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Trois mélodies is a set of mélodies for solo voice and piano, by Gabriel Fauré. It is composed of "Après un rêve" (Op. 7, No. 1), one of Faure's most popular vocal pieces, "Hymne" (Op. 7, No. 2), and "Barcarolle" (Op. 7, No. 3). The songs were written between 1870 and 1877, and published in 1878. They were not, however, originally conceived together as a set of three; the opus number 7 was imposed on them retrospectively in the 1890s, almost 20 years after their first publications.
"Après un rêve"
In Après un rêve (originally published in 1878), a dream of romantic flight with a lover, away from the earth, and "towards the light" is described. However, on waking to the truth the dreamer longs to return to the "mysterious night" and the ecstatic falsehood of his dream. The text of the poem is an anonymous Italian poem freely adapted into French by Romain Bussine.