The ''Élégie (
Elegy
An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, and in English literature usually a lament for the dead. However, according to ''The Oxford Handbook of the Elegy'', "for all of its pervasiveness ... the 'elegy' remains remarkably ill defined: sometime ...
)'',
Op. 24, was written by the French composer
Gabriel Fauré
Gabriel Urbain Fauré (12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers. ...
in 1880, and first published and performed in public in 1883. Originally for
cello
The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...
and piano, the piece was later orchestrated by Fauré. The work features a sad and somber opening and climaxes with an intense, tempestuous central section before returning to the elegiac opening theme in C minor.
Composition
In 1880, having completed his
First Piano Quartet, Fauré began work on a
cello sonata
A cello sonata is piece written sonata form, often with the instrumentation of a cello taking solo role with piano accompaniment. Some of the earliest cello sonatas were composed in the 18th century by Francesco Geminiani and Antonio Vivaldi, and ...
. His frequent practice was to compose the slow movement of a work first, and he did so for the new sonata.
[ The completed movement was probably premiered at the salon of ]Camille Saint-Saëns
Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (, , 9October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano ...
in June 1880. The movement, like the quartet, is in the key of C minor. Whether the rest of the sonata would have been in that key is unknown: Fauré never completed it, and in January 1883, the slow movement was published as a stand-alone piece under the title ''Élégie''.[
The first performance of the work under its new title was given at the ]Société Nationale de Musique
Groupe Lactalis S.A. (doing business as Lactalis) is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier S.A.
Lactalis is the largest dairy pr ...
in December 1883 by the composer and the cellist Jules Loeb to whom the piece is dedicated.[Nectoux, p. 535] The ''Élégie'' was a great success from the outset.[ The conductor ]Édouard Colonne
Édouard Juda Colonne (23 July 1838 – 28 March 1910) was a French conductor and violinist, and a champion of the music of Berlioz and other eminent 19th-century composers.
Life and career
Colonne was born in Bordeaux, the son and grandson ...
asked Fauré for a version for cello and orchestra. Fauré agreed, and that version was premiered at the Société Nationale in April 1901, with Pablo Casals
Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ; 29 December 187622 October 1973), known in English as Pablo Casals,[flute
The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...]( ...<br></span></div> as a soloist and the composer as conductor.<ref name=n535/>
<h1><br><p> Musical structure</h1></p>
The piece is in the AABA CC Trans-D AC'C'coda form, in which the musical material of the beginning returns to close the piece after a contrasting middle section. The opening is a somber, long-breathed melody. The cello carries the main thematic material, with the piano providing a harmonically varied accompaniment. In the major-key middle section, the piano bears the melodic theme before it passes to the cello. The middle section ends with a forceful passage in which the piano and cello exchange vehement themes. The dynamics remain loud as the first section returns, but the quiet sombreness of the opening soon takes over. The repeated opening theme is matched with some of the rhythmic features carried over from the middle section. The work ends in an atmosphere of calm.<ref>Nectoux, pp. 88–89</ref>
The orchestral version of the work requires two <div class=)
s, two oboe
The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites.
The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...
s, two clarinet
The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell.
Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...
s, two bassoon
The bassoon is a musical instrument in the woodwind family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuosity ...
s, four horn
Horn may refer to:
Common uses
* Horn (acoustic), a tapered sound guide
** Horn antenna
** Horn loudspeaker
** Vehicle horn
** Train horn
*Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various animals
* Horn (instrument), a family ...
s and strings
String or strings may refer to:
*String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...
to accompany the cellist.
The Fauré specialist Jean-Michel Nectoux
Jean-Michel Nectoux (born 20 November 1946) is a French musicologist, particularly noted as an expert on the life and music of Gabriel Fauré. He has published many books on Fauré and other French composers, and has been responsible for major exhi ...
writes that the ''Élégie'' was one of the last works in which the composer allowed himself "such a direct expression of pathos." Nectoux regards the piece as "one of the last manifestations of French musical Romanticism. From now on, Fauré's music was to be more introverted and discreet."[Nectoux, p. 89]
Notes and references
;Notes
;References
; Sources
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elegie Faure
1883 compositions
Chamber music by Gabriel Fauré
Compositions for cello and piano
Compositions for cello and orchestra