Fauré’s 13 Nocturnes form the most significant group of piano character pieces in his oeuvre. Despite their title – which places them in the tradition of John Field and Frédéric Chopin – Fauré here develops a genre all of his own. These are no dreamy scenes of the night, but carefully structured, iridescent pieces that alternate between lyrical elegance and passionate drama. Fauré composed the 6th Nocturne in 1894, while spending the summer at the house of his parents-in-law. With its strong contrasts of tempo, metre and harmony, it is by far the most significant and best-known of his Nocturnes. In a letter that he wrote after completing it, Fauré wrote: “Modern piano music that is a little interesting is an extremely rare thing” – a state of affairs that seems to have been a good enough incentive for him to enrich the repertoire with his Nocturne op. 63!
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Preface
The oeuvre for piano of Gabriel Fauré (1845 – 1924) stands in the tradition of the “character piece”, whose assorted manifestations largely defined piano repertoire in the 19th century. Fauré gave most of his compositions con ventional titles such as “Impromptu”, “Prélude”, “Barcarolle” or “Nocturne”, not least on account of the exemplary … more
Critical Commentary
About the composer
Gabriel Fauré
Representative exponent of French music around 1900. His creative work is centered around the art song, piano music (nocturnes, barcarolles, impromptus, valse-caprice), and chamber music – alongside other genres.
| 1845 | Born in Pamiers (Ariège) on May 12, the son of a primary school teacher. |
| 1854–65 | Attends the École de musique classique et religieuse (founded by L. Niedermeyer), where liturgical musicians were educated; lessons with Saint-Saëns (from 1861). |
| 1866–70 | Organist at the church of Saint-Sauveur in Rennes. |
| 1871 | After occupying various organist positions in Paris, he becomes assistant organist to Saint-Saëns at Saint-Sulpice. He numbers among the founding members of the Société nationale de musique. Performances of his works in their concerts. |
| 1874 | Premiere of his “Suite d’orchestre” in F major (“Symphony No. 1”), which is a compilation of existing pieces. |
| 1875/76 | Violin Sonata No. 1 in A major, Op. 13. |
| 1876–79 | Piano Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 15 |
| 1877 | Maître de chapelle at Paris’s Église de la Madeleine. |
| 1876/78 | Premiere of his choral work “Les Djinns,” Op. 12. |
| from 1879 | Attends performances of Wagner’s music; in his own compositions he distances himself from Wagner. |
| 1885 | Premiere of his Symphony No. 2 in D minor, later destroyed. |
| 1887/88 | Requiem, Op. 48. |
| 1891 | “Cinq Mélodies ‘de Venise’,” Op. 58, on texts by Verlaine. |
| 1892–94 | “La bonne chanson,” Op. 61, on texts by Verlaine. |
| 1896 | Successor to Dubois at the Madeleine. He conducts a composition class at the Paris Conservatoire. |
| 1900 | Premiere of the tragédie lyrique “Prométhée,” Op. 82. |
| 1905–20 | Director of the Conservatoire. |
| 1909 | President of the Société musicale indépendante. |
| 1913 | Premiere in Monte Carlo of his opera “Pénélope.” |
| 1919 | Song cycle, “Mirages,” Op. 113, with clear features of his modernist late style. |
| 1924 | Death in Paris on November 4. |
About the authors
Rolf Koenen (Fingering)
As a pupil, Prof. Rolf Koenen, born in 1946 in Duisburg, had already had contact with Ewald Zimmermann, the first editor at the young publishing house. He studied the piano at the Folkwangschule in Essen with Detlef Kraus, with Ludwig Hoffmann in Munich and with Maria Tipo in Florence.
He gave concerts in a permanent duo partnership with Hansjörg Schellenberger, who was later to become the solo oboe player with the Berlin Philharmonic, and made several recordings with the Deutsche Grammophon-Gesellschaft, with Denon and Sony. Other chamber music partners included András Adorján, Stefan Dohr, Wolfgang Schulz, Claes H. Ahnsjö. Following a teaching position in Munich, Rolf Koenen was appointed as a professor at the Berlin University of the Arts in 1982.