S'il est un charmant gazon

César Franck preferred sacred texts to romantic poetry. Among his less than twenty songs there are, however, five Hugo settings, including two versions of S’il est un charmant gazon (from Chants du Crépuscule) dating from 1855 and 1857 respectively. Although there is much competition here - including examples by Liszt, an early effort by Fauré (under the title Réve d’amour) and a late one by Saint-Saëns - Franck’s is as charmingly melodious as any of them and more affectionate than most.