Reynaldo Hahn

Pièces

Flee the storms. ' Reynaldo Hahn (1874-1947) put this motto of classical artists at the heart of his music for piano four hands, preferring the balance of proportions to the roar of passions, the eclecticism of good taste, charm and delicacy.

Berceuses falls within the French tradition of children's music such as illustrated by Fauré's Dolly and Ravel's Ma mère l'Oye. These seven pieces evokewith refinement the happiness of a cloudless day, the effervescence that reigns on Christmas Eve, or the gentle syncopated rocking of a young Creole, Selfiana. The Variations puériles sur une mélodie deCarlReinecke manifest a free, whimsical vein, whereas the Trois préludes sur des airs irlandais drink at the pure sources of folk music, borrowing their thematic material from the famous collection Songsof Old Ireland which Stanford had brought out in 1882. Published for the first time from a handwritten score, the Variations sur un thème de Charles Levadé end with a wild quadrille that takes theheroes of the celebration to the nearest inn. The Pièce en forme d'aria et Bergerie from 1896, finely polished, takes up with the ambiance of the pastorale, popular in the 17th century.