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This is a new recording of my original piano transcription of the song L'Heure Exquise (The Exquisite Hour), by Reynaldo Hahn, a naturalised French composer, born in Venezuela. L'Heure Exquise is from the collection of songs titled '7 Chansons grises'. Songs such as this one deserves a copious amount of romantic rubato. I'm appalled at how dry and metronomic I played this back in 2015!
Combining the voice with the piano accompaniment into a solo piano transcription produces some rather difficult fingering decisions, as the main melody is often shared back and forth between the left and right hand.
This song is a beautiful rare gem, depicting a serene moonlit night: "The white moon shines through the woods; From each branch springs a voice under the boughs... Oh beloved! The pond reflects, in its deep mirror, The silhouette of the black willow where the wind weeps... Let us dream! It is the hour... A vast and tender solace seems to descend from the sky which the star illuminates... It is the exquisite hour."
My favourite version on Youtube, by Ben Bliss (Tenor): https://youtu.be/pl22CLqxwus
