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  3. General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters

qui brode des motifs musicaux

English translation: tapestry of musical motifs /or/ lacing musical motifs over /or/ lacework of...

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:qui brode des motifs musicaux
English translation:tapestry of musical motifs /or/ lacing musical motifs over /or/ lacework of...
Entered by: Lara Barnett

11:48 Apr 16, 2016
French to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters / In An Autobiography
French term or phrase: qui brode des motifs musicaux
Contexte (description of singing that takes place in French Polynesian temples):

Ma grand-mère aimait le perepere, cette voix aïgue (et cet art) qui brode des motifs musicaux au-dessus du chœur.

Merci,

Barbara
Barbara Cochran, MFA
United States
Local time: 01:29
tapestry of musical motifs /or/ lacing musical motifs over /or/ lacework of...
Explanation:
I think "An embroidery of..." might sound a bit clumsy here, so maybe you could go for something related to needlecraft and handwork.:

"With its high-pitched vocal tapestry of musical motifs overlaying the choir/chorus, my grandmother loved the perepere."

or

"With that piercing voice lacing musical motifs over the chorus, my grandmother loved the perepere.""

or

"With its high-pitched vocal lacework of musical motifs overlaying the choir/chorus, my grandmother loved the perepere."

Selected response from:

Lara Barnett
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:29
Grading comment
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +1that weaves musical motifs
Tony M
4tapestry of musical motifs /or/ lacing musical motifs over /or/ lacework of...
Lara Barnett
3stitching (together) musical patterns
John Marston


Discussion entries: 2





  

Answers


11 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
that weaves musical motifs


Explanation:
I guess this is a kind of descant; in any event, I think 'weave' would sound more natural in EN than 'embroiders', even though the latter might better suggest the notion of ornamentation or embellishment.

Personally, I think you'd do well to get right away from any slavishly literal attempt to render the FR structure and try and re-word in a way that will be much more idiomatic in EN.

Tony M
France
Local time: 07:29
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 348

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  writeaway: themes. patterns, motifs. It's up to the person with the text to decide. hard to judge because no one else's opinion really matters/then what's a motif?
2 hrs
  -> Thanks, W/A! Quite — though I think I'd steer clear of 'theme', as to me that suggests too much a specific melody; but it really does need to be part of a whole.
agree  Carol Gullidge: or for something more technically "musical", there's always "embellishment" or "ornamentation". Agree re being too literal, and also with W/A
4 hrs
  -> Thanks, Carol! I'd argue that 'ornamentation' might perhaps be too specifically technical...
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6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
stitching (together) musical patterns


Explanation:
Not wildly different from Tony's suggestion, but this is another grammatical formation anyway. I also feel like the slight harshness of "stitch" matches the description of "voix aigue".

John Marston
United States
Local time: 01:29
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 7

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Tony M: I think 'stitching' suggests too much the idea of 'joining together disparate bits' in a pragmatic way, rather than the joyous art of embroidery; and cf. 'stitching images together' in current technology.
2 hrs
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19 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
tapestry of musical motifs /or/ lacing musical motifs over /or/ lacework of...


Explanation:
I think "An embroidery of..." might sound a bit clumsy here, so maybe you could go for something related to needlecraft and handwork.:

"With its high-pitched vocal tapestry of musical motifs overlaying the choir/chorus, my grandmother loved the perepere."

or

"With that piercing voice lacing musical motifs over the chorus, my grandmother loved the perepere.""

or

"With its high-pitched vocal lacework of musical motifs overlaying the choir/chorus, my grandmother loved the perepere."



Example sentence(s):
  • "The themes are part of a rich TAPESTRY OF MELODIC MOTIFS which come from many periods of Jewish history and are drawn from the various places in the world where Jews have made their home."
  • "...intense techno with a hint of melodies LACED THROUGH did not disappoint."

    Reference: http://www.sinai-temple.org/music/prayermusic.html
    Reference: http://www.cocoon.net/news/130708_cocoon_at_amnesia_review
Lara Barnett
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:29
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 42
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