Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924)
Which compositions are associated with Gabriel Fauré? For certain, the Requiem and probably the Pavane as well as the orchestral suites Pelléas et Mélisande and Masques et Bergamasques, also some chamber music works such as the first Violin Sonata in A major op. 13, the Berceuse op. 16, the Élégie op. 24 or the Sicilienne op. 78 – but beyond that? Considering his complete oeuvre of some 200 works, it is no exaggeration to speak of Fauré as a largely unknown composer, even if every classical music fan is likely to be familiar with his name. He belongs to the group of composers increasingly overshadowed by their contemporaries. That the new French music of the 20th century’s first two decades is so firmly linked with the names Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel has obscured the view of other pioneers of this new music – of which to this day, Fauré is undoubtedly one.
Well, the innovations of a Debussy or Ravel were unquestionably more significant for modern music in France and beyond than those of a Fauré, but his ‘shadowy existence’ also has to do with his personality, together with the specific nature of his music itself. Fauré had his first successes in intimate salon settings, not in the concert hall, thus tagging him as a ‘salon composer’ and hindering his reception, a situation from which he was only able to break free after 1900. And for a long while, he did little to make his music known beyond narrow Parisian musical circles, relying instead on the devotion of friends and acquaintances.
Yet his music is no less characteristic than that of his more famous contemporaries, if much more easily overlooked, since it avoids anything spectacular, garish or over-the-top, is more concerned with balancing contrasts, and thrives above all on fine nuances and shadings. A scandal such as that caused in 1907 by the premiere of Ravel’s Histoires naturelles – settings of bizarre animal fables violating all the rules of French prosody – would be completely unthinkable for Fauré’s music… And still it left the beaten track early on. At its successful premiere in 1877, the first Violin Sonata in A major op. 13 seemed like a long-overdue renewal of the chamber music that had previously been so neglected in France – a work that appealed to audiences and critics precisely through its mixture of the familiar (thematic development reminiscent of Beethoven and Schumann) and the unfamiliar (clarity and elegance in the French tradition, unexpected nuances in harmony and rhythm).
Thème et Variations op. 73, title page of the French first edition (Bibliothèque du Conservatoire de musique de Genève)
In the 1990s, the G. Henle publishing house was already interested in possible Urtext editions of Fauré’s music, but the extended copyright period for French composers already mentioned elsewhere (see Waiting can be worthwhile – On Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major) required patience. Only Thème et Variations op. 73 (HN 745), one of the few important sets of piano variations in 19th-century France, could be published as early as 2003, thanks to the favourable source situation. As of 2012, the most important and popular works for piano and chamber music, that is, the decisive genres for Fauré alongside his lied composing, appeared in print almost regularly, see overview.
Very clear, particularly in the chamber music, is the stylistic change that led Fauré from the late Romanticism of the early works (1st violin sonata, piano quartets) to the thinned-out, sometimes almost brittle late style (cello sonatas, piano trio). And yet prevailing in all these works is a very specific, often enchanting tone, which led Claude Debussy, in a 1903 review, to describe Fauré half admiringly, half mockingly as a ‘maître des charmes’, that is, a ‘master of (sensual) charms’.
One of these charms lies in Fauré’s characteristic harmony, featuring modal influences in many works. Or to be more precise: the melody is modally coloured, leading to unexpected modulations. A good example of this is the opening of the Fantaisie op. 79 for flute and piano (HN 580), whose melody begins in the home key of e minor. In measure 4, the expected f sharp2 (tonal e minor) is surprisingly altered to f2 (Phrygian e minor) and the target note a2 is harmonised with d minor. 
A further attraction lies in Fauré’s specific rhythmic style that tends towards syncopation. A characteristic example is the melody of the famous Berceuse op. 16 for violin and piano (HN 1101) – a simple idea made concise by the syncopations at the start of each even melody measure, which very quickly made the tune popular:
Is Fauré’s music difficult to edit? Not, in general; the difficulties are, at least, no greater than for other editions of French composers of the time. As is so often the case, there are usually differences between the autograph and the first edition or (in the case of chamber music) between the first full-score edition and the first parts edition. Fauré’s handwriting is usually easy to read and characterised by careful notation of details. The situation is otherwise in the earlier notation stages, as sketches and drafts are often only fleetingly recorded and sometimes difficult to read. The autograph of the Violin Sonata No. 1 in A major op. 13 (HN 980) is a good example. Whereas the first three movements are recorded in fair copy with subsequent pencilled corrections, the final movement is notated as only a cursory, incomplete draft largely lacking in dynamics, articulation and bowing, which significantly reduces its source value.
Autograph of the Violin Sonata op. 13, Scherzo, mm. 1 ff. (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France)
Autograph of the Violin Sonata op. 13, Finale, draft for mm. 175 ff.
The numerous differences between printed score and printed parts in chamber music works are generally owing to engraver’s errors, though occasionally also to the composer’s inconsistent entries in the galley proofs. In the Cello Sonata No. 1 in D minor op. 109 (HN 1357), for example, in the middle movement, measure 89 of the separate cello part, the first edition’s performance indication largement is lacking in the full score. As no autograph for this movement is extant, the question arises as to whether this is an oversight in the cello part or an entry in a different hand, or whether the instruction was simply forgotten in the full score. Extant is a complete set of this work’s first galley proofs (full score and cello part), clearly showing that Fauré made a largement entry in the part’s galley proof, but omitted transferring the addition, presumably new in comparison to the autograph, to the full-score proof:
Cello Sonata op. 109, Andante, galley proof of the cello part, mm. 88-89 (New Haven, Yale University Library)
The last Fauré anniversary in 1995 led in musical life to a limited but nevertheless noticeable renaissance of his works – we hope that this will happen again in 2024, for the ‘Maître des Charmes’ would have deserved it! If you are now in the mood for Faure’s music, we highly recommend the late Piano Trio with the ATOS Trio.