Gabriel Fauré(1845-1924)
- Music Department
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Gabriel-Urbian Faure was born May 12, 1845, in Pamires, Mid-Pyrenees,
France. He was the youngest of 6 children born to Toussaint and Marie
Faure. From the age of 9 he studied piano and organ with Camille Saint-Saëns at the
Ecole Niedermeyer. Saint-Saene encouraged young Faure to play piano
music by Franz Liszt. In 1865 Faure was awarded first prize for
composition, for his 'Cantique de Jean Racine', opus 11. In 1870 he
served in the army during the Franco-Prussian war, and during the Paris
Commune he was a music teacher in Switzerland, where his school Ecole
Niedermeyer was relocated. Back in Paris he became organist at
Saint-Sulpice.
Faure became a regular at the salon of Camille Saint-Saëns and the salon of Pauline
Garcia-Viardot. There he met many prominent Parisian intellectuals:
writers Gustave Flaubert and Ivan Turgenev, composers Hector Berlioz and Georges Bizet. With those
contacts Faure initiated the formation of the 'Societe Nationale
Musique' around the figure of Camille Saint-Saëns. Faure also took over the
position of organist at the Eglise de la Madeleine in 1877, when
Saint-Saens retired. At that time Faure became engaged to Marianne
Viardot, the daughter of Pauline Viardot, but the engagement was broken
off by Marianne.
Faure was sincerely in love, but heartbroken and so depressed, that he
could not stay in the same salon. He canceled all social obligations
and left Paris for a long journey. He went to Weimar, where he met
Franz Liszt and expressed his gratitude by playing his own compositions to
Liszt. Then Faure traveled to Cologne to listen to the operas of
Richard Wagner, whom he admired. Faure's impressions from 'Der Ring des
Nibelungen' were strong, but not enough to influence his own
compositions.
Back in Paris he renewed his activity at 'Societe Nationale Musique'.
He married Marie Frement in 1883, and the couple had two sons. He had
to support his family. The lack of any musical success kept him working
as the organist at the Eglise de la Madeleine, and also teaching piano
and harmony, which took up all his time. His own compositions were sold
to his publisher at 50 francs per piece with thw copyright. At that
time Faure composed the exquisitely delicate 'Requiem' (1888), his most
important choral work. He could not find a venue to perform his
large-scale compositions. That made him even more depressed.
After ten years of hardship, Faure finally got promoted to the
government position of the Inspector of Music Conservatoires in the
French provinces. In 1896 he became chief organist at the Eglise de la
Madeleine. He also replaced Jules Massenet as professor of composition at the
Conservatoire de Paris. His students there included Maurice Ravel, Nadia
Boulanger, George Enescu, and Charles Koechlin, who later orchestrated
Faure's popular suite 'Pelleas et Melisande'. In 1890s Faure wrote
piano duet 'Dolly Suite' and a vocal piece 'La bonne chanson' for Emma
Bardac, the wife of Claude Debussy.
From 1905 to 1920 Faure was the powerful director of the Conservatoire
de Paris. He made some reforms and dismissed unnecessary stuff for the
purpose of rational spending of the funding from the government. His
song opera 'Penelope' (1913) is noteworthy. His works of the late years
were affected by his hearing loss, which inevitably caused his
retirement. He was the music critic at Le Figaro from 1903-1921. Faure
died from pneumonia on November 4, 1924, and was laid to rest in the
Cemetiere de Passy in Paris.
France. He was the youngest of 6 children born to Toussaint and Marie
Faure. From the age of 9 he studied piano and organ with Camille Saint-Saëns at the
Ecole Niedermeyer. Saint-Saene encouraged young Faure to play piano
music by Franz Liszt. In 1865 Faure was awarded first prize for
composition, for his 'Cantique de Jean Racine', opus 11. In 1870 he
served in the army during the Franco-Prussian war, and during the Paris
Commune he was a music teacher in Switzerland, where his school Ecole
Niedermeyer was relocated. Back in Paris he became organist at
Saint-Sulpice.
Faure became a regular at the salon of Camille Saint-Saëns and the salon of Pauline
Garcia-Viardot. There he met many prominent Parisian intellectuals:
writers Gustave Flaubert and Ivan Turgenev, composers Hector Berlioz and Georges Bizet. With those
contacts Faure initiated the formation of the 'Societe Nationale
Musique' around the figure of Camille Saint-Saëns. Faure also took over the
position of organist at the Eglise de la Madeleine in 1877, when
Saint-Saens retired. At that time Faure became engaged to Marianne
Viardot, the daughter of Pauline Viardot, but the engagement was broken
off by Marianne.
Faure was sincerely in love, but heartbroken and so depressed, that he
could not stay in the same salon. He canceled all social obligations
and left Paris for a long journey. He went to Weimar, where he met
Franz Liszt and expressed his gratitude by playing his own compositions to
Liszt. Then Faure traveled to Cologne to listen to the operas of
Richard Wagner, whom he admired. Faure's impressions from 'Der Ring des
Nibelungen' were strong, but not enough to influence his own
compositions.
Back in Paris he renewed his activity at 'Societe Nationale Musique'.
He married Marie Frement in 1883, and the couple had two sons. He had
to support his family. The lack of any musical success kept him working
as the organist at the Eglise de la Madeleine, and also teaching piano
and harmony, which took up all his time. His own compositions were sold
to his publisher at 50 francs per piece with thw copyright. At that
time Faure composed the exquisitely delicate 'Requiem' (1888), his most
important choral work. He could not find a venue to perform his
large-scale compositions. That made him even more depressed.
After ten years of hardship, Faure finally got promoted to the
government position of the Inspector of Music Conservatoires in the
French provinces. In 1896 he became chief organist at the Eglise de la
Madeleine. He also replaced Jules Massenet as professor of composition at the
Conservatoire de Paris. His students there included Maurice Ravel, Nadia
Boulanger, George Enescu, and Charles Koechlin, who later orchestrated
Faure's popular suite 'Pelleas et Melisande'. In 1890s Faure wrote
piano duet 'Dolly Suite' and a vocal piece 'La bonne chanson' for Emma
Bardac, the wife of Claude Debussy.
From 1905 to 1920 Faure was the powerful director of the Conservatoire
de Paris. He made some reforms and dismissed unnecessary stuff for the
purpose of rational spending of the funding from the government. His
song opera 'Penelope' (1913) is noteworthy. His works of the late years
were affected by his hearing loss, which inevitably caused his
retirement. He was the music critic at Le Figaro from 1903-1921. Faure
died from pneumonia on November 4, 1924, and was laid to rest in the
Cemetiere de Passy in Paris.