Born in 1961, French composer Nicolas Bacri began learning the piano at age seven before entering the Paris Conservatoire. Bacri's career has seen him winning many prizes for his compositions and with Melodies of Melancholy composed as recently as 2012, he remains a prolific composer.

Bacri's catalogue contains a wide variety of compositions, from 8 String Quartets to 6 Symphonies. Melodies of Melancholy for Soprano and Piano, Opus 119a, is made up of four songs using the lyrics of Alvaro Escobar Molina, a Colombian writer who currently resides in Paris. The songs are; 1) To the Sea, 2) Hush, my Child, 3) Some Say, and 4) Only. With the volume beginning with the lyrics in French, English, German or Spanish, Bacri's Melodies of Melancholy is highly versatile and makes for an exciting performance work for advanced Sopranos.