"Chansons grises": No. 5. L'heure exquise

Reynaldo Hahn (1874–1947) was a Venezuelan-born French composer, conductor, and critic who epitomized the elegance of the Parisian Belle Époque.
Born in Caracas, Venezuela, in a family of wealthy German-Jewish businessman. His family moved to Paris when Reynaldo was only three years old. A true child prodigy, Hahn entered the Paris Conservatoire at age ten, where he studied under titans of French music, including Jules Massenet (composition), Charles Gounod, and Camille Saint-Saëns.
By age thirteen, he wrote the song "Si mes vers avaient des ailes," which became an international sensation and remains one of his most famous works.
Hahn became a fixture in the elite Parisian salons, where he would sing his own works while accompanying himself at the piano, often with a cigarette dangling from his lips. In 1894, Hahn met the writer Marcel Proust. The two shared a profound romantic and intellectual relationship that deeply influenced both their careers. Despite the rise of radical modernism (Stravinsky, Schoenberg), Hahn remained a staunch defender of clarity, melody, and restraint, values he maintained throughout his life.
Although a naturalized citizen and a prominent artist, Hahn insisted on serving at the front during World War I, an experience that deeply affected his later outlook. He gained fame as a conductor, particularly of Mozart, and was appointed director of the Paris Opéra after World War II, helping to revitalize the institution after the Nazi occupation.
His music is characterized by a "discreet and refined sensuality," marked by fluid melodic lines and a sophisticated, though never overbearing, harmonic palette.