Great Composers: Gabriel Fauré

Summary

The 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

00:00

🎶 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.

05:02

🎹 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.

10:04

💔 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.

Keywords

💡Gabriel Fauré

Gabriel Fauré was a French composer born in 1845, known for his significant contributions to French music, particularly in the realms of art songs and piano music. He is the central figure of the video, with his career and influence on French music forming the narrative backbone. Fauré was known for his intimate style, often composing small-scale works and avoiding the grandiosity of the organ, despite being a world-class organist.

💡Niedermayer School

The Niedermayer School was a music boarding school founded by Louis Niedermayer, which specialized in church music. Fauré was enrolled here at the age of nine, and it played a formative role in his musical education. The school's focus on church music shaped the early trajectory of Fauré’s career, though he later expanded his repertoire beyond religious music.

💡Church Music

Church music, particularly organ music, was a central part of Fauré's early career. He served as an organist at various churches but struggled with the role due to his lack of deep religious conviction. His disinterest in organ music is highlighted by his preference for piano compositions, despite his talent for the former. This tension between church duties and personal artistic ambitions is a key theme in his life story.

💡Franco-Prussian War

The Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) was a significant event that affected Fauré’s life. During the war, he participated in military action and later fled to Switzerland as Paris became unsafe. The war interrupted his musical career and pushed him into exile, where he continued teaching and composing.

💡Paris Conservatoire

The Paris Conservatoire is a prestigious music school where Fauré eventually became a professor and later its director. His tenure at the Conservatoire is notable for his efforts to modernize the institution and promote a more open and progressive approach to music education. Fauré’s influence helped shape the next generation of French composers, including Maurice Ravel and the Boulanger sisters.

💡Modernism

Modernism in music, as discussed in relation to Fauré, refers to his anticipation of newer musical styles, particularly Impressionism, which broke away from traditional structures. Fauré’s music, with its unconventional harmonic choices and lack of formal resolutions, was seen as dangerously modern by the Conservatoire's conservative faculty. His modernist tendencies contributed to his initial marginalization within French musical institutions.

💡Requiem

Fauré’s *Requiem* is one of his most famous and enduring works. Unlike other requiems, which are often grand and dramatic, Fauré’s version is more intimate and serene, reflecting his personal approach to composition. It represents his skill in writing for smaller ensembles and vocalists, aligning with his preference for subtlety over bombast in music.

💡Emma Bardac

Emma Bardac was an actress and one of Fauré’s romantic interests during his marriage. Bardac’s relationship with Fauré is significant in the video, as it helped him overcome a deep depression, rejuvenating his creative energy. She was also the wife of composer Claude Debussy, and her connection to both composers adds to her historical importance in French music circles.

💡Maurice Ravel

Maurice Ravel was one of Fauré’s most famous students at the Paris Conservatoire. Ravel, along with other composers of his generation, was heavily influenced by Fauré’s teaching and music. The video discusses the controversy surrounding Ravel’s expulsion from the Conservatoire and Fauré’s role in mediating the tensions between the old guard and modernist composers.

💡Impressionism

Impressionism in music, as it relates to Fauré, refers to a style characterized by ambiguity, fluidity, and a focus on atmosphere rather than strict formal structure. While Fauré was not fully an Impressionist composer, his harmonic innovations and approach to tonality laid the groundwork for later composers like Debussy. His progressive musical ideas were often at odds with the more conservative tastes of his time.

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]