Requiem (Fauré)

Gabriel Fauré composed his Requiem in D minor, Op. 48 between 1887 and 1890. This choral–orchestral setting of the Roman Catholic Mass for the Dead is the best known of his large works. The most famous movement is the soprano aria Pie Jesu. Camille Saint-Saëns said of it, "Just as Mozart's is the only Ave verum Corpus, this is the only Pie Jesu."[1]

Contents

History

Fauré's reasons for composing his Requiem are uncertain. One possible impetus may have been the death of his father in 1885, and his mother's death two years later on New Year's Eve 1887. However, by the time of his mother's death he had already begun the work, which he later declared was "composed for nothing … for fun, if I may be permitted to say so!"[2]

The earliest composed music included in the Requiem is the "Libera Me", which Fauré wrote in 1877 as an independent work.

In 1887–88, Fauré composed the first version of the work, which he called "un petit Requiem"[3] with five movements (Introit and Kyrie, Sanctus, Pie Jesu, Agnus Dei and In Paradisum), but did not include the "Libera Me". This version was first performed January 16, 1888 under the composer’s direction in La Madeleine in Paris. The treble soloist was Louis Aubert, and the occasion was the funeral of one Joseph La Soufaché, an architect.

In 1889, Fauré added the "Hostias" portion of the Offertory and in 1890 he expanded the Offertory and added the 1877 "Libera Me". This second version, known today as the chamber orchestra version, was premièred January 21, 1893, again at the Madeleine with Fauré conducting.

In 1899–1900, the score was reworked for full orchestra. There is some question as to whether this was the work of Fauré himself or one of his students (see below). This version was premiered April 6, 1900, with Eugène Ysaÿe conducting. It was the best known version until John Rutter rediscovered Fauré's original manuscript of the chamber orchestra version in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris in the early 1980s.

In 1924 the Requiem was performed at Fauré's own funeral. It was not performed in the United States until 1931, and then only at a student concert at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. It did not reach England until 1936.[4]

Structure

The piece has a duration of about 35 minutes. It consists of seven movements:

Text

All the text is in Latin (except for the Kyrie, which is Koine Greek). As had become normal, Fauré did not set the Gradual and Tract sections of the Mass. He followed a French Baroque tradition by not setting the Requiem Sequence (the Dies irae poem, which contains other well-known sections such as the Rex tremendae and Lacrimosa). He slightly altered the texts of the Introit, the Kyrie, Pie Jesu, the Agnus Dei, and In Paradisum, but changed substantially the text of the Offertory (described below). He did not set the Benedictus (an optional, but conventional, adjunct to the Sanctus), and added the motet Pie Jesu (the final part of the Dies irae text) and two texts from the Order of Burial, Libera me and In Paradisum.

Fauré's alterations to the text of the Offertory are as follows. He adds "O" at the beginning. He changes "libera animas omnium fidelium defunctorum" ("deliver the souls of all the faithful departed") to simply "libera animas defunctorum" ("deliver the souls of the departed"), which, it can be argued, is a fundamental theological change. He replaces "Libera eas" ("Deliver them") at the beginning of the next verse with a repetition of "O Domine Jesu Christe, Rex gloriae, libera animas defunctorum", and he omits the third verse (beginning "Sed signifer sanctus..."). He adds "Amen" at the end.

Versions and orchestrations

The work exists in three versions. The original version is the smallest, five movements in length. It is scored for

Fauré scored the second version in 1893. This version was rediscovered, edited and championed by John Rutter in the 1980s. It is published by Oxford University Press. In addition to the new movements, this version adds the following instruments to the orchestration:

The third arrangement (which may have been arranged by a student of his) adds more woodwinds, brass, and strings. This full orchestration comprises:

Authenticity of the third version

Rutter's preface to the score includes the following discussion regarding the authenticity of the third version:

"How and why the third version came about is not entirely clear. Dr. [Robert] Orledge surmises that Fauré's publisher Hamelle urged him to prepare a 'version symphonique' in order to secure more performances — to turn the Requiem into a concert work, in fact. In a letter of 1898, Fauré promised Hamelle to prepare the score for publication, though no question of reorchestration was mentioned; Fauré asked, however, if he could delegate the piano reduction for the vocal score to someone else (his favorite pupil Jean Roger-Ducasse was entrusted with the task). The evidence that Roger-Ducasse (or someone else) also relieved Fauré of the task of reorchestrating the work is conjectural but, I think, convincing: first, Fauré is known to have delegated the scoring of others of his works to assistants; second, he was burdened with teaching and administrative duties and may well not have had the time to rescore it himself; third, the published score has literally hundreds of misprints and other inaccuracies which the normally meticulous Fauré would never have let past had he been sent the printer's proofs for correction. If he had prepared the score, he would have been sent proofs; the conclusion seems inescapable that someone relatively inexperienced both made the score and read the proofs." [6]

Fauré himself used the full-orchestra version when he conducted the work, and on one occasion, when another conductor was on the rostrum, Fauré objected that there were not enough players in the orchestra.[7]

Fauré on his Requiem

Use in Pop Culture

Many of the movements have been used in movies, in TV shows, and by other artists. The two most used are Pie Jesu and In paradisum.

Movies (chronological):

TV (chronological):

Music (By movement then date):

Notes

  1. ^ Steinberg, 136.
  2. ^ Ibid, 135, also quoted in the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians and referenced in the editor's preface to the Rutter edition of the score as being from a letter Fauré wrote to Maurice Emmanuel in March 1910.
  3. ^ Rutter, 3. Cited there as being from an 1888 letter to Fauré's friend Paul Poujaud.
  4. ^ Steinberg, 135.
  5. ^ Fauré quoted in Steinberg, 132.
  6. ^ Rutter, 3.
  7. ^ Jones, pp. 120 and 193.
  8. ^ Steinberg, 132–133. Quote's cited date is 1921.
  9. ^ Richard Bell. "Original score provides a clearer view of heaven." The Boston Globe. March 28, 1989: 25. Also cited at Notes on Fauré's Requiem by James Liu which states that "Fauré was interviewed by Louis Aguettant on July 12, 1902. [This quote] was originally published in Comoedia (1954, p. 6). The English translation is taken from Robert Orledge's biography.

References

External links