Reynaldo Hahn (1875-1947)

TRANSCRIPTION

Ce mardi

Monsieur,

Kadour Hamoud est ébloui par la formule "et une personne l'accompagnant". Comme il est Arabe, et que le violoncelliste qui devait partir ne part pas, Kadour Hamoud pourra s'imaginer qu'il est "accompagné" par quelque houri du Paradis de Mahomet.

Merci encore et tous mes meilleurs sentiments.

Reynaldo Hahn

Transcription and notes provided by D.B., Paris.

TRANSLATION

Addressee:    Monsieur Masure⁴
                    Compagne du P.L.M.⁵
                    rue St. Lazare 88⁶
                    Paris

9 Rue Alfred de Vigny⁷

This Tuesday

Sir,

Kadour Hamoud⁸ is dazzled by the description "and a person accompanying him." As he is Arabic and since the cellist that was to leave is not leaving, Kadour Hamoud will be able to imagine that he is "accompanied" by some houri⁹ from Mohammed's paradise, Thanks again and all my best feelings.

Reynaldo Hahn

NOTES:

1) Clearly this letter was written by two different people. Compare the letter "H" in "Hamoud" (first line) with the "H" in Hahn's signature. Hahn's signature was compared to his signature on another letter (not in this collection) and it appears authentic. The body of the letter was written in an unknown hand [Hamoud's(?)], which is quite angular and bold compared to Hahn's rounder and smoother script.

2)  The Malesherbes post office, where this letter was posted, was very close to the rue de Vigny and the Parc Monceau in the opulent neighborhood where Hahn lived.

3) March 2, 1909 was a Tuesday

4) An employee, perhaps an executive, of the PLM

5) The Chemin de Fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée was more often known as Chemins de Fer PLM or simply CF PLM. It connected Paris to Lyon and the Mediterranean coast. In the late 1850s, the PLM was one of six large private railroads, each having a regional monopoly in one area of France: The Nord, Est, Ouest, Paris-Orléans, Midi, and the Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée (PLM). These six railroads effectively divided France into strict corridors of control. Naturally, they all connected to Paris, but each line ran like wheel spokes as isolated lines that did not link together anywhere else in the country.

6) In the 8th arrondissment, adjacent to the Gare St. Lazare

7) In the 8th arrondissment, near the Courcelles Metro station

8) An acquaintance, perhaps more, of Hahn's.

9)  houri - (hoo´rē) [Arabic = black-eyed], one of the beautiful maidens said by some Muslims to dwell in paradise for the enjoyment of the faithful. The passages in the Qur'an [Koran] detailing the physical delights of heaven are considered by many Muslim critics as allegorical. (Source: Encyclopedia.com)

ABOUT THE COMPOSER

Reynaldo Hahn was born in Caracas, Venezuela, on August 9, 1875 and was taken to Paris at three. Among his teachers were Dubois and  Massenet. He served in the military during World War I. He wrote much incidental music, songs, operettas, and orchestral works in the French classical song tradition. His works include "Si mes vers avaient des ailes," composed at age 13, "A Chloris," an homage to Bach; and  "Quand la nuit n'est pas etoilée" based on Victor Hugo's text. Hahn dedicated his opera L'Ile de rêve (1898) to Massenet. As a conductor he specialized in Mozart operas. He was also the first lover of writer Marcel Proust whom he met in 1894. Their relationship lasted two years, but they remained friends.  Massenet dedicated his song Petite Mireille to Hahn. Hahn was at his best as a composer of operetta. Three of his best are Brummel (1931), Maliva (1935) and Ciboulette (1923). In 1945 he became a director of the Paris Opéra "where he revived Massenet's opera Hérodiade on March 9, 1945, some weeks before Hitler committed suicide in the Berlin chancellery." (D. Irvine, Massenet, p. 247) He died in Paris January 28, 1947. He was buried at Cimetière du Père Lachaise, Paris.

REV:1/18/2006

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