Le Charme
Ernest Chausson (1855–1899) · sheet music
- Time 4/4
- Levels 1–3
- Passages 6
Your turn · both hands
Preparing your passage…
Ernest Chausson, French modern (1855–1899). The reading release has 6 passages from this piece at levels 1–3; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 22–23 for the right hand alone.
The hardest stretch is bars 9–12 at level 3.
Your practice path
Learn it the way teachers do: each hand on its own, then together, then the hard bars. Each step is a real graded passage of Le Charme.
- Right hand alone · bars 22–23 level 1
- The hardest bars · bars 9–12 level 3
How to play Le Charme
- Tempo:Chausson marks it Moderato con moto: moderate but moving. Pick a speed that feels like unhurried speech, then let the held-back phrases slow slightly before returning.
- Right hand:Play the melody as a singer would, breathing between phrases and letting the long notes hold their full weight.
- Rhythm:Count the quarters and eighths evenly and keep the repeated notes from rushing; the line should flow, with only a slight easing at phrase endings.
- Dynamics:Swell gently into the high point of each phrase and let the end of the phrase fall away.
- Hands together:If you add a simple piano part, keep it quieter than the melody and let it breathe with the phrases.
- Reading:Because the melody is sparse, count the rests carefully; silence is part of this song's phrasing.
- Practice:Sing the melody on 'la' before you play it so your fingers copy the shape of your voice.
Common mistakes
- Playing each note with the same weight and ending each phrase abruptly. Fix: Choose the peak of each phrase and shape toward it, then relax.
- Rushing the long notes. Fix: Count the full value and listen until the sound fades naturally.
- Rushing through repeated notes on the same pitch. Fix: Give each repeated note its full value and shape them as one gently moving phrase.
Structure: modified strophic song (three stanzas)
Each of the poem's three stanzas begins with the same gently moving melody marked Moderato con moto. Within each stanza the music slows a little and holds back, with a few short bars of two beats, before the opening tempo returns; the last stanza ends with a softly falling line.
- Stanza 1 · The smile (E-flat major)
- The voice moves mostly by step in plain quarters and eighths over quiet repeated chords, so the reading is about long, even phrases.
- Stanza 2 · The glance (E-flat major)
- The opening melody returns to new words, again easing into a slower, held-back phrase in the middle.
- Stanza 3 · The first tear (E-flat major)
- The tune comes back at Tempo I, then sinks through flattened notes to a quiet, drawn-out close.
About Le Charme
Ernest Chausson (1855-1899) wrote this song in October 1879, the same year he began composition classes with Jules Massenet at the Paris Conservatoire. It is the second of the seven songs of his Op. 2, published by Hamelle in Paris.
The poem is by Armand Silvestre, from his Chanson des heures. The other poets in Op. 2 include Leconte de Lisle and Théophile Gautier, and the set's songs include Nanny, Les papillons, Hébé and Le colibri.
Chausson's early works are generally described as strongly influenced by Massenet. For a pianist, Le charme is a compact example of that world: a singing melody over supporting piano harmony.
- Chausson also studied with Cesar Franck, and the two remained close friends until Franck's death in 1890.
- He is believed to have been the first composer to use the celesta, in his 1888 incidental music for The Tempest.
- Op. 2 contains seven songs: Nanny, Le charme, Les papillons, La dernière feuille, Sérénade italienne, Hébé and Le colibri.
- Massenet called Chausson an exceptional person and a true artist.
Why the first passage is level 1
That passage is level 1, the first rung: it moves by whole steps or less, in quarter-note values, in one hand.
Read this as a vocal line: group notes into phrases, find each phrase's high point, and play toward it. Rests matter as much as notes.
Questions about Le Charme
- How hard is Le Charme to play?
- Its passages grade from level 1 to level 3 on Real Sight Reader's ten-level reading scale, which keeps all of it within beginner reading. The hardest stretch is bars 9–12 at level 3.
- Is there an easy part of Le Charme for beginners?
- Yes. Start with bars 22–23 for the right hand alone, the level-1 passage in the reader at the top of this page.
- What key and time signature is Le Charme in?
- The engraving on this page is in 4/4 time.
- Who composed Le Charme?
- Ernest Chausson, French modern (1855–1899). Ernest Chausson (1855-1899) wrote this song in October 1879, the same year he began composition classes with Jules Massenet at the Paris Conservatoire.
- Can I practice Le Charme online for free?
- Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 6 graded passages from Le Charme in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
- Who wrote the poem of Le charme?
- The poem is by Armand Silvestre, according to IMSLP.
- What does Le charme mean?
- It is French for 'the charm', in the sense of a spell or enchantment.
- Where does the poem come from?
- The original Hamelle score credits the text to Armand Silvestre's Chanson des heures.
Every passage, easiest first
The reading release grades 6 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:
- Level 1
- bars 22–23 right hand
- Level 2
- bars 11–12 right hand
- Level 3
- bars 9–12 right hand · bars 17–24 right hand · bars 17–20 right hand · bars 21–24 right hand
More pieces to sight-read
Score: public-domain engraving from the corpus (pdmx), graded by the piano-reading-v2-20261023-identity-audit reading release.