Song of the Day: February 3

Les Roses d’Ispahan (Gabriel Fauré/Leconte de Lisle) (1884)

The vast array of amazing art songs could fill years of “songs-of-the day”… the French chansons have a special place in my heart. In particular, j’adore the music of Gabriel Fauré. It is sumptuous but transparent at the same time – the harmonic change in the “B” section (“O Leila…”) gets me every time… harmony completely “one” with melody and lyric. There’s a formality in the poetry and the music at the core of the song, but it is wrapped in fragrance and a subtle sensuous exoticism – the air is scented with its perfume…

Elly Ameling