Gabriel Faure
Author | : Graham Johnson |
Publisher | : Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. |
Total Pages | : 492 |
Release | : 2009 |
ISBN-10 | : 0754659607 |
ISBN-13 | : 9780754659600 |
Rating | : 4/5 (07 Downloads) |
Book excerpt: The career of Gabriel Fauré as a composer of songs for voice and piano traverses six decades (1862-1921); almost the whole history of French mélodie is contained within these parameters. In this book, the distinguished accompanist and song scholar Graham Johnson places the vocal music within twin contexts: Fauré's own life story, and the parallel lives of his many poets. Each of Fauré's 109 songs receives a separate commentary. Additional chapters for the student singer and serious music-lover discuss interpretation and performance in both aesthetical and practical terms and Richard Stokes provides parallel English translations of the original French texts.