D’un matin de printemps is dated 1917–18 and it demonstrates the more adventurous and astringent style that Boulanger had previously developed with her settings of Psalms. In spite of a meteoric rise (winning the Prix de Rome in 1912), Boulanger had been troubled by ill health since childhood, and she died on 15 March 1918 at the age of twenty-four. Her surviving works are all the more poignant for their hints of what might have been, particularly in this work which seems to suggest a fascinating point of departure.

© Nigel Simeone