Ex. 6-7: Après un rêve

One of Fauré's most popular songs, composed in 1877 and published the following year as part of his Trois Mélodies (Op. 7). The text is an anonymous Italian poem freely adapted into French by Romain Bussine. Fauré dedicated it to Marguerite Baugnies, a well-known Paris salon hostess.

In the song, the dreamer leaves the earth and rises toward the light with the one he loves. The sky opens above them. Then he wakes up, and the dream is gone.

1877 was also the year Fauré's engagement to Marianne Viardot — daughter of the singer Pauline Viardot — was broken off after just four months. Saint-Saëns took the heartbroken Fauré to Weimar to meet Liszt. The other two songs from Op. 7 are also in this app. (Ex. 4-9: Barcarolle by Gabriel Fauré, Ex. 3-9: Hymne by Gabriel Fauré)

Fauré sold his early songs outright for a flat fee — about 50 francs each — so he earned no royalties even as this one became famous around the world. Its melody has been arranged for many instruments; the cellist Pablo Casals made a version that became a favourite cello encore.

The song is sung by a background performer during the Paris sequence at the Folies Bergère in Episode 6 of Prime Video's Young Sherlock.

Music video by Sabine Devieilhe and Alexandre Tharaud (2020)

From the album Chanson d'Amour by Sabine Devieilhe and Alexandre Tharaud (2020)
Spotify