Ex. 6-11: En sourdine

No. 2 of Fauré's Cinq mélodies "de Venise" (Five Venice Songs, Op. 58), composed in 1891. Fauré wrote part of it in Venice, as a guest of the wealthy patron Winnaretta Singer (later Princesse de Polignac); the set is dedicated to her. The poem is by Paul Verlaine, from his collection Fêtes galantes (Gallant Festivities, 1869).

The poem shows two lovers in a quiet garden in the evening, telling each other to let themselves sink into a deep, dreamy stillness. At the end, as evening falls, the song of a nightingale — a bird famous for singing at night — becomes "the voice of our despair." Fauré keeps the music gentle and calm right to the end, never letting it turn dark.

Fauré tied the five songs together with a recurring musical idea, so the set works almost like a single story. He carried this technique into his next great song cycle, La bonne chanson (also Verlaine) — written for Emma Bardac, a married woman he was in love with. Years later, she left her husband and married Claude Debussy.

Verlaine's poem drew settings from several composers: Debussy set it twice, and Reynaldo Hahn as a teenager. Other songs from this collection are also in this app. (Ex. 3-12: Mandoline by Gabriel Fauré, Ex. 12-8: Green by Gabriel Fauré)

From the album Fiançailles pour rire by Natalie Dessay and Philippe Cassard (2015)
Spotify