Composer

:

Louis Vierne

Genre

:

Vocal

Style

:

Vocal Music

Average_duration

:

2:57

Louis Vierne's "Baudelaire Poems (5), Op. 45: No. 2, Réversibilité" is a song cycle composed in 1916. The cycle was premiered in Paris on May 16, 1917, with the composer himself at the piano and the baritone Maurice Renaud as the soloist. The cycle consists of five songs, each based on a poem by Charles Baudelaire. The second song of the cycle, "Réversibilité," is a setting of Baudelaire's poem of the same name. The poem explores the idea of the reversibility of all things, the idea that everything in the world is interconnected and that everything can be transformed into its opposite. Vierne's setting of the poem is a haunting and atmospheric piece, with a slow and mournful melody that is accompanied by a rich and complex piano part. The song is in a slow 4/4 time signature and is marked "Très lent et expressif" (very slow and expressive). The piano part is written in a dense and complex style, with rich harmonies and intricate figurations that create a sense of depth and complexity. The vocal line is similarly complex, with long phrases and wide intervals that require a skilled and expressive singer. The song is divided into three sections, each of which explores a different aspect of the poem's theme. The first section is marked by a sense of melancholy and introspection, with the singer reflecting on the idea of reversibility and the transience of all things. The second section is more agitated and intense, with the singer expressing a sense of frustration and despair at the idea of the world's constant transformation. The final section returns to the introspective mood of the opening, with the singer reflecting on the beauty and mystery of the world's reversibility. Overall, "Réversibilité" is a powerful and evocative piece of music that captures the mood and themes of Baudelaire's poem with great skill and sensitivity. It is a testament to Vierne's skill as a composer and his ability to create music that is both complex and deeply expressive.

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