Blurring: Fauré's Piano Trio in D minor, Op.120





John Singer Sargent
Gabriele Fauré and Mrs Patrick Campbell
(Charcoal, 1898)

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Gabriele Fauré (1845–1924)
Piano Trio in D minor, Op.120

In the early 20th century Debussy, Stravinsky, and Schoenberg revolutionized the foundation of Western music in the areas of tonality, harmony, and symmetric meter. At the same time, Gabriele Fauré was working with this foundation, not by abandoning the traditional structures, but by “blurring” them – especially in his later works. (Christopher Steele, Tonal and Formal Blurring in Fauré’s Piano Trio Op. 120.) “Blurring” of tradition is an excellent description for Fauré, but impossible to address in a program note. However, a selective sketch of his life might provide a hint.

As a composer, from an early age, Fauré developed independently of the establishment. Rather than the Paris Conservatoire, a gateway for any French musician, he attended the École Niedermeyer in Paris.  His early influences came from Gounod, Massenet, Chopin and Schumann, but the École added influences from Gregorian chant, Renaissance polyphony, and modality. This mix – and his imagination ­– resulted in works that eventually set him at odds with the conservative Conservatoire. In 1892, when he was considered for a post as composition professor at the Conservatoire, his nomination was rejected by the head on the grounds that his music was too “modern.” Four years later, after the head of the Conservatoire died, Fauré was finally appointed professor of composition. Among his pupils were Maurice Ravel (also represented on this program) and Nadia Boulanger. Then in 1905 Fauré became head of the Conservatoire. Beginning in 1911 he began to lose his hearing, and in 1920 he retired as head of the Conservatoire. His health continued to deteriorate, and in 1924 he died of pneumonia at age 79.

Originally conceived for clarinet, cello and piano, the1922 Piano Trio is Fauré’s penultimate work (the string quartet is the last). The first performance was by Jacques Thibaud, Pablo Casals, and Alfred Cortot. After the premier a friend reportedly said, “If he lives a hundred years, how far will he go?” Even with loss of hearing and failing health, Fauré was building and extending his own compositional technique and continuing to “blur” traditional structures.
– Stephen Soderberg
Program Note,
2017 Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival




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