Ex. 11-9: L'Heure exquise

No. 5 from Hahn's Chansons grises (Grey Songs), his first important song cycle, composed between 1891 and 1892. Published in 1893 when Hahn was only 19. The cycle sets seven poems by Verlaine drawn from four different collections.

The title Chansons grises comes from Verlaine's poem "Art poétique": "Rien de plus cher que la chanson grise / Où l'Indécis au Précis se joint" (Nothing is dearer than the grey song / Where the Vague joins the Precise).

It was while performing the Chansons grises at Mme Lemaire's salon in the spring of 1894 that Hahn met Marcel Proust, who was among the guests. The two became close companions, and Proust later drew on Hahn's world in his novel In Search of Lost Time.