Mark Debski
Handel
MHST 373
16 November 2016
Fauré Requiem
French composer Gabriel Fauré was born in Pamiers, Ariège, France on May 12, 1845 and died in Paris on November 4, 1924. Unlike most French composers, Fauré did not attend the Paris Conservatoire. Instead, from the age of nine, he attended the École Niedermeyer, where he studied with Camille Saint-Saëns. Despite not attending the Conservatoire, Fauré eventually became professor of composition there, and was then appointed Director from 1905 to 1920. He is considered to be one of the foremost composers of his generation, and his compositional style left a lasting impact on composers of the 20th century. Fauré’s music can be described as a link between the end of Romanticism and …show more content…
There is a sense of ease in his music that he couples with virtuosity and elegance which complement and balance each other. Although Fauré did write several works for orchestra, his true specialty was in more intimate musical forms like chamber music, songs, and piano music. Composed between 1887 and 1890, the Requiem in d minor is Fauré’s most well-known of his larger works. While the requiems of other composers such as Berlioz and Verdi are much more grandiose in presentation and orchestration, Fauré’s departs from that. The music is much gentler and the instrumentation is scaled down significantly. This work was heard incomplete in 1888 at La Madeleine in Paris for a funeral mass with Fauré conducting. The third and final version also received its premiere in Paris on July 12, 1900 with Paul Taffenel conducting. This version of the Requiem is scored for mixed choir, solo soprano, solo baritone, two flutes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four …show more content…
The listener will hear a striking unison D in octaves in the orchestra sounds, and as the chord diminishes, the choir voices echo on the same chord with the text Requiem aeternam donna eis, Domine (grant them eternal rest). The harmony at this point is slow, and the d minor chord is repeated three times, each time a step lower than the previous iteration. As the choir sings et lux perpetua (and let perpetual light shine on them), a gradual change in harmony occurs followed by a sudden crescendo to the first climax that quickly diminishes on luceat eis (may shine for them). The Kyrie begins with an undulating motive in the cellos and the soprano, alto, and tenor voices sing a melody heard from the Introit. This movement ends quietly, with the Te decet
Handel
MHST 373
16 November 2016
Fauré Requiem
French composer Gabriel Fauré was born in Pamiers, Ariège, France on May 12, 1845 and died in Paris on November 4, 1924. Unlike most French composers, Fauré did not attend the Paris Conservatoire. Instead, from the age of nine, he attended the École Niedermeyer, where he studied with Camille Saint-Saëns. Despite not attending the Conservatoire, Fauré eventually became professor of composition there, and was then appointed Director from 1905 to 1920. He is considered to be one of the foremost composers of his generation, and his compositional style left a lasting impact on composers of the 20th century. Fauré’s music can be described as a link between the end of Romanticism and …show more content…
There is a sense of ease in his music that he couples with virtuosity and elegance which complement and balance each other. Although Fauré did write several works for orchestra, his true specialty was in more intimate musical forms like chamber music, songs, and piano music. Composed between 1887 and 1890, the Requiem in d minor is Fauré’s most well-known of his larger works. While the requiems of other composers such as Berlioz and Verdi are much more grandiose in presentation and orchestration, Fauré’s departs from that. The music is much gentler and the instrumentation is scaled down significantly. This work was heard incomplete in 1888 at La Madeleine in Paris for a funeral mass with Fauré conducting. The third and final version also received its premiere in Paris on July 12, 1900 with Paul Taffenel conducting. This version of the Requiem is scored for mixed choir, solo soprano, solo baritone, two flutes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four …show more content…
The listener will hear a striking unison D in octaves in the orchestra sounds, and as the chord diminishes, the choir voices echo on the same chord with the text Requiem aeternam donna eis, Domine (grant them eternal rest). The harmony at this point is slow, and the d minor chord is repeated three times, each time a step lower than the previous iteration. As the choir sings et lux perpetua (and let perpetual light shine on them), a gradual change in harmony occurs followed by a sudden crescendo to the first climax that quickly diminishes on luceat eis (may shine for them). The Kyrie begins with an undulating motive in the cellos and the soprano, alto, and tenor voices sing a melody heard from the Introit. This movement ends quietly, with the Te decet