Translated simply as "A Deep Black Sleep", this setting of a poem by Paul Verlaine for voice and piano from 1906, written when Varèse was a composition student of Widor's, is the earliest of his published works to survive. This original version of the piece is heard on this CD performed lovingly and with a touch of mystery by soprano Mireille Deutsch accompanied by pianist François Kerdoncuff. A recent orchestration of this song by Antony Beaumont was commissioned by conductor Riccardo Chailly and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra who perform it in an appropriately deep brooding style on this CD. The soprano soloist is again Mireille Deutsch, who delivers a somewhat more dramatic interpretation than in the more intimate original chamber piece. The tempo begins much slower in the orchestration seemingly in order to accommodate the deep resonances of the low string basses and gongs on the main three note motive, which are soon joined by thick, impressionist open-fifths in the higher strings and horns.

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