Fauré: 4 Mélodies, Op. 51 (1888) with score

Details

Description

0:00 Larmes
2:29 Au cimetière
7:34 Spleen
10:04 La rose

Performers:
No. 1: Henk Neven (voice), Hans Eijsackers (piano)
No. 2: Frederica von Stade (voice), Martin Katz (piano)
No. 3: Simon Keenlyside (voice), Malcolm Martineau (piano)
No. 4: Yann Beuron (voice), Billy Eidi (piano)

Programme notes by Anne Feeney for AllMusic:
In terms of mood and structure, Gabriel Fauré's vocal set Four Songs, Op. 51 (1888) can be thought of as grouping into distinct pairs. The first two songs, settings of poems by Jean Richepin, open with a sense of sad tranquility, gradually increasing in emotional power and eventually subsiding to a calmer mood, as though drained of grief.

These two songs are followed by the more introverted Spleen (after Verlaine), in which the piano quietly depicts a steady rain while the singer describes an emptiness of emotion. La rose (after Lisle) opens with a delicate piano introduction and gently amorous vocal lines; like the other songs, though, there is no explicit expression of love.