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| Requiem (Fauré) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Requiem |
| Composer | Gabriel Fauré |
| Native name | Requiem en ré mineur, Op. 48 |
| Caption | Gabriel Fauré, c. 1900 |
| Key | D minor |
| Opus | 48 |
| Text | Requiem mass (Latin) |
| Language | Latin |
| Composed | 1887–1890 (revisions to 1900) |
| Duration | c. 35 minutes |
| Movements | 7 (variable) |
Requiem (Fauré) is a sacred choral work by Gabriel Fauré composed mainly between 1887 and 1890 with revisions through 1900, setting the Roman Catholic Mass for the Dead in Latin. Celebrated for its serene lyricism and restraint, the work contrasts with the dramatisms of contemporaries such as Hector Berlioz, Giuseppe Verdi, and Gustav Mahler, and occupies a distinctive place in late Romantic and early modern sacred repertoire associated with institutions like Notre-Dame de Paris, the Paris Conservatoire, and the Société Nationale de Musique.
Fauré began sketching the Requiem during an era of French musical activity involving figures such as Jules Massenet, Camille Saint-Saëns, Claude Debussy, César Franck, and Édouard Lalo. Influences and contacts with Gioachino Rossini, Franz Liszt, Richard Wagner, Antonín Dvořák, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky shaped Parisian aesthetics in the 1880s as salons hosted by Pauline Viardot, Hector Berlioz’s legacy, and patrons like Nélie Jacquemart promoted new works. Fauré’s role at institutions including Église de la Madeleine, the Paris Conservatoire, the Opéra Garnier, and the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire provided contexts for liturgical and concert performance. Early drafts and revisions intersected with contemporaneous developments by Maurice Ravel, Erik Satie, Gabriel Pierné, and Albert Roussel, while correspondence with publishers such as Julien Hamelle and concepts debated at the Académie des Beaux-Arts informed publication.
The Requiem exists in several versions: a chamber scoring for choir, soloists, organ, and orchestra strings; an orchestral version with woodwinds, brass, timpani, and harp; and an original smaller liturgical scoring. Movements conventionally include "Introit et Kyrie", "Offertory", "Sanctus", "Pie Jesu", "Agnus Dei", "Libera me" and "In Paradisum", employing forces similar to those used by Luigi Cherubini, François-Adrien Boieldieu, and Jean-Philippe Rameau in French sacred traditions. Instrumentation choices relate to practices at Notre-Dame de Paris, Église de la Madeleine, and services observed by Pope Leo XIII and the Archdiocese of Paris. Performers and conductors such as Charles Munch, Pierre Monteux, Sir John Barbirolli, Otto Klemperer, and Sir Colin Davis have used both chamber ensembles and full orchestras in notable performances.
The Requiem’s first performance occurred in 1888 at La Madeleine under the direction of Charles Lamoureux with soloists drawn from Parisian opera circles including Victor Capoul and Marie van Zandt, and was associated with commemorations that involved figures such as Paul Verlaine and Stéphane Mallarmé. Early critical reception in journals edited by Théodore Dubois, Émile Zola, and Pierre Lalo contrasted with reviews in Le Figaro and La Revue des Deux Mondes; supporters included Saint-Saëns and Franz Liszt advocates, while detractors compared it unfavourably with Verdi’s Messa da Requiem, Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem, and Berlioz’s Grande Messe des Morts. Subsequent performances at venues like the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the Royal Albert Hall, and festivals such as the Three Choirs Festival expanded its profile.
Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, the Requiem entered the standard choral-orchestral repertoire, performed by ensembles including the Vienna Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, and Berlin Philharmonic. Conductors associated with landmark recordings include Ernest Ansermet, Bruno Walter, Herbert von Karajan, Leonard Bernstein, Sir Colin Davis, John Eliot Gardiner, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Sir Simon Rattle, André Previn, and Gustavo Dudamel. Notable soloists on studio and live recordings include Victoria de los Ángeles, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Janet Baker, Kiri Te Kanawa, Placido Domingo, José van Dam, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, and Jessye Norman. Labels such as EMI, Deutsche Grammophon, Sony Classical, Decca, Philips, and Harmonia Mundi have issued acclaimed editions.
Fauré’s Requiem emphasizes consolation and repose, employing modal harmonies, transparent textures, and melodic lines akin to those in works by Gabriel Pierné, Maurice Ravel, and Claude Debussy while differing from dramatic tropes used by Giuseppe Verdi, Hector Berlioz, and Gustav Mahler. The "Pie Jesu" soprano solo showcases lyricism comparable to arias by Jules Massenet and Charles Gounod. Harmonic language references late Romantic chromaticism found in César Franck and Anton Bruckner yet anticipates neoclassical clarity later associated with Ravel, Stravinsky, and Francis Poulenc. Counterpoint, modality, and use of the organ relate to traditions of Jean-Baptiste Lully and Marc-Antoine Charpentier as filtered through French liturgical practice, while choral writing reflects pedagogy of the Paris Conservatoire and methods promoted by Vincent d'Indy and Nadia Boulanger.
Fauré revised the Requiem multiple times, producing versions that passed through publishers such as Hamelle and later Universal Edition; consult editions prepared by editors linked to the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Choudens firm, and modern Urtext-style publishers for variant readings. Editorial decisions have involved choices about the "Libera me" inclusion, orchestral augmentation similar to practices of Hector Berlioz, and articulation between soloists and choir following conventions established at Notre-Dame de Paris and Église Saint-Sulpice. Comparative editions reference manuscripts held in archives associated with the Paris Conservatoire, the Bibliothèque-musée de l'Opéra, and libraries in London, Vienna, and New York.
Fauré’s Requiem influenced later sacred works by Maurice Duruflé, Olivier Messiaen, Francis Poulenc, Jean Françaix, and Ildebrando Pizzetti and informed 20th-century choral aesthetics in Britain, Germany, Italy, and the United States through practitioners such as Ralph Vaughan Williams, Benjamin Britten, Edward Elgar, and Samuel Barber. Its model of restrained liturgical expression affected liturgical programming at Westminster Abbey, Saint Thomas Church (New York), St Albans Cathedral, and major conservatories including the Royal College of Music and the Juilliard School. The Requiem’s presence in film scores, concert programming, commemorations, and recordings by institutions like the BBC, NPR, and major opera houses attests to enduring popularity comparable to works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johannes Brahms, and Antonín Dvořák.
Category:Compositions by Gabriel Fauré Category:Requiems