Audio of Baudelaire's Fleurs du Mal

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Fleurs du mal / Flowers of Evil
MP3 Recordings of Baudelaire's Poems

Baudelaire enjoyed reciting poetry. As a youth he was known for declaiming classic French poets and for enthusing over the Romantics. And for many years Baudelaire's own verse was known better for his declamations in cafés than for anything he published, since in fact he published very little poetry until the appearance of Fleurs du mal in 1857.

Many of Baudelaire's friends and contemporaries left descriptions of his reading style.

Ernest Prarod: "J'ai encore dans l'oreille l'accent bas et profond, pénétré, qu'il donnait aux vers de Boileau..." I can still hear the low, deep, penetrating accent he gave to poetry by Boileau...

Jules Buisson: "Il nous les récitait quelquefois inachevées, tantôt chez nous, aux heures avancées de la nuit, avec un grand charme de voix et de diction, tantôt en plein air, en marchant..." He recited his sometimes unfinished poems to us in our homes, late at night, with great charm of voice and diction, or while we were out walking...

Louis Ulbach: "Il commença d'une voix grave, au timbre légèrement vibrant, avec un air ascétique, et il nous récita le poëme..." He began in a serious voice, with a slightly quivering tone, and recited the poem to us...

Jules Levallois: "Il nous récitait d'une voix précieuse, douce, flûtée, onctueuse, et cependant mordante, une énormité quelquonque, le Vin de l'assassin ou la Charogne. Le contraste était réellement saisissant entre la violence des images et la placidité affectée, l'accentuation suave et pointue au débit." It was in a calculated, gentle, musical, sophisticated and yet caustic voice that he recited some masterpiece, the Murderer's Wine or the Carcass. The contrast between his violent images and his affected nonchalance, his suave accentuation, his sharp delivery, was really striking.

Since Baudelaire died in 1867, naturally no one was ever able to record his voice. However, many poets and performers have since given their unique interpretations of his verse, and below you'll find a few samples (all in French) to give you some idea of what Baudelaire's verse can sound like.

Les Fleurs du mal recorded by Eva Le Gallienne & Louis Jourdan (Caedmon Records)

To the Reader / Hear or Read

Elevation / Hear or Read

The Sick Muse / Hear or Read

Past Life / Hear or Read

The Ideal / Hear or Read

Exotic Perfume / Hear or Read

A Phantom / Hear or Read

I give you these verses so if my name... / Hear or Read

Reversibility / Hear or Read

Confession / Hear or Read

Evening Harmony / Hear or Read

Conversation / Hear or Read

The Cats / Hear or Read

The Owls / Hear or Read

The Broken Clock / Hear or Read

Spleen (I have more memories...) / Hear or Read

Spleen (I'm like the king...) / Hear or Read

Spleen (When the sky low and heavy...) / Hear or Read

Obsession / Hear or Read

The Alchemy of Grief / Hear or Read

The Clock / Hear or Read

The Swan / Hear or Read

To a Passerby / Hear or Read

Evening Crepuscule / Hear or Read

The Love of Lies / Hear or Read

Mists and Rains / Hear or Read

Morning Crepuscule / Hear or Read

Destruction / Hear or Read

Love and the Skull / Hear or Read

The Death of Lovers / Hear or Read

The End of the Day / Hear or Read

The Voyage / Hear or Read

Sad Madrigal / Hear or Read

The Fountain / Hear or Read

Sunset of Romanticism / Hear or Read

Meditation / Hear or Read

Epigraph for a Condemned Book / Hear or Read

Treize Poèmes et un Conte recorded by Pierre Viala

Evening Harmony / Hear or Read

Invitation to the Voyage / Hear or Read

The Fountain / Hear or Read

To a Passerby / Hear or Read

The Jewels / Hear or Read

The Balcony / Hear or Read

A Carcass / Hear or Read

The Enemy / Hear or Read

Reversibility / Hear or Read

The Broken Clock / Hear or Read

Autumn Song / Hear or Read

Morning Crepuscule / Hear or Read

Miscellaneous Recordings of Les Fleurs du mal

To the Reader / Source unknown / Hear or Read

Invitation to the Voyage / Recited by Gérard Bucher / Hear or Read

The Beautiful Ship / Composition by French composer Alain Daniel / Read

The Dancing Serpent / Music by Serge Gainsbourg / Hear or Read

The Dancing Serpent / Music by Pierre Bohe / Hear or Read

Le Balcon / Music by Pierre Bohe / Hear or Read

The Vampire / Hear or Read

Courtney Love chanting the Baudelaire poem at the end of a Hole concert. MP3 from moonwashedrose.com. (And thanks to Rose for sending the link.)

The Self-Tormenter / Hear or Read

Performed by Diamanda Galas. From her Divine Punishment / Saint of the Pit CD. Ms. Galas has probably done the most incredible performances of Baudelaire poems in history. For other Baudelaire-related work by Ms. Galas, see her CDs Malediction and Prayer (which includes a version of the poem Abel et Caïn) and The Litanies of Satan.