Gabriel Urbain Fauré was a distinguished French composer, organist, pianist, and teacher born on May 12, 1845, in Pamiers, Ariège, France. He passed away on November 4, 1924, in Paris1. Fauré was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style significantly influenced many 20th-century composers.
Fauré’s early talent for music was evident, leading him to be sent to the École Niedermeyer music college in Paris at the age of nine, where he was trained to be a church organist and choirmaster. Among his teachers was Camille Saint-Saëns, who became a lifelong friend1. After graduating in 1865, Fauré earned a modest living as an organist and teacher, which initially left him little time for composition.
His career flourished in middle age when he held the important posts of organist of the Église de la Madeleine and director of the Paris Conservatoire. However, even then, he struggled to find time for composing and often retreated to the countryside during the summer holidays to focus on his work. By his last years, he was recognized in France as the leading French composer of his day, and in 1922, an unprecedented national musical tribute was held for him in Paris, headed by the president of the French Republic.
Fauré’s music has been described as a bridge between the end of Romanticism and the modernism of the early 20th century. His works, which include the Pavane, Requiem, Sicilienne, nocturnes for piano, and songs like “Après un rêve” and “Clair de lune”, are known for their refined and gentle nature12. His later compositions, created in a more harmonically and melodically complex style, are considered some of his most highly regarded works.
During the last twenty years of his life, Fauré suffered from increasing deafness. His music from this period is sometimes elusive and withdrawn in character, and at other times turbulent and impassioned, contrasting with the charm of his earlier works. Despite the challenges, Fauré’s legacy continues, with his harmonic and melodic innovations influencing the teaching of harmony for later generations.