Habanera (music or dance of Havana, Spanish: La Habana) is the popular name for “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle” (“Love is a rebellious bird”), an aria from Georges Bizet’s 1875 opera Carmen. It is the entrance aria of the title character, a mezzo-soprano role, in scene 5 of the first act. It is based on a descending chromatic scale followed by variants of the same phrase in first the minor and then the major key, corresponding to the vicissitudes of love expressed in the lyrics. Despite the change in mode there is no actual modulation in the aria, and the implied pedal point D is maintained throughout; nevertheless, there is no sense of monotony or stasis. The vocal range covers D4 to F♯5 with a tessitura from D4 to D5.
The score of the aria was adapted from the habanera “El Arreglito”, originally composed by the Spanish musician Sebastián Iradier. Bizet thought it to be a folk song. When others told him he had used something written by a composer who had died 10 years earlier, he had to add a note to the vocal score of Carmen acknowledging its source.
The French libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy.
From George Bizet’s Carmen…
4:07 – From 1984; performed by mezzo-soprano Julia Migenes-Johnson
Libretto – Lyrics in parentheses are sung by the chorus.
English below.
[spoken intro]
Quand je vous aimerai ?
Ma foi, je ne sais pas,
Peut-être jamais, peut-être demain…
Mais pas aujourd’hui, c’est certain !
[sung]
L’amour est un oiseau rebelle
Que nul ne peut apprivoiser,
Et c’est bien en vain qu’on l’appelle,
S’il lui convient de refuser.
Rien n’y fait, menace ou prière,
L’un parle bien, l’autre se tait,
Et c’est l’autre que je préfère,
Il n’a rien dit, mais il me plaît.
(L’amour est un oiseau rebelle) L’amour !
(Que nul ne peut apprivoiser,) L’amour !
(Et c’est bien en vain qu’on l’appelle,) L’amour !
(S’il lui convient de refuser.) L’amour !
L’amour est enfant de bohème,
Il n’a jamais, jamais connu de loi,
Si tu ne m’aimes pas, je t’aime,
Si je t’aime, prends garde à toi ! (Prends garde à toi !)
Si tu ne m’aimes pas,
Si tu ne m’aimes pas, je t’aime ! (Prends garde à toi !)
Mais si je t’aime, si je t’aime,
Prends garde à toi !
(L’amour est enfant de bohème,)
(Il n’a jamais, jamais connu de loi,)
(Si tu ne m’aimes pas, je t’aime,)
(Si je t’aime, prends garde à toi !) (Prends garde à toi !)
Si tu ne m’aimes pas,
Si tu ne m’aimes pas, je t’aime ! (Prends garde à toi !)
Mais si je t’aime, si je t’aime,
Prends garde à toi! (Ah, toi !)
L’oiseau que tu croyais surprendre
Battit de l’aile et s’envola,
L’amour est loin, tu peux l’attendre;
Tu ne l’attends plus, il est là !
Tout autour de toi, vite, vite,
Il vient, s’en va, puis il revient,
Tu crois le tenir, il t’évite,
Tu crois l’éviter, il te tient !
(Tout autour de toi, vite, vite,) L’amour !
(Il vient, s’en va, puis il revient,) L’amour !
(Tu crois le tenir, il t’évite,) L’amour !
(Tu crois l’éviter, il te tient !) L’amour !
L’amour est enfant de bohème,
Il n’a jamais, jamais connu de loi,
Si tu ne m’aimes pas, je t’aime,
Si je t’aime, prends garde à toi ! (Prends garde à toi !)
Si tu ne m’aimes pas,
Si tu ne m’aimes pas, je t’aime ! (Prends garde à toi !)
Mais si je t’aime, si je t’aime,
Prends garde à toi !
(L’amour est enfant de bohème,)
(Il n’a jamais, jamais connu de loi,)
(Si tu ne m’aimes pas, je t’aime,)
(Si je t’aime, prends garde à toi !) (Prends garde à toi !)
Si tu ne m’aimes pas,
Si tu ne m’aimes pas, je t’aime ! (Prends garde à toi !)
Mais si je t’aime, si je t’aime,
Prends garde à toi ! (Ah, toi !)
[spoken intro]
When will I love you?
Good Lord, I don’t know,
Maybe never, maybe tomorrow…
But not today, that’s for sure!
[sung]
Love is a rebellious bird
That none can tame,
And it is well in vain that one calls it,
If it suits it to refuse.
Nothing to be done, threat or prayer,
The one talks well, the other is silent,
And it’s the other that I prefer,
He said nothing, but he pleases me.
(Love is a rebellious bird) Love!
(That none can tame,) Love!
(And it is well in vain that one calls it,) Love!
(Because it suits it to refuse.) Love!
Love is a gypsy child,
It has never, never known the law,
If you don’t love me, I love you,
If I love you, be on your guard! (Be on your guard!)
If you don’t love me,
If you don’t love me, then I love you! (Be on your guard!)
But if I love you, if I love you,
Be on your guard!
(Love is a gypsy child,)
(It has never, never known the law,)
(If you don’t love me, I love you,)
(If I love you, be on your guard!) (Be on your guard!)
If you don’t love me,
If you don’t love me, I love you! (Be on your guard!)
But if I love you, if I love you,
Be on your guard! (On guard!)
The bird you hoped to catch
Beat its wings and flew away,
Love is far, you can wait for it;
You no longer await it, there it is!
All around you, swift, swift,
It comes, goes, then it returns,
You think to hold it fast, it flees you,
You think to flee it, it holds you!
(All around you, swift,) Love!
(It comes, goes, then it returns,) Love!
(You think to hold it fast, it flees you,) Love!
(You think to flee it, it holds you!) Love!
Love is a gypsy child,
It has never, never known the law,
If you don’t love me, then I love you,
If I love you, be on your guard! (Be on your guard!)
If you don’t love me,
If you don’t love me, then I love you! (Be on your guard!)
But if I love you, if I love you,
Be on your guard!
(Love is a gypsy child,)
(It has never, never known the law,)
(If you don’t love me, then I love you,)
(If I love you, be on your guard!) (Be on your guard!)
If you don’t love me,
If you don’t love me, then I love you! (Be on your guard!)
But if I love you, if I love you,
Be on your guard! (On guard!)
Originally posted to Spacebook on 16 March 2020