Great Composers: Gabriel Fauré
Summary
TLDRThe video discusses the life and career of Gabriel Fauré, a French composer born in 1845. Despite early success in church music, Fauré struggled with a lack of religious passion, leading to controversies and career challenges. His music, especially for piano, was intimate and modern, contrasting with the traditionalism of his era. He was a beloved professor, influencing future composers like Ravel. Later in life, he faced personal difficulties and health issues, including deafness. However, his legacy endures as a pioneer of French art songs and modernism in classical music.
Takeaways
- 🎶 Gabriel Fauré was born in 1845 and displayed musical talent at a young age, leading to his enrollment in a music-focused boarding school.
- 🎹 Fauré was trained as an organist but preferred composing for the piano, producing intimate pieces rather than grand organ compositions.
- 😔 Despite his talents, Fauré faced challenges in the church music world due to his lack of religious zeal, which led to multiple church positions.
- ❤️ Fauré's personal life was marked by heartbreak, including a broken engagement and complicated romantic relationships.
- 🎼 Fauré's career in the French music scene was slow to gain recognition, but he remained dedicated to his own style rather than following contemporary trends.
- 📚 Fauré became a professor at the Paris Conservatoire, where he nurtured a new generation of French composers, including Maurice Ravel and the Boulanger sisters.
- 🎻 Though he composed for many instruments, Fauré was not known for orchestration and often left the task to others.
- 👂 Fauré suffered from a hearing disorder later in life, which distorted his perception of pitch and contributed to his retirement.
- 🇫🇷 He was honored with a national celebration in 1922, acknowledging his significant contributions to French music, though he could not hear the tribute due to his deafness.
- ✨ Fauré's music is considered timeless, blending traditional French grace with innovative elements, especially in the realm of French art song.
Q & A
Who was Gabriel Fauré and what is he known for?
-Gabriel Fauré was a French composer born in 1845, recognized as a key figure in French music. He is best known for his contributions to French art songs (mélodies) and piano compositions, with works like his Requiem being particularly famous.
How did Fauré’s musical education begin?
-Fauré's musical education began at the age of nine when he enrolled in the Niedermeyer School, which was dedicated to church music. His early training focused on organ and harmonium, but his passion later shifted to the piano.
What impact did Louis Niedermeyer and Camille Saint-Saëns have on Fauré’s career?
-Louis Niedermeyer founded the school where Fauré trained, while Camille Saint-Saëns, who succeeded Niedermeyer, became a mentor to Fauré. Saint-Saëns had a significant influence on Fauré’s early career, guiding his development as a composer.
Why did Fauré struggle with a career in church music?
-Fauré struggled with a career in church music because he was not deeply religious and often had conflicts with church authorities. His lack of discipline, like showing up to mass after a night of partying, led to his resignation from several church positions.
What was the relationship between Fauré and Emma Bardac, and how did it affect his personal life?
-Fauré had an affair with Emma Bardac, a married actress, which helped him overcome a period of deep depression. Their relationship was one of many romantic involvements during his life, though it did not result in a significant shift in his music career.
What role did Fauré play in the development of the next generation of French composers?
-As a professor at the Paris Conservatoire, Fauré taught and influenced the next generation of French composers, including Maurice Ravel and the Boulanger sisters. His open-mindedness and encouragement of creativity allowed many students to flourish under his guidance.
What was Fauré’s approach to orchestration, and how did it impact his compositions?
-Fauré was not particularly enthusiastic about orchestration, often leaving the task to his students or other composers. His preference for intimate, small-scale compositions over large orchestral works limited the scope of his orchestral music.
How did Fauré influence the Paris Conservatoire during his tenure as director?
-As director of the Paris Conservatoire, Fauré reformed the institution by promoting fairness in student evaluations and broadening the repertoire to include modern music. He opposed the favoritism and outdated practices of the previous faculty.
What challenges did Fauré face in his later years, particularly regarding his health?
-In his later years, Fauré developed a type of deafness that caused severe distortion in his hearing, making it difficult for him to continue composing or listening to music. Despite this, he completed his final work, a string quartet, shortly before his death in 1924.
How is Fauré’s legacy perceived today in terms of his musical contributions?
-Fauré's legacy is seen as timeless, particularly for his contributions to French art songs and piano music. His music blends classical traditions with modern elements, and he is credited with influencing the development of modern French music.
Outlines
🎶 Gabriel Fauré's Early Musical Journey
This paragraph introduces Gabriel Fauré, born in 1845, as the only musically inclined child in a family of six. It describes his early fascination with the harmonium and how his talent led him to enroll in a boarding school started by Louis Niedermayer, which focused on church music. Fauré's career initially centered around church music, influenced heavily by his teacher Saint-Saëns after Niedermayer's death. However, Fauré struggled with church duties due to his lack of strong religious conviction and a lifestyle that often clashed with his responsibilities as an organist.
🎹 Fauré’s Shift from Organ to Piano and His Struggles
The focus shifts to Fauré's lack of interest in the organ, despite his talent. He preferred the piano and composed extensively for it, though his compositions initially struggled to gain recognition. Fauré participated in the Franco-Prussian War and later fled to Switzerland, where he taught and composed. However, he found it difficult to break into the established music scene, as older French composers still dominated. This paragraph also touches on Fauré's compartmentalization of his personal life from his music and the heartache following his broken engagement to Marianne Viardot, which deeply affected him.
💔 Fauré’s Personal Life and Musical Struggles
This paragraph delves into Fauré's turbulent personal life. After his broken engagement, he traveled with Saint-Saëns to recover from his heartbreak. Fauré, known for his charm, had numerous relationships and later married Marie Fremiet, though their relationship was more like a friendship. He continued to compose and perform but faced challenges with his works, which were considered too 'modern' by the conservative French music establishment. His affair with actress Emma Bardac, along with his compositions, helped him emerge from depression, though his music still struggled to find acceptance in large-scale settings.
🎻 Fauré’s Career and Influence at the Conservatoire
Fauré eventually secured a teaching position at the Paris Conservatoire, where he influenced a new generation of composers, including Ravel and the Boulanger sisters. His teaching style was open-minded, allowing students to explore their musical ideas freely. Despite his dislike for orchestration and large ensembles, Fauré remained a pivotal figure in French music, navigating the politics of the Conservatoire and broadening its repertoire. His tenure helped modernize the institution, although he faced resistance from the old guard, who preferred more traditional approaches to composition.
🏛 Fauré’s Legacy as a Composer and Teacher
Fauré’s final years at the Conservatoire saw him rise to leadership, where he reformed teaching methods and promoted modern music. He was respected for his ability to mediate between opposing musical factions, and even though his own compositions were seen as dangerously modern, his impact on students and French music was significant. Fauré’s reforms allowed for a more diverse repertoire, despite resistance from conservative faculty members. His influence extended beyond his own works, as he mentored many great composers of the 20th century.
👂 Fauré’s Retirement and Final Compositions
In his later years, Fauré retired from the Conservatoire due to a form of deafness that distorted his perception of pitch. Despite his hearing loss, he continued to compose, completing a string quartet before his death in 1924. Fauré was honored with a national tribute before his passing, solidifying his status as one of France’s most important composers. His music, known for its intimacy and modernity, remains influential, especially in the realm of French art songs and piano compositions. Fauré’s legacy is that of a gentleman and visionary who balanced modernism with grace.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Gabriel Fauré
💡Niedermayer School
💡Church Music
💡Franco-Prussian War
💡Paris Conservatoire
💡Modernism
💡Requiem
💡Emma Bardac
💡Maurice Ravel
💡Impressionism
Highlights
Gabriel Fauré was a beloved professor at the Pitti Conservatoire.
Fauré was born in 1845 and displayed musicality at a young age.
He was influenced by Camille Saint-Saëns, who became a mentor figure.
Fauré's early career was heavily influenced by Saint-Saëns.
Fauré faced challenges with his career in the church due to his lack of religious fervor.
Fauré was a world-class organist but had a greater interest in the piano.
Fauré's music was intimate and not suited for the organ's inherent bombast.
Fauré escaped to Switzerland during the Franco-Prussian War.
Fauré's compositions were not significantly recognized during his early career.
Fauré was engaged to Marie Véron and had a heartbreak when she broke it off.
Fauré was known as a ladies' man and had several romantic relationships.
Fauré's financial situation was precarious, living paycheck to paycheck.
Fauré experienced clinical depression but recovered with the help of an affair.
Fauré's music was considered dangerously modern by the Conservatoire faculty.
Fauré was hired at the Conservatoire despite resistance from the faculty.
Fauré was a fair and thorough teacher, encouraging the next generation of composers.
Fauré was not fond of orchestration and often left it to his pupils.
Fauré's open-mindedness towards modernism was more influential than his compositions.
Fauré became the leader of the Conservatoire, implementing significant reforms.
Fauré's music gained recognition in France but had a harder time abroad.
Fauré was respected as a mediator between conservative and modernist factions.
Fauré retired from the Conservatoire due to a peculiar kind of deafness.
Fauré's last composition was a string quartet, which he had been hesitant to write.
Fauré passed away in 1924 from pneumonia, likely exacerbated by his smoking.
Fauré's legacy was that he opened the door to modernism in music education.
Fauré's piano music is considered a specialty due to its organistic qualities.
Fauré's main contribution to music was in the realm of the French art song.
Transcripts
through the upheavals and controversies
in the Pitti Conservatoire he was the
one professor that everyone liked I'm
the classical nerd and today we're
talking about Gabriel fauré for I was
born in 1845 and was the only child in a
family of six to display musicality
playing a harmonium at his school Chapel
badly but with great zeal apparently he
was good enough on the instrument to
attract the attention of various
important people which led to a domino
effect of sorts and all of which led to
the nine-year-old for a being enrolled
at a just opened a boarding school that
had been started by Louis Niedermayer
which is just one of those great names
the harmonium often stood in for the
organ in smaller chapels and likewise
the school that far I found himself that
was one that was dedicated to the craft
of church music what led far right out
of just focusing on church music was the
influence of Kinesis all we took over
when Niedermayer died so fel was well on
his way to becoming the elder statesman
of French music and for a nine years his
junior looked up to him as if not a
father figure than certainly something
akin to a favorite uncle this close
relationship means that the early arc of
Flores career can be heavily traced to
the influence of stuff off after his
graduation he became an organist and a
private instructor the real problem with
for his career in the church is that he
wasn't like a real super religious
person and he couldn't compartmentalize
the priest at his first church forced
him into resignation after he showed up
to play Mass one day having not changed
or slept from the night before he
partied a little too hard and it showed
he ended up bouncing around between
several different churches because he
was still good at his instrument in fact
he was so good that Southall said that
he was a world-class organist when he
wanted to be the fact is that for a
really wasn't interested in the organ
nearly as much as he was interested in
the piano and this is laid bare and his
collected work which features much solo
piano music against no solo organ music
forays music is just too intimate for
the inherent bombast of the
Morgan after participating in the bloody
franco-prussian war for a escaped to
Switzerland because Paris's streets had
just become too violent when he found in
Switzerland was nothing short of his old
school and he taught there for a while
under the auspices of an educational
institution in exile of course it goes
without saying that through all of this
he composed but he wasn't really able to
crack into the repertoire in any
significant way the great French
composers of the previous generation
were still going strong and they had
well-established reputations because he
liked to compartmentalize his life and
his music he wasn't one to let the two
interact in any significant way that is
the moods that he would experience would
not be channeled into his pieces this
wound up being a blessing and a curse
but it was also immune to the influence
of other composers such as Rick a frog
owner while other composers were
grappling with how to write music in the
face of this so-called music of the
future how I was just simply happy doing
his own thing even if the publication's
weren't there to show for it in July
1877 he became engaged to many MVR doe
daughter of Pauline viado who sell all
he frequented she broke it off later in
the year for reasons we still do not
know but it probably wasn't because for
a cheated now he had a lot of later
indiscretions but he was apparently so
heartbroken about this that says all
felt the need to take him on a whirlwind
tour around Europe just to take his mind
off of it for I was known as a
preeminent ladies man who used these
salons as a jumping-off point for his uh
you know marriage did tumble for a in
1883 to med Ephraim yet but he soon came
to despise domestically in all its forms
their relationship was more like two
close friends than an actual marriage
although they did have two sons one of
his lady friends during the marriage was
Emma Bardock an actress who was probably
best known to music history as the wife
of Debussy who didn't try to kill
herself
long story also for I probably wasn't
the father of her illegitimate daughter
but there was no French Jerry Springer
so I guess we'll never know if you
hadn't figured that at this point for a
was considered wildly attractive
Tchaikovsky in fact called him
and I quote adorable this helped him
find mistresses including a long-term
girlfriend for whose apartment he paid
the speaking of money
he was really living paycheck to
paycheck what he got was for his
services at the eglee didn't matter law
as well as his customary lesson giving
his composition life which had seemed to
take an upturn around the same time as
his ultimately failed first engagement
also really failed to get off the ground
in any significant way Farah was
perfectly content to write small-scale
intimate works his larger efforts when
completed often struggled to be
performed his status at the Alita de
Madeline did not help the priest there
called his efforts novelties and he said
that the church had no place for them in
their repertoire he also never saw a
cent in royalties royalties were not
standard a business practice at the time
nor the real top-notch name-brand
artists could really command that he
just simply sold his manuscripts to the
publisher and they gave him a flat fee
for it and a one-off payment all of this
led to a clinical depression so deep
that his friend checked in on him just
to make sure he was doing ok the
aforementioned affair with Emma Bardock
helped jolt him out of his funk in one
way or another and his composition life
soon turned around to the point that
people well knew who he was at least the
Faculty of the bureaucracy laid in petty
Conservatoire absolutely hated the idea
of bringing for aeons a professor with
their director threatening resignation
if the dangerously modern for a was so
much as considered for a position Porto
Farah is dangerous modernism was his
anticipation of the so-called
impressionist composers he didn't always
resolve all of his chords properly for
added color and frequency and this was
considered an absolute no-no he also
liked to many abrupt changes of T
nothing like Franz Schubert but the
difference was that Schubert was dead at
least according to the logic of the
Conservatoire the Conservatoire might
have successfully been able to deny for
a teaching position but they did give
him a job inspecting the provincial
conservatories but due to some
bafflingly childish for the whole
ambitions on the part of the top wrongs
of the Conservatoire faculty for I was
indeed hired in eighteen
six to replace jules massenet who
resigned because he was denied
dictatorial powers over the entire
Conservatoire as composition professor
Farah was thorough and fair it was under
his watch that the next generation of
great French composers came percolating
through from Maurice Ravel into the
Boulanger sisters his pupils all painted
the same picture that have a
kind-hearted fellow who admired the
masterpieces and encouraged his people
survived music that clearly articulated
their ideas he wasn't convinced that his
way was the only way and that really set
him apart from his Conservatoire
colleagues for I was not enthralled with
orchestration and didn't consider it to
be the integral part of a composition
that actually is and there's probably
stemmed from his discomfort in writing
for large ensembles and in larger forms
the things he would orchestrate were to
a mixed reception and when he had to
orchestrate something he occasionally
left it to of pupil who was better at it
than he he was inclined to think that
the structure of the music overrode to a
certain extent what instruments it was
played on this shortcoming did not stop
him from teaching some of the best
orchestrators of the 20th century which
includes Ravel and Lily blue Marche it
was his open-mindedness
towards the novel that was considered
more dangerously modern than anything
he'd written and for a was all but an
outcast amongst the Conservatoire
faculty when the Ravel affair broke out
into a scandal of significant public
outrage it was far a who arguably
benefited more than Ravel himself when
the government stepped in to reorganize
the woeful Conservatoire they tapped for
a to be the leader Ravel out of loyalty
had audited for his classes for three
years after his expulsion from the
Conservatoire as effective czar of the
place for a routed out the teachers who
gave preferential treatment to their
students and competitions which led to
an atmosphere where students felling
they had to ingratiate themselves with a
bunch of different professors just to
get ahead in their careers by appointing
independent councils and judges many of
these despotic professors tendered their
resignations for a also broadened their
to for limited scope of the pieces the
Conservatoire actually taught he allowed
modern pieces so long as they were part
of the repertoire after
well it would be unfair to their vocal
students if they didn't at least become
familiar say with vogner's Tristan una
Silva although that was the one vogue
Marian opera that for ages could not
stand doesn't dare process as one would
imagine was a full-time job and the only
time that far I had for composition was
the summers however since he now held a
prestigious post in French musical
circles people began noticing his music
at least in France he had a lot harder
time getting his music outside of his
homeland
except for England where he always had a
devoted group of fans well he had drawn
the ire of the Conservatoire old guard
who likened him to Robespierre he was
still a figure who commanded respect
because he was just so darn nice to
everyone
his other nickname was the Archangel
when Ravel in his circle broke away from
visit Dandi these views were extremely
conservative for I was the only person
who could keep the peace or at least act
as a mediator when he cared about was
that Ravel's group and Gandhi's group of
both groups that promoted music and
that's really all he cared about in the
end even less cease who tried to set
themselves apart from the rest of French
music respected for a except for their
leader pulak whose music is ironically
the closest to forays of any of the
group what can we say far I was just the
quintessential French gentleman for I
eventually retired from the
Conservatoire when he was 75 years old
due to a bizarre kind of deafness that
made things sound out of tune lower
pitches sounded up to 1/3 lower and
higher pitches up to 1/3 higher and this
just encroached on the middle register
until he could hear everything distorted
and eventually nothing at all but at
this point his fame had been established
in 1922 a national Oma's was thrown for
for a a huge formal black-tie occasion
where fari was hosted by none other than
the president of the republic himself at
this point he was completely deaf but he
set in raptured by a tall and touched
that they'd have an all for a concert
where the composer himself couldn't hear
a single note Torre's last piece was a
string quartet something he wanted to
write for years but always continued to
put off because he was scared of the
specter of Beethoven he did not want to
take on Beethoven on
beethoven's home turf but time was
running out he completed it through
failing health and he did not like the
inevitable Beethovenian comparison just
because they both happened to go deaf
people made it anyway and you got to
presume they have their reasons but I'm
not buying it he passed away in November
1924 aged 79 from pneumonia probably
brought on because of his smoking habit
don't smoke kids you might end up a dead
french guy it was out of respect for
their former leader that the
conservative walk continued to embrace
modernism but it was through gritted
teeth and after 4a passed away they went
back to their older more conservative
ways but the genie was out of the bottle
a Pandora's box of modernism had been
opened and try as they might the faculty
could not put it back they ignored
modernism at the perils of their
students as a pianist and organist who
only wrote for the former and quite
extensively I might add Far East music
really isn't as idiomatic for the
instrument as you would expect the organ
is and I know this from experience a
very different beast than the piano you
just can't throw a pianist in front of
an organist and expect good results to
automatically emerge his music is not
written to show off the flashy technical
skill of the virtuoso but rather the
accomplished amateur who was versed in
the weird unusual fingerings familiar to
the organ but often the kinds of stuff
that pianists aren't used to and or hate
again speaking from personal experience
forays piano music then become something
of a specialty something that you only
pursue if you're familiar with the
quirks of the organ it is perhaps the
most difficult genre if you want to be
as satisfying as possible wrote far a
about his piano music and he held a bit
of a grudge against the pianist that he
felt were ignoring his compositions for
their instrument for eyes main the
contribution to written music was in the
realm of the French art song the melody
German art song the lead was so
ingrained in musical culture that it
took great effort to save the melody
from extinction at least according to
Ravel who was probably looking at his
teacher through some rose-colored
glasses what is true is that the
melodies of for a are they go to French
art songs of the period interest in the
voice is near Universal in French
composition
but Farah is unique in that his melodies
are the only ones to have made it into
the repertory in their respective genres
aside from is often revised requiem
things such as his operas really never
made a place for themselves in their
repertory the Opera has never made it
partially because they were consciously
nonviolent and non extravagant critical
opinion of them is still mixed as far as
writing for the stage was concerned he
much preferred writing incidental music
for plays because for a is the working
compasses everything from the Turks
modes to the barest hint of atonal jazz
all filtered through the grace of
turn-of-the-century France his work is
widely seen as timeless for me for a
said arts and music especially consists
of raising ourselves as high as possible
above that which is
[Music]
[Applause]
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