Hymne à l'amour

Hymne à l'amour

Composed by: Marguerite Monnot
Arr: Roland Dyens/Ming Huang


"Hymne à l'amour" (Hymn to Love) is a popular French song originally performed by Édith Piaf (1915-1963), who was a French singer-songwriter, cabaret performer and film actress noted as France's national chanteuse and one of the country's most widely known international stars. Piaf's music was often autobiographical and she specialized in chanson and torch ballads about love, loss and sorrow.

The lyrics were written by Piaf and the music by Marguerite Monnot. Piaf first sang this song at the Cabaret Versailles in New York City on September 14, 1949. It was written to her lover and the love of her life, the French boxer, Marcel Cerdan. On October 28, 1949, Cerdan was killed in the crash of Air France Flight 009 on his way from Paris to New York to come to see her. She recorded the song on May 2, 1950.

This arrangement for guitar is in E major. I transpositioned from the Eb major arrangement by French classical guitarist Roland Dyens (1955-2016).