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Overview
This is a comprehensive biography for the general reader of French composer Gabriel Faure (1845-1924), one of the best-loved French composers of his era for works such as his Requiem, "Pavane", "Dolly Suite, and "Cantique de Jean Racine." Faure's music has a unique blend of vigor and restraint, sensuality and purity: an individual voice with a degree of integrity that helped him to resist the overwhelming forces—notably the music of Wagner—that held his Parisian contemporaries in thrall. His artistic independence served to inspire many of the next generation of French composers seeking to create a new Gallic identity beyond World War I. At the Paris Conservatoire, Faure's composition teaching was vital to such figures as Maurice Ravel, Nadia Boulanger and Charles Koechlin. Faure has often been thought of as a dreamy, somewhat unworldly individual; this book, however, reveals his ambition and decisiveness. Faure's life and works are explored in the context of the creative melting pot of fin-de-siecle Paris. His relationship with such figures as Saint-Saens, Liszt, Proust and Verlaine are considered in detail and help to create a portrait of this fascinating milieu. This biography, which charts Faure's long and difficult rise to fame, sets out to illuminate his individuality and reveal his enduring legacy to French music.
Gabriel Faure is part of Phaidon's successful 20th Century Composers series, which presents authoritative and engaging biographies of the great creative musicians of our time, augmented by striking visual material and essential reference information.
Synopsis
This is a comprehensive biography for the general reader of French composer Gabriel Faure (1845-1924), one of the best-loved French composers of his era for works such as his Requiem, "Pavane", "Dolly Suite, and "Cantique de Jean Racine." Faure's music has a unique blend of vigor and restraint, sensuality and purity: an individual voice with a degree of integrity that helped him to resist the overwhelming forces—notably the music of Wagner—that held his Parisian contemporaries in thrall. His artistic independence served to inspire many of the next generation of French composers seeking to create a new Gallic identity beyond World War I. At the Paris Conservatoire, Faure's composition teaching was vital to such figures as Maurice Ravel, Nadia Boulanger and Charles Koechlin. Faure has often been thought of as a dreamy, somewhat unworldly individual; this book, however, reveals his ambition and decisiveness. Faure's life and works are explored in the context of the creative melting pot of fin-de-siecle Paris. His relationship with such figures as Saint-Saens, Liszt, Proust and Verlaine are considered in detail and help to create a portrait of this fascinating milieu. This biography, which charts Faure's long and difficult rise to fame, sets out to illuminate his individuality and reveal his enduring legacy to French music.
Gabriel Faure is part of Phaidon's successful 20th Century Composers series, which presents authoritative and engaging biographies of the great creative musicians of our time, augmented by striking visual material and essential reference information.