Aristide Bruant

Biography

He was born in the middle-class, but following reverse of fortune, he becomes apprentice-jeweller at the 17 years age.

He is engaged during the Guerre of 1870 like Franc-tireur, in the company of the " guy of Courtenay".

Demobilized, he works with the Company of the railroads of North. He starts to compose of the songs and with the scene as of 1873 is tested. It enters to the cabaret of the black Chat in 1881. When this last moves of 84, boulevard Rochechouart à la street Massed Victor, it takes it again and baptizes it the Eunuch flute .

The evening of the inauguration, there are only three customers. Depity, it inveighs them. This manner of accommodating the customers made his fame. It orders posters with his friend Toulouse-Lautrec who completes the fame of his cabaret.

It gives up its cabaret in 1895 and leaves in round to France and abroad.

It withdraws little by little song to be devoted to the writing, but continuous to give spectacles, as in 1924 (one year before its death) where it makes a triumph.

Its breadth, its presence in scene, its raucous and powerful voice and its popular songs made of him a monument of the French song. It is one of the Poète S of the Argot of the end of the XIXe century and the beginning of the 20th century. One kept recordings of him dating from the Années 1910.

The majority of the songs of Aristide Bruant were published in a collection entitled “In the street” (1889-1895). Another collection, with music, is appeared towards 1896 - 1897 under the title Chansons and monologs of Aristide Bruant (3 volumes).

He also wrote some plays and signed a dictionary of Argot (carried out mainly by Leon of Bercy):

the Man with the large feet : comic scene.
With the bat' of af' : drama in 8 tables.
Heart of Frenchwoman : drama in five acts and eight tables.
the Slang at the XXe century . French dictionary Slang (1901, then 1905 with a supplement; studied in Delaplace 2004, Bunting and the French argotography , editions Honore Champion.)

He was taken again by many artists, of which Georges Brassens, François Béranger, Renaud, Marc Ogeret…

Some songs

Nini the skin of dog , (written at the time of the 100 years of the storming of the Bastille) perhaps most known:

With the Bastille

One likes

Nini-Skin-with dog:

It is so good and so nice!

One likes

Nini-Skin-with dog,

With the Bastille

With the Drop of Gold

In this time there in chaqu' family,

One bleached of mother as a girl

Maintenant one bleaches encor

With the Gold goutt'. ((a))

Ell' was encor' young lady

Grand-Maman, the beautiful Isabelle

When she married the large Nestor

With the Gold goutt'. ((a))

the Silk worker S , in the collection: On the road

to sing Veni Creator

One needs a gold chasuble.

to sing Veni Creator

One needs a gold chasuble.

We let us weave

For you of it large Church,

And us poor silk workers

let us not have a shirt.

It is us the silk workers,

We are very naked.

It is us the silk workers,

We are very naked.

With Saint-Lazare

It is prison which I write to you my poor Polyte

And if your small mouse likes you answer me quickly

I were made heat the other evening and I declare you

Which I am made a blood which is of a black with Saint-Lazare

External bonds

Two collections of its songs, illustrated by Steinlen and Poulbot: .

The Black Cat Anthology of the poets of the Black Cat

Random links: