FAURÉ, GABRIEL URBAIN (b. Pamiers, France, May 12, 1845; d. Paris, November 4, 1924)
Subtlety characterises not only Fauré’s music, but his deep influence on the retreat from the Romantic movement that brought major changes to the music of the twentieth century.
He was an intimate composer, happiest in music for the drawing room; preferring seeming simplicity, reserve and good taste to extravagance and display. It is not strange, then, that he wrote only two operas; the first Promethée, (late 1890s) never revived, the second, recognised as a landmark in French lyric drama, Pénélope, (1913) almost never revived, even in Paris.
His influence comes primarily from those he taught in the Paris Conservatoire, including Maurice Ravel, the Romanian composer Georges Enesco, and Nadia Boulanger, one of the great teachers of music of the twentieth century. From 1905 Fauré reigned as director of the Paris Conservatoire for twenty years. But he almost never had the chance to teach there, let alone run it.
Modernity was a sure bar to musical advancement in France in the late eighteenth century. Fauré refused to compromise and the Paris musical mafia barred his way until 1896 when he was finally allowed his place at the Conservatoire.
By the time he had been named the ConservatoireΓÇÖs director, he was losing his hearing. In spite of growing deafness, he wrote the bulk of his important chamber music in this period. At the same time he turned the Conservatoire away from its long running love affair with operatic politics towards sound musical education.
He could be very tough as an administrator. The famous actress Sarah Bernhardt once announced she could not keep her 10 a.m. appointments for singing lessons because she was still in bed at that time. She battled with Fauré to change her time.
