Ex. 9-5: Nanny

No. 1 of Chausson's Sept mélodies (Seven Songs, Op. 2), his first published set of songs, composed in 1879–80. The poem is by Leconte de Lisle. It is a lament: the singer calls on the woods and the springs to weep with him for Nanny, the woman he loves, who will never come back.

Nanny is a Scottish woman's name. Leconte de Lisle's poem comes from his Chansons écossaises (Scottish Songs) and is based on "My Nanie's awa" by Robert Burns. Fauré's "Nell" comes from the same set of Leconte de Lisle's Scottish poems and is also in this app. (Ex. 12-6: Nell by Gabriel Fauré) Chausson framed the set with this poet — the last of its seven songs, "Le Colibri" (The Hummingbird), is also by Leconte de Lisle, and it is in this app too. (Ex. 10-7: Le Colibri by Ernest Chausson)

The piano part sets the two hands against each other. In 3/4 time, the right hand falls in groups of four notes to the beat while the left hand rises in threes — a cross-rhythm of four against three.

Chausson came to music late. To please his father, he had studied law, earned a doctorate, and worked briefly as a lawyer, but the profession did not interest him. In 1879, at 24, he entered the Paris Conservatoire to study with Jules Massenet, and privately with César Franck. These early songs date from his first years there.

From the album Néère by Véronique Gens and Susan Manoff (2015)
Spotify