Composer

:

Louis Vierne

Genre

:

Vocal

Style

:

Vocal Music

Average_duration

:

3:38

Louis Vierne's "Baudelaire Poems (5), Op. 45: No. 5, Les Hiboux" is a song cycle composed in 1916. The premiere of the work took place on May 16, 1917, at the Salle Gaveau in Paris, with the composer himself at the piano and the baritone Maurice Renaud as the soloist. The song cycle consists of five movements, each based on a poem by Charles Baudelaire. "Les Hiboux" is the fifth and final movement of the cycle. The poem describes a group of owls perched on a branch, observing the world below them with a sense of detachment and disdain. Vierne's setting of the poem captures the eerie and mysterious atmosphere of the scene. The piano accompaniment is sparse and haunting, with dissonant chords and tremolo effects creating a sense of unease. The vocal line is similarly sparse, with long, sustained notes and a slow, deliberate pace that emphasizes the sense of detachment and aloofness in the poem. Despite its brevity (the entire song is only two minutes long), "Les Hiboux" is a powerful and evocative work that showcases Vierne's skill as a composer. The sparse, haunting piano accompaniment and the deliberate, detached vocal line combine to create a sense of otherworldly beauty that perfectly captures the mood of Baudelaire's poem.

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