Ex. 12-7: Sérénade d'hiver

No. 4 of Augusta Holmès's Les Sérénades — the winter serenade. Like the others in the set, she wrote both the words and the music. It opens "Viens, ô toi qu'on a fait souffrir" ("Come, you who have been hurt"), and offers warmth and steady love against the cold world. The spring serenade from the same set is also in this app. (Ex. 11-8: Sérénade Printanière by Augusta Holmes)

Holmès was born Augusta Mary Anne Holmes, to Irish parents. When she became a French citizen in 1871, she added an accent to her name — Holmès — so it would be said the French way.

In a time when women composers were not taken seriously, she first published her music under a man's name, Hermann Zenta.

As a woman, she was not allowed to study at the Paris Conservatoire. Her mother had encouraged her painting and poetry, but was against her music.

Her godfather was the poet Alfred de Vigny — and Paris gossip long held that he was really her father.

From the album Visions Illuminées by Mary Bevan and the Twelve Ensemble (2023)
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