Op. 122: Contes Bleus
1. D major (Enoch plate 6321): Dedicated to “My niece Antoniette Lorel”
2. G major (Enoch plate 6322): Dedicated to Marguerite Livon
3. B minor (Enoch plate 6323): Dedicated to Louise Perny. “Blue Tales” with each piece evoking a different atmosphere or story.
The “Contes bleus” (fairy tales) and the “Poème provençal” are pieces that the author prefers, because, in some measure, it is her innermost self which sings them, and by which in playing she seeks to lưll melancholy. They are chimney-corner dreams, in the twilight ere the lamps are lit; at that uncertain hour when the soul, pensive, yet not unhappy, permits itself to reflect lightly on its grievances. These pieces are far-off memories of the ‘white hour’ of childhood! Who among us has not loved fairy tales (contes bleus)? The Rose Fairy, Prince Charming, Black Magic; all that is bizarre and unearthly leaves its traces on the imagination of little children, and big ones among the artists too; those who hunger for the marvelous, how frequently they permit themselves to return to the quaint, foolish enchantment of these old story-books delightedly unearthed from their hiding place of old.” (Chaminade, Cécile. “How to Play My Best Known Pieces.” The Etude 26 (December 1908): 759–760.)
Transcription
Piano Four hands: Contes Bleus No. 2 transcribed by Chaminade in 1923 (E.& C. 8184)

