Description: Gabriel Faure (1845-1924) composed his thirteen Nocturnes over a forty-six-year period from 1875-1921 which track the development of his unique compositional style. The first three nocturnes are rather conventional nineteenth-century salon works reminiscent of “songs without words,” but already show signs of the harmonic distinctiveness to come. The next five nocturnes are more complex, but not revolutionary by Debussy’s standards of originality. Fauré’s music up to 1902 can be seen as an important step on the path between late Romanticism and the experimentation of the early twentieth century. However, the post-1908 nocturnes (Nos. 9-13) are decidedly in a category all to themselves, avoiding all manner of ornament, decoration, and sentimentality. These works are haunting in their enigmatic austerity and seriousness, and exceedingly difficult to perform well. As Fauré once said, “J’ai reculé les limites du raffinement.” (“I have drawn back the limits of over-refinement [affectation].”) Fauré’s nocturnes are intimate, delicate, elusive, reflective works constructed with a solid mastery of compositional technique and understanding of the piano’s resonances. Their musical sensibility is very sophisticated, especially in the later works which encompass a complex harmonic world of extended tonality and modality that is both very personalized and strange. His melodies are continuously unfolding, yet are restrained in their expression. Reprint edition of Nocturnes Nos. 1-6.

• M121791 / 36-M121791 NOCTURNES NOS.1-6 SOLO $12.95Buy Now