Reynaldo Hahn

Reynaldo Hahn (born August 9, 1875 in Caracas, Venezuela, died January 28, 1947 in Paris, France) was a naturalised French composer, conductor, music critic and diarist. Best known as a composer of songs, he wrote in the French classical tradition of the mélodie. The fine craftsmanship, remarkable beauty,^[1] and originality of his works capture the insouciance of la belle époque. Image File history File links Reynaldo_Hahn. ... Image File history File links Reynaldo_Hahn. ... August 9 is the 221st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (222nd in leap years), with 144 days remaining. ... 1875 (MDCCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Nickname: La Sultana del Avila (English:The Avilas Sultan) La Sucursal del Cielo (English:Branch of Heaven) Motto: Ave María Santísima, sin pecado concebida, en el primer instante de su ser natural. ... January 28 is the 28th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... -1... Naturalization is the act whereby a person voluntarily and actively acquires a nationality which is not his or her nationality at birth. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... A conductor conducting a band at a ceremony A conductors score and batons Conducting is the act of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Music journalism. ... See Diary (novel) for the novel by Chuck Palahniuk. ... A song is a relatively short musical composition for the human voice (commonly accompanied by other musical instruments), which features words (lyrics). ... Mélodie refers to French art songs of the mid 19th century to today; it is the French equivalent of the German Lied. ... La Belle Époque, or beautiful era, was a period in Frances history that began during the late 19th century and lasted until World War I. Occurring at the midpoint of the Third Republic, the Belle Époque was considered a golden time of beauty, innovation, and peace between France and...

Child Prodigy

Born the youngest of twelve children, Reynaldo's father Carlos was an affluent engineer, inventor, and businessman of German-Jewish extraction; his mother, née de Echenagucia, was a Venezuelan of Basque origin. The increasingly volatile political atmosphere in South America during the 1870s made it wise for his father to retire and leave Venezuela. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Hahn was just three years old when his family moved to Paris, and there is little doubt about the enormous impact this move would make on the future composer. Although he showed interest in his native music of Caracas in his youth, France would "determine and define Hahn's musical identity in later life".^[2] The city and its cultural resources: the Paris Opéra, the Paris Opéra Ballet, the Opéra Comique, in addition to the nexus of artists and writers, must have been an ideal setting for the precocious Hahn. Exterior of the Palais Garnier. ... The Paris Opera Ballet is the ballet company of the Paris Opera. ... Opéra comique is a French style of opera that is a partial counterpart to the Italian opera buffa. ...

A child prodigy, Reynaldo made his "professional" début at the salon of the eccentric beldam Princess de Metternich (Napoleon's niece).^[3] Hahn played the piano accompaniment to his own singing of Jacques Offenbach's arias on this occasion; just a few years later at the age of eight, Hahn would compose his first songs. Napoleon I Bonaparte, Emperor of the French, King of Italy, Mediator of the Swiss Confederation and Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) was a general of the French Revolution, the ruler of France as First Consul (Premier Consul) of the French Republic from... Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (20 June 1819 – 5 October 1880), composer and cellist, was one of the originators of the operetta form, a precursor of the modern musical comedy. ...

Despite the Paris Conservatoire's tradition of antipathy towards child prodigies (Franz Liszt had famously been rebuffed by the school many years before), Hahn entered the school at the age of ten. His teachers included Jules Massenet, Charles Gounod and Camille Saint-Saëns; Alfred Cortot and Maurice Ravel were fellow students. Conservatoire de Paris, or Paris Conservatoire, has been central to the evolution of music in France and Western Europe. ... Portrait of Franz Liszt, painted in 1839 by Henri Lehmann. ... Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (May 12, 1842 - August 13, 1912) was a French composer. ... Categories: Stub | 1818 births | 1893 deaths | Opera composers | Romantic composers | French musicians ... Charles Camille Saint-Saëns () (9 October 1835 – 16 December 1921) was a French composer and performer, best known for his orchestral work The Carnival of the Animals. ... Alfred Denis Cortot (September 26, 1877 – June 15, 1962) was a French pianist and conductor. ... Joseph-Maurice Ravel (March 7, 1875 – December 28, 1937) was a French composer and pianist, known especially for the subtlety, richness, and poignancy of his music and generally considered to be one of the major composers of the 20th century. ...

Si mes vers avaient des ailes

In 1888 Reynaldo composed Si me vers avaient des ailes to a poem by Victor Hugo; it was an instant success when published by Le Figaro. From this exposure and publicity, Hahn came into contact with many leading artists in Paris (in addition to the relationships he cultivated at the Conservatoire). The famed soprano Sybil Sanderson and the writer Alphonse Daudet invited Hahn into their social sphere. Hahn had "a special gift" of attracting "important people to his side".^[4] Victor-Marie Hugo (26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French poet, novelist, playwright, essayist, visual artist, statesman and human rights campaigner, recognized as the most influential Realist writer of the 19th century. ... Le Figaro is one of the leading French morning daily newspapers. ... Sybil Sanderson as Massenets Esclarmonde Sybil Sanderson (1865-1903), born in Sacramento, California, in the United States, was a famous operatic soprano during the Parisian Belle Époque. ... Alphonse Daudet (May 13, 1840 - December 17, 1897) was a French novelist. ...

Like many other French song composers of the time, Hahn was attracted to Hugo's poetry. Many of the hallmarks of Hahn's music are already evident in Si mes vers: the undulating piano accompaniment, the vocal line derived from the patterns and intimacy of speech, the surprising intervals and cadences, the cleverly placed mezza voce, and the sophistication and depth of feeling--all the more impressive because he was only thirteen when he composed it.

Paul Verlaine, another poet whose lyrics inspired many of Reynaldo's most beautiful songs, had on one occasion a chance to hear the young composer's settings of his poems (which Hahn entitled Chansons grises, begun in 1887 when Hahn was twelve years old and finished three years later). The poet "wept to hear Hahn's songs". L'heure exquise, from Chansons, was undoubtedly one of the songs that brought tears to Verlaine's eyes. With its flowing piano accompaniment, gentle melody, and ingenious modulations, Hahn captured the limpid and languid beauty of its text. The poet Stephane Mallarmé, also present, wrote the following stanza: For the Television guitarist and solo artist, see Tom Verlaine. ... Stéphane Mallarmé (March 18, 1842 – September 9, 1898) was a French poet and critic. ...

Le pleur qui chante au language

Du poète, Reynaldo

Hahn, tendrement le dégage

Comme en l'allée un jet d'eau.

Jean Santeuil

Everything I have ever done has always been thanks to Reynaldo.

marcel proust^[5]

By the age of nineteen in 1894, Hahn had written many songs about love; however, his worldly sophistication masked shyness about his own personal feelings. He had close intimate friendships with women, and they were clearly fond of the gallant and charming young composer. Cléopatre-Diane de Mérode, a famous beauty of le beau monde and three years older than Hahn, inspired him to write: "I worship her as a great and perfect work of art". Despite this tribute to her, he reportedly loved her only at a distance his whole life. The famed courtesan Liane de Pougy wrote Hahn pleading love letters, although she knew he could never reciprocate her feelings. Perhaps most telling are personal letters Hahn wrote in which he was frequently critical of homosexuals and homosexuality.^[6] This is understandable considering the epoch in which he lived: the disgrace of Oscar Wilde was to occur shortly. Liane de Pougy [1] (2 July 1869 - 26 December 1950), was a Folies Bergères dancer renowned as one of Pariss most beautiful and notorious courtesans. ... It has been suggested that Wildes Manuscripts be merged into this article or section. ...

1894 was to prove a fateful year for Reynaldo. At the home of artist Madeleine Lemaire, Hahn met an aspiring writer three years older than himself. The writer was the then little-known, "highly strung and snobby" Marcel Proust. They shared a love for painting, literature, and Fauré. They often traveled together and collaborated on various projects. One of those projects, Portraits de peintres (1896), is a work consisting of spoken text with piano accompaniment. Proust redirects here. ... Portrait with oils of Gabriel Fauré by John Singer Sargent, about 1889 (in the Paris Museum of Music) Gabriel Urbain Fauré (May 12, 1845 – November 4, 1924) was a French composer. ...

Reynaldo honed his writing skills during this period, becaming one of the best writers on music and musicians. Seldom appreciating his contemporaries, he instead admired the artists of the past (shown in his portraits of legendary figures). His writing was characterized by a deft skill in depicting small details, much like Proust's.

Proust's unfinished autobiographical novel Jean Santeuil, posthumously published and considered ill-structured, nevertheless shows nascent genius and foreshadows his masterpiece À la recherche du temps perdu. He began to write it in 1895, one year after meeting Hahn (on whom the hero is reportedly based). Although by 1896 they were no longer lovers, they remained lifelong friends and supporters until Proust's death in 1922. In Search of Lost Time (a translation of the original À la recherche du temps perdu) is a 3,000+ page novel in seven books (recently published in six volumes), by French writer Marcel Proust, originally published between 1913 and 1927. ...

Maestro Hahn, Paris Opéra

As a conductor he specialised in Mozart, conducting the initial performances of the Salzburg Festival at the invitation of Lilli Lehmann. He also served, in the 20s and 30s, as general manager of the Cannes Casino opera house. For many years he was the influential music critic of the leading Paris daily, Le Figaro. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (January 27, 1756 РDecember 5, 1791) was one of the most significant and influential of all composers of Western classical music. ... The Salzburg Festival is a prominent music festival in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. ... Lilli Lehmann (1848-1929) was a German operatic soprano. ... Cannes (Canas in Proven̤al) (pronounced ) is a city and commune in southern France, located on the Riviera, in the Alpes-Maritimes d̩partement. ... Mirage Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas. ... An opera house is a building where operas are performed. ... Le Figaro is one of the leading French morning daily newspapers. ...

Forced to leave Paris in 1940 during the Nazi occupation, he returned after the war in 1945 to fulfill his appointment as director of the Paris Opéra. Unfortunately, he died shortly afterwards without executing the reforms for which his supporters had hoped.^[7] Exterior of the Palais Garnier. ...

Le petit maître

His Works

References

1. ^ Taylor, Deems. "Reynaldo Hahn."Music Lovers' Encyclopedia. 5th ed. 1950.
2. ^ Quinn, Michael. "Will the Real Reynaldo Hahn Please Stand Up?." The Gramophone Nov 2004: A15.
3. ^ Quinn, Michael. "Will the Real Reynaldo Hahn Please Stand Up?." The Gramophone Nov 2004: A15.
4. ^ Johnson, Graham (1996). Felicity Lott, Susan Bickley, Ian Bostridge, Stephen Varcoe, Graham Johnson. In "Songs by Reynaldo Hahn" [CD Liner Notes]. London: Hyperion.
5. ^ Quinn, Michael. "Will the Real Reynaldo Hahn Please Stand Up?." The Gramophone Nov 2004: A15.
6. ^ Carter, William C. Marcel Proust. Yale University Press (2000) p. 167.
7. ^ Johnson, Graham (1996). Felicity Lott, Susan Bickley, Ian Bostridge, Stephen Varcoe, Graham Johnson. In "Songs by Reynaldo Hahn" [CD Liner Notes]. London: Hyperion.

External links

• His complete biography en français
• His biography en français
• Another page with his works auf Deutsch