Why do the Weasels, Stoats, Mustelids and Ferrets ...

[dulcinea]

... like Faure so much that they play his mushic every day of the year?
Except for a very few pieces, such as the Pavane, the work of Faure is that of a musical fairy poof whose creations are the aural equivalent of plain yogurt and sugarless Jell-O. Saint-Saens should be ashamed of having had such an epicene twit as a pupil.

[jbuck919]

Many people hold at least some of the music of Fauré in higher esteem than you do, but if you are going to single out something as an exception to what you consider his mediocrity, then why is it the Pavane, which is not awful but is something in the way of Fauré's Claire de lune or Boléro?

[Beckmesser]

Don't get your knickers in a twist. It's only music.

There is simply no accounting for taste.

I happen to like Fauré's A major sonata for violin and piano. It almost sounds like Brahms.

[dulcinea]

Many people hold at least some of the music of Fauré in higher esteem than you do, but if you are going to single out something as an exception to what you consider his mediocrity, then why is it the Pavane, which is not awful but is something in the way of Fauré's Claire de lune or Boléro?

Its tune works out well, especially with the chorus. Like Bolero, it's memorable, although perhaps not for the best reasons.

[Wallingford]

...and that Requiem is something special. As one critic described it, it's "The People's Requiem." Translation? Faure had such writing knack and facility to write a major choral work that's workable for any group of singers, regardless of virtuosity. It can be prepared relatively quickly.

Certainly not something composed by a fairy poof.

[Wallingford]

...and the Nocturnes are among the most achingly beautiful piano music ever. #11, in F-sharp minor, for instance.

[maestrob]

.....and then, there's the cello sonatas.......



Exquisite stuff.....

[diegobueno]

This radio station must be commended for its exquisite taste if it plays the music of such a master as Gabriel Fauré on a daily basis.

[erato]

The best chamber music - by far - written between Brahms and Debussy. And some of the best and most probing piano music of the same period, though it doesn't yield its secrets easily to the casual observer. A sublime master.

[diegobueno]

The best chamber music - by far - written between Brahms and Debussy. And some of the best and most probing piano music of the same period, though it doesn't yield its secrets easily to the casual observer. A sublime master.

Yes, this is very introverted music. It doesn't come out and slap you on the back and say "Hey, howya doin'?"

Some of Fauré's best chamber music -- the Piano Trio, the String Quartet, the 2nd Violin Sonata, the two Cello Sonatas -- were written after Debussy's death. They all have his special late-period harmonic practice which pulls gently at the fabric of tonality without ever tearing it.

[John F]

[Teresa B]

The Piano Quintets are beautiful.

Teresa

[dulcinea]

...and that Requiem is something special. As one critic described it, it's "The People's Requiem." Translation? Faure had such writing knack and facility to write a major choral work that's workable for any group of singers, regardless of virtuosity. It can be prepared relatively quickly.

Certainly not something composed by a fairy poof.

Why does that narcoleptic lullaby lack a proper Dies Irae? A Requiem without a DI is like a stew without beef, or pasta without oil, or a cake without sugar or vanilla.

[Wallingford]

...and that Requiem is something special. As one critic described it, it's "The People's Requiem." Translation? Faure had such writing knack and facility to write a major choral work that's workable for any group of singers, regardless of virtuosity. It can be prepared relatively quickly.

Certainly not something composed by a fairy poof.

Why does that narcoleptic lullaby lack a proper Dies Irae? A Requiem without a DI is like a stew without beef, or pasta without oil, or a cake without sugar or vanilla.

It's actually quite tasty. And its sentiments are still sincere.

[John F]

I think it's quite enlightened of Fauré, and others like Duruflé, to compose a mass for the dead that doesn't threaten the living with damnation and hellfire at the Last Judgment. Less dramatic, of course, but after all, we're not talking about an opera - despite what operatic composers have done with the sensational opportunities the Dies Irae text provides.

[jbuck919]

A Requiem without a DI is like a stew without beef, or pasta without oil, or a cake without sugar or vanilla.

As a sequence, i.e., a popularizing medieval accretion, the Dies Irae is a late addition to the proper of the Requiem Mass; we even know who wrote it (Thomas of Celano). While it was already firmly established by the high Renaissance and (unfortunately) retained by the Council of Trent, which in general did away with such things, many if not most Renaissance Requiems also omit a setting of it (it would have been sung to the well-known plain tune instead).

In addition, as you know, Fauré did set the Libera me. This contains the passage Dies irae, dies illa, oh what a day that will be (to paraphrase), which seems to have been the inspiration for Celano's verses, and Fauré changes the music rather dramatically at that point. So one could speculate that he chose a text that also does not occur in every Requiem in part in order to compensate for having set aside the more lurid and lengthy version.

[PJME]

Ballade in Fis-groot voor piano en orkest (1881), op. 19
http://youtu.be/5gN0DazZFGo

Fantaisie G-groot voor piano en orkest (1918), op. 111
http://youtu.be/CSVgJCvAGPU

Masques et Bergamasques ,suite, op. 112 (1919)
http://youtu.be/c4CG2ZSfgA0

It is sad Dulcinea that you don't like Fauré 's music....

P.

[jbuck919]

Ballade in Fis-groot voor piano en orkest (1881), op. 19
http://youtu.be/5gN0DazZFGo

Fantaisie G-groot voor piano en orkest (1918), op. 111
http://youtu.be/CSVgJCvAGPU

Masques et Bergamasques ,suite, op. 112 (1919)
http://youtu.be/c4CG2ZSfgA0

It is sad Dulcinea that you don't like Fauré 's music....

Perhaps she has never heard it in the original Flemish.

[karlhenning]

. . . A Requiem without a [Dies irae] is like a stew without beef, or pasta without oil, or a cake without sugar or vanilla.

Right, like that vapid Brahms Op.45 . . . .

Cheers,
~Karl

[John F]

Actually, I've had stew without beef, pasta without oil, and cake without sugar or vanilla, and they're all good!

[karlhenning]

Actually, I've had stew without beef, pasta without oil, and cake without sugar or vanilla, and they're all good!

Precisamente!

Cheers,
~Karl

[THEHORN]

Ferrets are the cutest little critters ! They're now very popular as pets . Faure's music is certainly
understated stuff, but it's very beautiful and refined . I've been listening to this EMI CD ofhis music which I recently borrowed from my library .
It contains the Ballade for piano and orchestra , the Elegiew for cello and orchestra, the Berceuse for
violin and orchestra , the Fantasie for piano and orchestra , Le sDjinns for chorus and orchestra, a brief
sort of canata , the incidental music to the play "Caligula", and the prelude to his only opera,Penelope,
based on Homer's Odyssey . All these worls are highly enjoyable . They're filled with Faure's customary elegant crafstmanship .
There's an Erato recording of Penelope which I have heard , with Jessye Norman and Dutoit conducting the Monte Carlo orchestra and chorus . It's an opera that deserves ot be better known.

[Wallingford]

I've had the Barcarolle in A Minor for piano stuck in my head these last few days....hafta play it to get it un-stuck.....

[diegobueno]

The First Violin Sonata is the one that gets played all the time. As gorgeous as it is, there's something special about no. 2:

[Teresa B]

Ferrets are the cutest little critters ! They're now very popular as pets .

You know, I was just thinking that...and what is so bad about stoats, mustelids and weasels? They're just little mammals out there to make an honest living, and if they like Faure, so be it.

Teresa

[karlhenning]

The curious lengths to which some will go, merely to express derision. An activity, it seemeth to me, which giveth no glory to the Almighty.

Cheerseth,
~Karl

[jbuck919]

Of course "mustelid" is the family name that includes all the others. To be consistent, dulcinea should have said "marten" or even "mink." But perhaps they don't sound nasty enough.

(Maybe she doesn't know that there is a species of marten in Germany that chews through spark plug wires. It happened to me.)

[nut-job]

I don't get it. Why would someone think they could make hay from the fact that they lack the discernment to appreciate Faure?

[THEHORN]

And don't forget the immortal mustelid aria from Mozart's Abduction From The Seraglio "Marten Aller Arten".
"martens of all kinds ".

[Ted Quanrud]

And don't forget the immortal mustelid aria from Mozart's Abduction From The Seraglio "Marten Aller Arten".
"martens of all kinds ".

As sung by Anne Sophie von Otter

[jbuck919]

And don't forget the immortal mustelid aria from Mozart's Abduction From The Seraglio "Marten Aller Arten".
"martens of all kinds ".

As sung by Anne Sophie von Otter.

Gee I wish I had thought of that one.