HAHN, Reynaldo

Born in Caracas, Aug 9, 1874
Died in Paris, Jan 28, 1947

• Born in Venezuela to a Catholic Spanish mother and German Jewish father, Hahn’s family moved to Paris when he was four. He was educated at the Paris Conservatoire and achieved early and career-long success with his mélodies (French art songs).¹
  • One of Hahn’s teachers at the Conservatoire, Jules Massenet, did much to help launch the young composer’s career. The two remained close until Massenet died in 1912.²
• Hahn was a baritone and often performed his own songs in salon gatherings, accompanying himself at the piano.
• Hahn was also a conductor and music critic.
• Fun fact: Two of Hahn’s best friends were Sarah Bernhardt and Marcel Proust. Hahn had actually been lovers with the latter for a couple of years in the mid-1890s, after which they remained close friends.
  • Additional fun facts:
    • Hahn composed a musical comedy about the young Mozart (Mozart, 1925). ³
    • While in his 40s, Hahn enlisted to fight in the trenches in WWI and was awarded the Croix de Guerre.⁴

“Hahn would not have been dismayed that his reputation today rests firmly on his 100-or-so songs.”

BBC Music Magazine

Learn More

Biography from the European Institute of Jewish Music (IEJM)

1. Patrick O’Connor, “Hahn, Reynaldo,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed October 17, 2019,  https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000012169.
2. Roger Nichols, “Composer of the Month: Reynaldo Hahn,” BBC Music Magazine Vol. 29, No. 7 (2021), 54-57.
3. Patrick O’Connor, “Hahn, Reynaldo,” Grove Music Online.
4. Roger Nichols, “Composer of the Month: Reynaldo Hahn,” BBC Music Magazine.