Les Nuits d’Été Op.7

The
origins of this incomparable song cycle are unclear, despite the many sources
available on Berlioz, including his own prolific writings. Unusually for
Berlioz, the years 1840-1842 are poorly documented and have been called his mystery
years, even though he was busy throughout the period. Information on Les
Nuits d’Été is particularly thin. A manuscript copy of the opening song Vilanelle
is dated March 23^rd 1840 and two songs, Absence and Le
spectre de la rose, were scheduled for a concert in November 1840, though
in the end they were withdrawn. The cycle began as four songs with the other
two added later. The full set was published in the middle of 1841. Later the
Swiss publisher Rieter-Biedermann commissioned Berlioz to orchestrate the
songs.  His friend, the poet and critic Théophile
Gautier [1811-1872], had written the verses, published in 1838.These were
difficult times for the composer: his marriage to Limerick actress Harriet
Smithson was breaking up and he was beginning a relationship with
Spanish/French singer Maria Recio, who performed some of the songs but there is
no evidence of any direct connection between the music and his personal life.