Reynaldo Hahn, À Chloris

The mélodie of the 19th and early 20th century represents in many ways a French version of German Lieder. German Lieder gained prominence with the rise of Romanticism after the turmoil of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. With the loss of patronage from church and court, important musical developments took place in private homes of the well-to-do. Schubert songs were particularly popular in the Parisian salons and many were translated and adapted into French. French composers had their own vast supply of Romantic poetry as potential song texts and began creating their own songs along the lines of Schubert.

The term mélodie first appeared in the 1820s and it was used to distinguish songs in the style of Schubert from the popular but less complex 18th-century French romance. The mélodie, like Lieder, had more complex texts that required more imaginative musical settings. The accompaniment took on a much more significant role. Still, the style generally conveys a certain simplicity.

Hector Berlioz composed some of the earliest mélodies, but the style was developed primarily by Charles Gounod and later Jules Massenet. Numerous French composers turned to the form: Meyerbeer, Saint-Saëns, Franck, Duparc, Fauré, and Chausson.

Reynaldo Hahn (1874-1947) was born in Venezuela, but moved to Paris with his family at the age of 3 and entered the Paris Conservatory at age 10. With the publication in 1888 of the song “Si mes vers avaient des ailes” on a text by Victor Hugo, the 14-year-old Hahn gained entry into the highest musical circles. Hahn is frequently listed among the prominent composers of operetta and mélodie. He would end his career with a short post-war stint as director of the Paris Opera.

“À Chloris” was written in 1913 on a text by Théophile de Viau (1590-1626). Hahn employs a style reminiscent of the Baroque era with a repeated figure in the bass quoting Bach’s “Air on the G String” (Orchestral Suite No. 3).