Description
Cécile Chaminade (1857-1944) was a French composer, and the first female composer to be awarded the Légion d’Honneur. Chaminade’s music is highly accessible and tuneful – very much rooted in both the Romantic and French traditions. She is perhaps best known for her piano works but she also produced numerous songs with piano accompaniment.
In the 1890s Chaminade was enjoying considerable success both on home soil and across the Channel in England. During that period she toured the UK several times premiering her compositions with acclaimed singers. The song Le Noël des Oiseaux (Christmas Carol of the Birds) was published in 1893 and may well have been one of the songs sung at her recitals. The song sets a text by French poet Armand Silvestre (1837-1901) whose work has also been set to music by composers such as Fauré and Delibes.
