The writer Charles Marie René Leconte, born on the French island of La Réunion, published his literary works under the nom de plume Leconte de Lisle ("the Count of the island"). His poem Nell, a poetic vow of eternal fidelity to the beloved, was written in 1852 and set to music by Gabriel Fauré in 1878.

Long vocal phrases unfold over continuous sixteenth-note figurations in the piano, which combine emphatic depictions of nature and affirmations of love both in text and music. These art songs ...