Reynaldo Hahn sings and accompanies himself, 1909

Hahn was the 12th child of a German-Jewish engineer and his Spanish-Basque mother, and was born in Caracas, Venezuela. The family moved to Paris when Reynaldo was three, and the young lad showed a prodigious talent for music, appearing in public from the age of eight. He entered the Paris Conservatoire, where he was a pupil of Massenet, but was also taught by Saint-Saëns and Fauré. He had a notable career as a composer (including of 20 operas and 25 ballets), a theatre conductor, as the music critic for Paris Match, and an authority on Mozart. He became a French citizen in 1908. For years the lover of Marcel Proust, Hahn also had many 'affaires' with older married Parisian ladies. Hahn was well known for accompanying himself as he sung. These three songs, all by Hahn himself, were recorded by French Columbia on 9 July, 21 August, and 22 November 1909. Le Cimitière de Campagne (Vicaire). 00:23 Offrande (Verlaine). 03:02 La Barcheta (Herra). 05:16