Ex. 9-12: À Chloris

Composed in 1916, during World War I, to a poem by Théophile de Viau (1590–1626), a French Baroque poet.

Reynaldo Hahn loved to write new music in the style of earlier times. The piano has a distinctive riff. Underneath, the slow, steady bass is modelled on Bach's famous "Air on the G String," so that this 20th-century love song sounds as if it came from the Baroque. It is often called the finest piece of musical "time travel" in French song.

Chloris, in Greek mythology, was a nymph of spring and flowers. The poem is a simple declaration of love: if Chloris truly loves him, he would not envy the gods or their heaven — her love is paradise enough. Hahn wrote this calm, gentle music in the middle of the war, like an escape from the world around him.

Hahn wrote his other famous song, "Si mes vers avaient des ailes," as a boy of about thirteen, and this one in his forties. Both are among his best-known songs. (Ex. 5-10: Si mes vers avaient des ailes by Reynaldo Hahn)

Music video by Léa Desandre and Thomas Dunford (2023)

From the album Idylle by Léa Desandre and Thomas Dunford (2023)
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