Hahn Reynaldo. Portraits de peintres. Pour piano

Paris: Heugel&Cie, 1896. — 19 p.4 pieces: Albert Cuyp, Paulus Potter, Anton Van Dyck, Antoine Watteau.
The four poems were on the Dutch painters Aelbert Cuyp (1620-1691) and Paulus Potter (1625-1654), the Flemish painter Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641), and Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721). These painters of distinctly different styles and themes, Cuyp with his paintings of the Dutch countryside, Potter and his animal paintings, the court paintings of van Dyck, and the colour-soaked paintings of Watteau spurred the young Proust to capture in words the images he loved.
These musical portraits based on literary portraits of a painter’s work and style are unique. They’re almost like incidental music but for both a text and an image. Since Proust does mention specifics of some of the paintings we can match them up with representative works for each subject.
We open with a work by Aelbert Cuyp, known for his landscapes. In his poem, Proust specifically calls out the sinking sun in the background, the flight of pigeons, and a rider with a pink feather in his cap.
Proust turns his attention to Cuyp’s compatriot, Paulus Potter. Known for his animal paintings, Potter places people in the backgrounds, if they appear at all. Proust calls out the lack of colour, the bare ground, a plowman with a bucket, and the resigned mare who stands and waits, dreaming.
Anthony van Dyck was the fashionable court painter for the Netherlands and Italy before going to England at the request of Charles I to be the main court painter. The relaxed elegance of his works is reflected in Proust’s poem, which describes his beautiful language of posture and poses. Proust mentions the Duke of Richmond by name. Van Dyck painted James Stuart (1612-1655) holding the Apple of Discord (from The Judgement of Paris). Proust refers to van Dyck as the ‘prince of calm gestures,’ and, above all, the Duke’s quiet gaze, reflecting the sapphire at his neck.
The last poem is about the French painter Jean-Antoine Watteau, who also inspired Debussy and Fauré. It’s a scene from the ending of the day, twilight approaches and the weary people make their way to a boat. Love is in the air, but so is melancholy.
medium difficulty, intended for student of music universities