Fauré: Masques et bergamasques & Pelléas et Mélisande

Featuring

Ludovic Morlot
Demarre McGill
Alexander Velinzon
Efe Baltacigil
Seattle Symphony
Seattle Symphony Chorale

Gabriel Fauré

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Composition History

Fauré's Fantaisie for Flute, originally an examination piece for the Paris Conservatoire, was published as a concert piece, indicating its musical merit beyond academic use.

Composer Biography

Gabriel Fauré's music connects 19th-century Romanticism with 20th-century modernity, and he expanded his compositions for half a century.

Composition History

Masques et bergamasques, composed late in Fauré's career, reflects a fascination with commedia dell'arte, an improvised theatrical farce from the 16th and 17th centuries.

Composition History

The drama Pelléas et Mélisande by Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck greatly influenced musicians around the turn of the 20th century, inspiring works by Debussy, Schoenberg, Sibelius, and Fauré.

Composition History

Fauré's popular work Dolly, a collection of six short pieces, was inspired by Hélène Bardac, the daughter of his former lover Emma Bardac, who was known as Dolly.

Composition History

Fauré's Élégie for Cello and Orchestra was initially conceived as the slow movement of a cello sonata, but he eventually published it as an independent composition.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Aaron Copland, an American composer known for populism, admired Gabriel Fauré's music for its delicacy, reserve, imperturbable calm, and exquisite harmonies.