4. Hymne à l'amour

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The life and art of Edith Piaf in five songs. 4. Hymne à l'amour. 1950. The greatest love of Piaf's life was France's greatest boxer, Marcel Cerdan. They longed for each other, despite his family life. He was due to visit her by ship but such was their amour that he changed his plans and boarded Air France Flight 009 from New York on October 28 1949. The resulting plane crash left no survivors. Piaf recorded the song on May 2 1950. The music was by her regular contributor Marguerite Monnot but the lyrics were here own. A howl of love and loss. The song was subsequently covered by Eddie Constantine, Cyndi Lauper and numerous Japanese artists. The French Canadian singer and band leader Myriam Phiro has long been under the spell of Piaf. Here she explores performance, art and life in this song of love and loss. Producer - Mark Burman A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 3