Fauré's "Lullaby of Death"
 

Fauré, France's greatest composer in the latter half of the nineteenth century, composed his Requiem in D Minor (Op. 48) between 1887 & 1890.

During this time, both his mother & his father died. A child's grief may have found its way into the work, but Fauré also said he composed the Requiem "for fun, if I may be permitted to say so."

Around 1910, Fauré noticed his hearing growing fainter. Sounds became distorted; pitches on the low & high ends of his hearing were indistinguishable from neighboring pitches. Fauré was forced to abandon his teaching.

Fauré died of pneumonia in 1924, just shy of 80 years old.

“Everything I managed to entertain by way of religious illusion I put into my Requiem, which moreover is dominated from beginning to end by a very human feeling of faith in eternal rest.”



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I like a lot of classical music. I don't know my composers well, nor could I name but maybe a FEW pieces that are my fav's but this sort of music is just so inspiring. There is something about classical vs. music w/ lyrics where you can paint more of a mental picture.
Besides classical composers, I also love Ragtime kind of music. How could you not feel jubilant after a few listens?

Very nice. I had never heard of this composer but I'm glad I know now. Thanks.

Thanks David :)

Good thing you said latter half because I was going to have to bring up Berlioz :cool:

That was a lovely listen, David- thank you.

:) ...yeah that crossed my mind, but I didn't feel brave enough to take up the debate.......

There is a wonderful version of Les Nuits d'été, sung by Veronique Gens that is well worth hearing.

I am unsure if David is into Berlioz. I cannot imagine he does not appreciate the influence of Beethoven on The Symphonie Fantastique, though Berlioz’s originality shines in that as well - he went, if you will, somewhat where LVB never went for whatever reason.

For me, this is sublime:



(mostly good production IMO - though I have seen it with church bells - actually, I saw the 1812 outside one time when the condutor used what appeared to be all the churches in town :eek: -- needless to say the entire audience burst into tears mostly in unison )

Almost Wagnerian isn't it - did I just say that :laugh:

There’s no doubt that he liked to have these huge orchestras producing a bewildering scale of sound, so I guess in that respect there is a touch of Wagner to it. It is actually the songs he wrote for voice and piano that I like. They were quite complex arrangements, but beautifully structured for the female voice in particular, I think.

My problem with Symphonie Fantastique is that I have heard it played a lot and often by less strong orchestras and ensembles. It is sadly one of those pieces that musicians ‘have a go at’ when they should leave well alone. This did sound good but I prefer to listen to the piano transcription, I think it is by Liszt, I’m not sure. It is good, in fact I must try and find it.

Berlioz met Richard Wagner and it would have been interesting to know what they had to say to one another. Wagner’s Parsifal is my favourite opera and probably my favourite 4 hours of classical music. As competent as he was, Berlioz didn’t reach the heights of Wagner but had Beethoven persisted with the opera form, I might be sat here saying that one of his was my favourite:).

It is so good that we all have different tastes in music......... there isn’t such a thing as good or bad taste, just different….I think

LVB's chorals are without flaw - and, Fidelio is IMO a triumph.

I tend to like most things though.

I have to be in the mood for a Wagnerian opera though. And, no wine lest I miss the last two hours :laugh: