Based on a poem by the French great writer Paul Verlaine, L'heure exquise (The exquisite hour) is one of the best known songs of Reynaldo Hahn. Published in 1892, it is the fifth of a group of seven songs entitled Chansons grises (Gray songs). Verlaine often drew inspiration from the delicate paintings of Watteau, which is reflected in his text for this song as well as in Hahn's tender melody. The composer perfectly captures the image of a moon-drenched evening when lovers come together to share "the exquisite hour." The delicate melody line requires the utmost vocal control on the part of the singer and the ability to spin floating high notes at the end of each verse. The poem was also set by Gabriel Faure as "La lune blanche."

L'heure exquise (Paul Verlaine)

La lune blanche luit dans les bois; De chaque branche part une voix Sous la ramée, O bien-aimée! L'étang reflète, profond miroir, La silhouette du saule noir Où le vent pleure, Rêvons, c'est l'heure! Un vaste et tendre apaisement Semble descendre du firmament Que l'astre irise; C'est l'heure exquise!

The Exquisite Hour

The pale moon shines in the forest; From each branch sounds a voice beneath the leaves O my dear love. The pond reflects like a deep mirror The silhouette of the black willow Where the wind moans. Let us dream! it is the hour! A vast and tender serenity, seems to descend From the firmament that glows with the light of the moon . . It is the exquisite hour.

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While Hahn was at the Paris Conservatory he studied composition with Jules Massenet (1842 - 1912), whose influence is clear in these Chansons grises (Songs in Gray)—a cycle of Verlaine settings published in 1893 by Heugel and Company in Paris. These charming songs established Hahn's reputation in Parisian salons and concert halls, where his fine singing voice and piano skills enabled him to perform them solo.

The influence of Massenet insured that Hahn's early songs would be relatively conservative. While at moments Hahn's harmony can be as lush as that of any other French composer, his harmonic progressions are usually reserved and his formal structures traditional. Hahn believed that "only form can give a piece a chance of lasting," which perhaps explains his predilection for the older, repetitive formal structures that we hear in some of the seven Chansons grises.

"Chanson d'Automne" (Song of Autumn), in a poignant C sharp minor, is strophic, with only slight variations in accompaniment between verses; they are separated by a returning piano passage that cadences on the tonic. Throughout, the voice and piano parts are completely independent; the accompaniment at times is nearly nonexistent. "Tous deux" (We Two), in contrast, has a nonstop accompaniment in constant eighth-note motion. There is much greater variation between verses, and by the last verse only the first few measures of the accompaniment create a clear link to the previous verses.

Hahn's predilection for repeated-note melodies, suggested by "Tous deux," is even more apparent in "L'allée est sans fin" (The path is Without End). The narrator, separated from her love, must travel a seemingly endless road to reach him. In yet another sharp key (B major), "L'allée est sans fin" conveys the endless journey through use of a constant B natural pedal tone that changes only when the sun sets. "En sourdine" (With Mutes), in ABA' form, depends more on harmony and recurring accompanimental patterns than on the voice line to delineate its structure. "L'heure exquise" (The Exquisite Hour) was also set by Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924) at about the same time Hahn composed his setting. Fauré's is more famous, but Hahn's has much to recommend it. Verlaine relates a meeting, no doubt secret, of lovers in the woods on a moonlit night. Swirling arpeggios in a fluid 6/8 time traverse several octaves as the song opens with a nearly static melody in a bright B major that suggests intense moonlight. The pattern breaks when the lovers meet, at "O bien aimé." A varied strophic structure emerges as each verse passes, although the refrain-like lines "C'est l'heure" and "C'est l'heure exquise" are set variously

Repeated notes again form the melody in "Paysage triste" (Dreary Landscape), in which rising arpeggios suggest the constant traveling of the weary wanderer as dotted rhythms in the right hand convey his uneven steps. Sturdy block chords in an unchanging C major propel "La bonne chanson" (Good Song), in which a man awaits his fiancée, his melody constantly evolving over returning accompanimental patterns.

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