L'Heure Exquise is the sixth poem in Paul Verlaine's (1844-1896) verse collection La Bonne Chanson, published in Paris in 1870.

Here is the translation:

The exquisite hour
The white moon
Gleams in the woods;
From every branch
Goes a voice
Under the twig...

O beloved.

The pond reflects,
Deep mirror,
The silhouette
Of the black willow
Where the wind cries...

Dream on, it's time.

A vast and tender
Soothing
Seems to descend
From the firmament
That the star shines...

It is the exquisite hour.

“Poldowski” was the professional pseudonym of a British composer and pianist of Polish-British origin, born Régine Wieniawski (Ixelles, May 16, 1879 - London, January 28, 1932), daughter of the Polish violinist and composer, Henryk Wieniawski.
Some of her early works were published under the name Irène Wieniawska. Upon her marriage to Sir Aubrey Dean Paul, she adopted the pseudonym M. Poldowski, out of concern for aristocratic propriety and probably also to conceal her gender.

Her catalog covers all genres, piano, chamber music and symphonic music. However, it seems that it is in the field of melody, in a style that follows in the wake of Debussy, Fauré and Ravel, that her talent is best expressed. She has set English poems by William Blake, William Butler Yeats and Alfred Tennyson to music, as well as a highly acclaimed series of 22 poems in French by Paul Verlaine.

Along his university studies (DEA in musicology, University of Paris IV-Sorbonne), Frédéric Cellier was awarded three first prizes and a development prize at the CNR of Nice and won first prize at the International Competition of Musical Execution - soloist category – of Stresa (Italy).
He is the laureate of the Fondation de France and the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation and accredited teacher at the CNR of Nice, the CNR of Marseille, and at the CRR Olivier Messiaen of Avignon (France).
Frédéric Cellier is the interpreter of Francis Poulenc’s Sonata for clarinet Bb and piano with Jean-Michel Damase, Jean Françaix or Gabriel Tacchino, but also performs his own version for clarinet, piano and string orchestra of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in blue for Wynton Marsalis or under the baton of Adrian Gershwin, grandson of the composer.
Founder and artistic director of STRADIVARIUS Editions, he is the author of pieces of light music and a considerable number of arrangements in all styles and for all instruments acclaimed by numerous personalities in the music world:

"Frédéric Cellier has produced a number of adaptations of Georges Auric's works with such talent and precision that I consider them a natural addition to his chamber music catalogue."
Michèle AURIC - Georges Auric's widow

"To Frédéric Cellier, excellent musician and tireless arranger."
Jean FRANÇAIX - Composer and pianist

"Arranging a musical work is always a delicate and risky exercise, because it requires both modifying it so that it can be played by the desired instruments and preserving its very essence. But that is exactly what Frédéric Cellier has done, preserving the nuances, subtleties and soul of the original works while breathing new life into them.
His arrangements give all the musicians the chance to perform these compositions specially revisited for their instrument, and make music lovers rediscover them in a new light."
Adrian GERSHWIN - George Gershwin’s grandson

"Congratulations for your beautiful new orchestration and rendition of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in blue."
Wynton MARSALIS - Trumpet player, composer, bandleader, general and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York

"It is outstanding that Frédéric Cellier has managed to transpose Saxophone Marmalade from the saxophone to the clarinet. I thank him for it and wish its great and deserved success. "
Manuel ROSENTHAL - Conductor, composer and Maurice Ravel’s pupil

"I am very happy to tell you how much I appreciated your transcription of the Capriccio, based on Francis Poulenc's Le Bal Masqué. It perfectly reflects the spirit and verve of the score for two pianos that I had the opportunity to play and record with Jacques Février, and it was a great pleasure for me to premiere it in Montpellier."
Gabriel TACCHINO - Pianist, Francis Poulenc’s specialist

"I must tell you that I really like your transcriptions and that I think the tone of the instruments you have chosen suits perfectly our beloved composer."
Ornella VOLTA - Musicologist, president of the Erik Satie’s Foundation