Ex. 14-12: Larmes

"Larmes" (Tears) is No. 1 of Fauré's Quatre mélodies (Four Songs), Op. 51, composed in 1888. The poem is by Jean Richepin, from his collection La Mer (The Sea). It is a song of grief and anger, full of images of the sea — howling waves, weeping, and broken promises.

This was an unusual choice for Fauré, who usually set gentle, refined poems. Richepin (1849–1926) was a rough, rebellious writer. Born in French Algeria, he had once been a soldier, and he wrote harsh poems about poor people and outsiders. One of his books was so shocking that he was sent to jail. Fauré set Richepin's poems only twice, both in this same set: "Larmes" (No. 1) and "Au cimetière" (In the Cemetery, No. 2).

Fauré wrote "Larmes" during a hard time in his life: in 1888 he was 43, in an unhappy marriage, and short of money. To make a living he worked as the organist at the Madeleine church in Paris and as a teacher — tiring work — and he suffered spells of depression that he called "spleen." "Spleen" is also the title of the third song in this same set, which is in this app too. (Ex. 2-13: Spleen by Gabriel Fauré)

That same year, 1888, Fauré's gentle, comforting Requiem was first performed. "Larmes," full of grief and anger, is its dark opposite.

From the album Petite mort by Natalia Labourdette and Victoria Guerrero (2022)
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