For years, I have adored the Chants d’Auvergne, folk songs from the Auvergne region of France in the local language, Occitan. The collector and arranger of these landscape-inspired songs was Auvergne native Joseph Canteloube, who took more than thirty years (1924-1955) to complete his compilation.

“Baïlèro” is one of the most famous of these songs, with lush orchestration and a pastoral theme. After teasing the shepherd and calling out advice for leading the flock to better pasture, the singer raises her final strains: “Shepherd, how will I manage? Over there is the little stream. Call Baïlèro! Wait for me, I am coming! Baïlèro!” 

Let your ears delight in the incomparable Kiri Te Kanawa and the Royal Philharmonic: