When Gabriel Fauré was a boy, Berlioz had just written
La damnation de Faust and Henry David Thoreau was
writing Walden. By the time of his death, Stravinsky
had written The Rite of Spring and World War I had
ended in the devastation of Europe. In this dramatic
period in history, Fauré strove to bring together the
best of traditional and progressive music and, in the
process, created some of the most exquisite works in
the French repertoire. He was one of the most advanced
figures in French mu...(+)
When Gabriel Fauré was a boy, Berlioz had just written
La damnation de Faust and Henry David Thoreau was
writing Walden. By the time of his death, Stravinsky
had written The Rite of Spring and World War I had
ended in the devastation of Europe. In this dramatic
period in history, Fauré strove to bring together the
best of traditional and progressive music and, in the
process, created some of the most exquisite works in
the French repertoire. He was one of the most advanced
figures in French musical circles and influenced a
generation of composers world-wide.
Fauré was the youngest child of a school headmaster
and spent many hours playing the harmonium in the
chapel next to his father's school. Fauré's father
enrolled the 9-year-old as a boarder at the École
Niedermeyer in Paris, where he remained for 11 years,
learning church music, organ, piano, harmony,
counterpoint, and literature. In 1861, Saint-Saëns
joined the school and introduced Fauré and other
students to the works of more contemporary composers
such as Schumann, Liszt, and Wagner. Fauré's earliest
songs and piano pieces date from this period, just
before his graduation in 1865, which he achieved with
awards in almost every subject. For the next several
years, he took on various organist positions, served
for a time in the Imperial Guard, and taught. In 1871
he and his friends -- d'Indy, Lalo, Duparc, and
Chabrier -- formed the Société Nationale de Musique,
and soon after, Saint-Saëns introduced him to the
salon of Pauline Viardot and Parisian musical high
society. Fauré wrote his first important chamber works
(the Violin Sonata No. 1 and Piano Quartet No. 1), then
set out on a series of musical expeditions to meet
Liszt and Wagner. Throughout the 1880s, he held various
positions and continued to write songs and piano
pieces, but felt unsure enough of his compositional
talents to attempt anything much larger than incidental
music. Fauré's pieces began to show a complexity of
musical line and harmony which were to become the
hallmarks of his music. He began to develop a highly
original approach to tonality, in which modal harmony
and altered scales figured largely. The next decade,
however, is when Fauré came into his own. His music,
although considered too advanced by most, gained
recognition amongst his musical friends. This was his
first truly productive phase, seeing the completion of
his Requiem, the Cinq Mélodies, and the Dolly Suite,
among other works. Using an economy of expression and
boldness of harmony, he built the musical bridge over
which his students -- such as Maurice Ravel and Nadia
Boulanger -- would cross on their journey into the 20th
century. He was named composition professor at the
Paris Conservatoire in 1896. In 1905, he became
director of the conservatory and made several
significant reforms. Ironically, this position gave his
works more exposure, but it reduced his time for
composition and came when he was increasingly bothered
by hearing problems. Fauré's works of this period show
the last, most sophisticated stages of his writing,
streamlined and elegant in form. During World War I,
Fauré essentially remained in Paris and had another
extremely productive phase, producing, among other
things, Le Jardin clos and the Fantaisie for piano and
orchestra, Op. 111, which show a force and violence
that make them among the most powerful pieces in French
music. In 1920 he retired from the school, and the
following year gave up his music critic position with
Le Figaro, which he had held since 1903. Between then
and his death in 1924, he would produce his great, last
works: several chamber works and the song cycle
L'horizon chimérique.
Being such a prolific composer, particularly for Vocal
and Piano works, Gabriel Fauré's music is always
addressed with high expectations. His Les Djinns for
SATB choir and Piano is no exception. Fauré
(1845-1924) began receiving high quality musical
instruction from age 10 at the Niedermeyer School. He
eventually became a piano pupil of Camille
Saint-Saëns. Fauré's career saw him succeed Théodore
Dubois as organist at the Church of Madeleine in Paris
and become professor of composition at the Paris
Conservatoire, all the while composing sublime works.
Les Djinns was written towards the beginning of the
composer's career and is based on the poem of the same
name by Victor Hugo. The poem depicts the sounds of the
night. Each stanza becomes gradually longer as the text
climaxes, and shortens again with the anticlimax,
creating an arch form. Fauré mimics this in his music
through use of structure, dynamics and the texture of
the Piano accompaniment. With Fauré's music remaining
hugely popular to this day, Les Djinns is a favourite
for the choral repertoire.
Although originally composed for Chorus (SATB) &
Orchestra, I created this Interpretation of "Les
Djinns" (Opus 12) for String Quartet (2 Violins, Viola
& Cello) and Piano.
PARTITION