Nocturne is a Lahor setting and it sets out to challenge Duparc in the way that he chose to set the words of his famous
Extase. It cannot be rated a serious rival, for it does nothing to replace Duparc’s haunting music (inspired by
Träume from Wagner’s
Wesendonck Lieder) in the ear of the listener. Nevertheless it is a highly effective song, striking that note of exquisite decadence that we find so often in Reynaldo’s music. The shade of Wagner is banished in favour of home-grown composers like Massenet. By minimising the importance of the bass line Hahn even aims at a sort of rather modern harmonic ambiguity as if to emphasise the disorientating nature of sleep.
from notes by Graham Johnson © 1996
