discuss Faure's Th & Variations

[jlt]

Would anyone care to discuss Faure's piano technique, based on his celebrated Theme & Variations ?

Here's a starter:

- harmonic vs contrapunctic: Faure usually weaves several voices, one of which being a melody (in the popular sense) and another being a purely harmonic "construct" (eg scale or other type of "series"). The result is a profusion of simultaneous themes, and the question is: where should the emphasis be placed ?  the composer's stress marks (or instrumental annotations) on the score tend to be misleading ....
- general mood of Variations: the short pieces switch moods from lullaby to authority, from declamation to nocturnal, etc. sometimes without the hint of a reprieve. How does one cope with these transitionless transitions ?
- fingering and legato: Faure seems to want you to strech your hands 'to the limit' when assigning one theme to the upper right hand fingers, another one to the thumb or lower left-hand, plus accompaniement notes or extra themes to the remaining fingers (base chords on the left hand, plus extra notes for the right hand thumb - for instance). Moreover, there are legato marks on the score over numerous phrases, and quarter notes may be attached across staffs. So many indications altogether, but never a sustain pedal indication !  hence, fingering is almost everywhere a nerve racking experience. How respectful should one be with the text, how much 'cheating' can one allow oneself with the sustain without compromising the clarity of the various voices ?
- More fingering issues: as in JSBach, Faure loves to play around with syncopation, delayed strong beats, two for threes, and other rythmical oddities: assigning strong fingers (123) to strong beats seems like a good idea, especially in runs, but raises fingering to yet another level of complexity .....
- there's a mystery about the overall idea of this very powerful (masculine? pompous? ) set of pieces having been dedicated to Therese Roge, possibly Faure's secret love who married Debussy at about the date the piece was written and divorced him a couple of months later. Faure seems to have known the marriage was doomed to fail; did this bear on the general mood of the piece ?

I'm new to this forum - I'd be glad to learn the usages through sharing ideas and experience.

JLT

[g_s_223]

I'm not going to get into detail, but would just like to agree that Fauré is a superb composer, both for the piano and more generally. His understated and subtle music does not grab the spotlight, but is very satisfying and has the most exquisite craftsmanship.

Have you heard the Barcarolles, Nocturnes, and Préludes too? These works are an area of the repertoire I must get down to learning at some point. Fauré's piano writing is typically highly independent for both hands, and ISTR he was effectively ambidexterous. Pedalling is a key issue as you observed, but looking carefully at the implied harmony should help.

 

[jlt]

aha ! Faure ambidextrous: fascinating.... I'll have to check at the library if they have biographical details on that .

re Barcarolles and Nocturnes, they're really beautiful, full of catchy themes too ! I haven't played any of them, as a kid I studied a small Faure piece called Siciliana, and now the Th&V, which is a bit monumental to my taste - I will probably go for a Nocturne as well, I can't decide which one I prefer at this point (see Vlado Perlmutter's cd).

re pedalling, the thing I was wondering about is the profusion of indications of all kinds in Faure's sheet music, yet no pedalling : my opinion is (as well as for proper fingering) this was a sort of game on his part, like "there's only one way to do this, see if you can find it" which pervades all his piano scores.

JLT

[g_s_223]

Regarding pedalling, I think he, like some others, regarded it as just too complex to be notated with the simple marks available to him. Also, of course, it is highly dependent on the piano and the acoustic of the room in question. However, a dry approach would be quite wrong, and a full pianistic sonority is generally expected by the use of intelligent pedalling.

One other work worth a look is the early Ballade, which Fauré is believed to have shown to Liszt. It's somewhat shorter than the T&V, and is technically quite challenging. However, if one follows the super advice elsewhere on this board, then it should be playable.

[pianistimo]

faure seems quite direct about the theme and then becomes increasingly more ingenious in his use of rhythms and fugal techniques to really hide the contralto voice (i think) that he begins with.  i liked all your points flt and others about pedalling, too.  i would like to add that i hear a 'chorale feel' (or similarity to mass) as the voice seems to become more integrated and join with others by the end.  it's almost as if he is saying that the theme has become ultimately disseminated and thrown out in space. 

[pianistimo]

something else that has struck me just now, is that it is less vocal that french hornish.  if you look at the phrasing, it is probably easier played on the horn than sung. 

[pianistimo]

being that i am laid up and cannot do much yet - have googled around to find more about faure.  i found an article at www.jeffreychappell.com/kb_faure.htm that suggests to read the book entitled "Faure:  The Voices of the Chiaroscuro" by Jean-Michel Nectoux.  he is a leading expert on faure and has done 20 years of research and has looked at 5000 unpublished letters, 120+ manuscripts, and has some rare pics included in his book. 

[g_s_223]

Hmmm, hosed link there.

[pianistimo]

sorry!  i forgot the second 'l'.  try it again if you are interested in a short read.