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THE MASTER
OF CHARMS (Part 2)
- French Composer Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)
By Christopher M. Wright
© 2006 Christopher M. Wright
All Rights Reserved
Part 2 - Chamber Works
"It is difficult to think of any composer since Brahms who has made such important additions to chamber music literature as Fauré," Aaron Copland wrote in 1924. Fauré's chamber music gives the listener a "feeling of personal, intimate contact," Copland continued.
Fauré's talents found their highest expression in songs, piano works, and chamber music, not the symphony orchestra. His Sonata in A major for Violin and Piano (Op. 13) and Piano Quartet in C minor (Op. 15) made him famous.
Copland acknowledged that the Sonata contained "charming musical ideas" and was undeniably popular. However, Copland was of the opinion that the Sonata was not a mature work because it adhered too rigidly to form, as beginners often do. Fauré's teacher Camille Saint-Saëns, however, did not share this view, writing of the work's "alluring delicacy, formal novelty, resourceful modulations, unusual sonorities, and use of the most unexpected rhythms." Paris publishers found the work so musically intimidating they refused to print it. It was later brought out by a German house that insisted that Fauré cede all rights and forego payment.
Copland wrote that Fauré's Piano Quartet in C minor (Op. 15) was a vast improvement and was in fact Fauré's best early work. Youthful and fresh, "pure loveliness," "one of Fauré's most delightful compositions," Copland wrote. "Incomparable grace and elegance," composer Forent Schmitt wrote. The Quartet is the first Fauré piece I ever heard and it hooked me on Fauré instantly and for life.
Fauré's Piano Trio in D minor (Op. 120), published the year before Fauré died, offers an interesting counterpoint to these earlier works. Here is the master, now deaf and a septuagenarian at the end of his career, employing some of the revolutionary ideas in harmony that did not exist when his career began. Less tonal and not as tuneful as the works above, the Trio moves through harmonic shifts that some find disorienting. Saint-Saëns complained, "I simply can't get used to never settling down in any key, to consecutive fifths and sevenths and to chords demanding a resolution that never comes."
Copland called it "an extraordinary work." Others have commented that, unlike the thick, muddy texture of Brahms, Fauré's piano writing in the Trio is a model of clarity and luminescence. The somewhat dissonant harmony provides a colorful setting for Fauré's considerable melodic development. The last movement begins with a motif nearly identical to an aria from the opera I Pagliacci. Fauré, who had never heard the opera, was reportedly quite upset when he got the news.
Don't forget - you can sample the music on Amazon with no obligation to buy. Just click any of the Amazon links on this page.
Gabriel Fauré Series -
Part
1 - Short Popular Works
Part 3 - The Fauré
Requiem
Part 4 - Piano Music
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© 2006 Christopher M. Wright
All Rights Reserved - This material may not
be republished, rebroadcast, rewritten, redistributed, resold, or manipulated in
any form.
Piano Quartet Op. 15
-
Score
Recording
Sonata Op. 13
and Piano Trio Op. 120 -