Drawn to music from an early age, Gabriel Fauré studied music at the École Niedermeyer with Camille Saint-Saëns.  Saint-Saëns was somewhat unconventional, introducing his pupils both to the music of Bach and Mozart and the works of controversial artists like Wagner and Liszt, and Fauré proved equally willing to follow his path. He eschewed the Conservatoire de Paris that most of his peers attended in favor of continued studies with Saint-Saëns, who helped him make connections and get his works published. Fauré eventually found his way to the Conservatoire as a professor of composition, serving as its director from 1905 to 1920. His students included Maurice Ravel and Nadia Boulanger.  

Although Fauré is often associated with smaller musical forms like piano works, chamber music, and songs, his Requiem is one of his most famous compositions. While Fauré allegedly began his mass setting “purely for the pleasure of it” around 1887, it was likely partly motivated by his father’s death in 1885. Shortly after its premiere, his mother died, giving the work even greater significance. Fauré makes several interesting choices in his Requiem, omitting the dramatic “Dies Irae"—the description of Judgment Day—and the “Tuba mirum.” He added a lyrical “Pie Jesu” and the soaring “In Paradisum" with which the work closes, creating an overarching mood of peace and acceptance. As Fauré said, "Everything I managed to entertain by way of religious illusion I put into my Requiem, which moreover is dominated from beginning to end by a very human feeling of faith in eternal rest.” 

—©Jennifer More, 2023