The "Chanson perpétuelle", Op. 37 is a mélodie by

Ernest Chausson Amédée-Ernest Chausson (; 20 January 1855 – 10 June 1899) was a French Romantic composer who died just as his career was beginning to flourish. Life Born in Paris into an affluent bourgeois family, Chausson was the sole surviving child of a ...

, written in December

1898 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, B ...

. It is one of the major

vocal The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production i ...

- orchestral works of Chausson, along with the ''

Poème de l'amour et de la mer The ''Poème de l'amour et de la mer'' (literally, ''Poem of Love and the Sea''), Op. 19, is a song cycle for voice and orchestra by Ernest Chausson. It was composed over an extended period between 1882 and 1892 and dedicated to Henri Duparc. C ...

''. Besides the better-known version for

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

and orchestra, Chausson also wrote a version for soprano, piano and

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...

. The text comes from a poem by Charles Cros, describing the suffering of an abandoned woman. It is the last completed work by Chausson, as he left his

String Quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...

, Op. 35, unfinished. The work was dedicated to the singer

Jeanne Raunay Jeanne Richomme Raunay (25 November 1868 – 1942) was a French mezzo-soprano opera singer. She was also the daughter of painter Jules Richomme, and the wife of French writer André Beaunier. Early life Jeanne Richomme was born in Paris, the ...

, who gave the premiere on January 28 or 29, 1899. Half a year later, Chausson himself died in an accident. The score was not published until 1911. A performance of the ''Chanson'' lasts about six or seven minutes.

External links

Text of the poem, with translations
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chanson perpetuelle Compositions by Ernest Chausson 1898 compositions Mélodies Music based on poems