Gabriel Fauré

I do love Fauré but he seems to be somewhat neglected given how truly great he is.

What are your favourite works and performances?

Brilliant chamber works -


Maybe the best starting point for his piano works -

This is also a composer I need to get into. He wrote lots of solo piano music, almost all of which I’m pretty unfamiliar with.

:doc: plays a piece on that vid you uploaded from the 80s too.

Kempff’s Op.63 for Radio Hamburg is one of the all time great piano recordings IMO

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A piece that could melt the coldest of hearts :heartpulse:

Thyssens-Valentine is all you need.

I just haven’t been able to get into this composer. Major key’s a problem in piano, the nocturnes just pass me by. I’ll try thos Qts thanks.

A large scale piano work in a minor key. Clearly influenced by Schumann’s Symphonic etudes.

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I have a disc or two of hers but that’s it. However, it’s a good place to start.

Thyssens-Valentine = Faure like Rubinstein = Chopin or Gieseking = Debussy. The playing is stunning.

Got recs? I could only find one disc in the end, with valse-caprices, impromptus and some other sheeyat. I probably downloaded it from here.

I found a disc of nocturnes too, for some reason that one didn’t show up in my search.

My teacher lent it to me ages ago. Been meaning to get them though.

How much did she record?

All the major Faure and a disc or 2 of other stuff, think a mozart concerto.
If I sheeyat correctly think she gave up her career to become a house wife and then got lured back to the studio.

Do you know how many CDs worth of Fauré?

Fauré’s piano music is ambiguous. There are influences of Chopin (also in titles like Nocturnes, Impromptus, Barcarolles, Preludes) but he was also influenced by Impressionistic and modernist composers. Together with the influence of ancient church music (modality), his music forms a very individualistic and above all expressive unity. The late works are more sober, almost ascetic and not so easily accessible because of the complex harmonic language.
Fauré was more an organist than a pianist, his piano pieces are often awkward in its lay-out and difficult to memorize.
Thyssens-Valentin is an excellent recommendation - the Testament discs.
Another great interpreter is Albert Ferber:


Then there is Evelyne Crochet, her recordings are also superb:


Gieseking didn’t record much Fauré but the few pieces that are available are all very beautifully played:

Opus 42 is one of my favourite piano pieces:

Finally, no recommendation thread about Fauré is complete without talking about his masterpiece, the Requiem:
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  • Fauré, Works for piano – (1956–59, Testament SBT 1215, 1262, 1263 and 1400)
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Copy of Invocation’s post about one year ago:

Thyssens-Valentin on Testament:

SBT1215 Faure 13 Barcarolles; Thème & Variations, op.73
SBT1262 Faure 13 Nocturnes (mono)
SBT1263 Faure 4 Valses Caprices; 6 Impromptus; 8 Pièces brèves
SBT1400 Fracnk Prélude, choral et fugue in B minor; Prélude, aria et finale in E & Faure 9 Préludes op.103
SBT1401 Mozart Piano Concerto No.23 (Paumgartner) & Debussy En blanc et noir; Berceuse héroïque & Faure Trois Romances sans paroles, op.17; Mazurka, op.32

Thyssens-Valentin on Charlin:

79204 Faure 13 Nocturnes (stereo)
79205 Faure Piano quartet No. 1; Dolly (Henriette Puig-Roget)
79222 Faure Piano quintet No. 1; Andante, op.75; Berceuse, op.16
79223 Faure Elegie, op.24; Piano quintet No. 2

Those are all her known recording on CD, as far as I know. I omitted labels publishing the same recording. If there is anything missed, please let me know.

Yes, I’m far from a TV expert but that should be them. From what I can find her entire recorded legacy consists of 13 LPs she recorded for Ducretet-Thomson 1953-1959, of which 7 were with Fauré.