Puce Puce Puce is a dark red or purple brown color, a brownish purple or a "dark reddish brown." "Puce" is the French word for "flea". The color is said to be the color of bloodstains on linen or bedsheets, even after being laundered, from a flea's droppings, or after a flea has been crushed. The "Oxford English Dictionary" ("OED") dates the first English use of "puce" as a color to 1778. The name comes from the French word "puce", or flea, which comes from the Latin words for flea, "pulicem" or "pulex". According to the "Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology",
The Song of the Flea in a public recital for the first time, but it is recorded that this song was sung in recitals by Leonova in April and May 1880. The music score of "the Song of the Flea" was published after Mussorgsky's death, in 1983 with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov as the editor. Its orchestration by Igor Stravinsky became available in 1914. "The Song of the Flea" is probably the best known of the 65 or so songs that Mussorgsky composed. It was originally composed for a soprano, but it has been sung by bass singers, such as Feodor Chaliapin. The lyrics used were from