'd monarch's pain!
Close by his side
In mimic pride
Let fair Alceste still display
Her charms, as on the bridal day.
Come Fancy ... (Da Capo.)
[Finale Scene]
Symphony
Before and during the entry of Alcides [Hercules]
Recitativo — Tenor (Attendant)
He comes, he rises from below,
With glorious conquest on his brow.
Chorus
All hail, thou mighty son of Jove!
How great thy pow'r! how great thy love!
Fiends, Furies, Gods, all yield to thee,
And Death hath set his captive free.
All hail ... (Da Capo.)
Sinfonia
Recitativo — Tenor (Apollo)
From high Olympus' top, the seat of God,
Descend Apollo and his tuneful choir,
With all their sportive train, to celebrate
Thy great and gen'rous triumph, son of Jove,
And hail Admetus with his happy bride.
Sing ye, ye shepherds, sing, and tread the ground
In mazy dances, and let shouts of joy.
Return in echo from the vaulted sky.
Aria — Tenor [Apollo]
Tune your harps, all ye Nine,
To the loud-sounding lays,
While the glad nations join
In the great victor's praise!
Sing his praise, sing his pow'r,
That in the joyful hour
Bless'd our monarch's arms
With the fair in all her charms.
(Segue il Ballo.)
Ballo Primo
L'ultimo Ballo
Chorus
Triumph, thou glorious son of Jove,
Triumph, happy pair, in love!
Valour's prize, virtue's claim,
Endless love, eternal fame!
FINIS
[Additional, or rejected, Air:]
Aria [ — Soprano] (Syren)
Thetis bids me hither fly
With this treasure of the main,
Emblem of the circling joy
That shall crown thy blissful reign.
Translation:
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