Hector Berlioz - Irlande, H. 38, Nos. 3, 5 and 6 (1829)

Louis-Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic composer. His output includes orchestral works such as the Symphonie fantastique and Harold in Italy, choral pieces including the Requiem and L'Enfance du Christ, his three operas Benvenuto Cellini, Les Troyens and Béatrice et Bénédict, and works of hybrid genres such as the "dramatic symphony" Roméo et Juliette and the "dramatic legend" La Damnation de Faust.

Please support my channel on
https://Ko-fi.com/bartjebartmans

Irlande, H 38 (1829) Neuf Mélodies irlandaises
Librettist: Thomas Moore (1779–1852), Irish Melodies
Thomas Gounet (1801–69), French translation

III. Chant guerrier, T, B, TBB, pf (H 41) (0:00)
V. Chanson à boire, T, TBB, pf (H 43) (3:56)
VI. Chant sacré, S or T, SSTTBB, pf (H 44A) (7:28)

Laurant Naouri, bass
Choeur Les Éléments conducted by Michel Plasson
David Bismuth, piano

Ireland is the first collection of songs composed by Hector Berlioz on poems by Thomas Moore translated into French by Thomas Gounet in 1829, published in 1830 under the title Mélodies irlandaises and considered to be his op. 2. Several melodies are revised or orchestrated afterwards.

Two melodies, Le Sunset and Le Chant sacré, were performed on 18 February 1830 at a concert at the Athénée musical. They were well received by the public and critics. François-Joseph Fétis showed an approval that "must have seemed ironic to Berlioz, arriving at the moment when he was about to begin the Symphonie fantastique.

The catalogue of Berlioz's works compiled by the American musicologist Dallas Kern Holoman presents successive versions of the Irish melodies, referenced H38[4] :

1. Sunset for tenor and piano (H39)
2. Hélène, ballad for two tenors, baritone and bass, or soprano and alto, and piano (H40A), then for male choir and orchestra (H40B)
3. Chant guerrier, for tenor, baritone, men's choir and piano (H41)
4. La Belle Voyageuse, ballad for tenor and piano (H42A), then for soprano and orchestra (H42B)
5. Drinking Song, for tenor, baritone, men's choir and piano (H43)
6. Sacred Song, for soprano or tenor, six-part choir and piano (H44), then for tenor, six-part choir and orchestra (H44 bis)
7. The Origin of the Harp, Ballad for Soprano or Tenor and Piano (H45)
8. Adieu Bessy, English and French romance for tenor and piano (H46)
9. Elegy in Prose, for tenor and piano (H46)