The song
Rêverie is related to Goethe in that the ever-willing Barbier has taken one of Gounod’s hit tunes (from the
Faust ballet music) and added words of no great import which are skilfully adapted to the music’s rhythm. This was a respectable marketing ploy and a good example of recycled Gounod. When we hear the song sung as it is here we do not carp at its hybrid origins.
from notes by Graham Johnson © 1993
