Fauré 13th Nocturne scales...

[mike_lang]

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[ramseytheii]

To anyone who has played this piece, is there any discernible pattern to the ascending scales the precede the return?  I have racked my brain trying to come up with some sort of mnemonic device, but it looks like good old "repetitio est" for now...

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Interesting example!  Seeing the harmonies as expressed in the main theme (F#-D) makes me think these scales are primarily coloristic.

There's no pattern in the sense of intervallic content but one shouldn't expect that in general.  Attached I give a PDF which illustrates my train of thought.

The first scale is a combination of an arpeggiation of the chord (D⁷) and a chromatic run right at the end (probably for dramatic effect).  The "pattern" is one higher level of arpeggiation each beat, but of course it is not exactly cut and dry because Faure was not writing like an amateur.

In the second scale, it is pretty much just chromatic other than the brief arpeggiation of the first couple of beats.

His harmonic pattern is based on a modulation to D major, which of course becomes the main key of b minor, the relative minor.  I included two chord patterns to show; the chord held through the second scale is a modified German sixth, which normally leads to a ⁶₄ chord.  Of course he doesn't use the B-flat, in my mind a purely coloristic choice, but still goes to the ⁶₄  of D, but swinging at the last second to the V/b minor.

I think it will help to learn the scales if you have a) a good fingering, and b) knowledge of where the chord tones are (keeping in mind the D⁷ chord could just as well be a D⁹).

Hope that's helpful!

Walter Ramsey

[mike_lang]

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[ramseytheii]

I had an inkling that you would be the first to answer!  Thank you for your ideas :-)

Michael

Thanks!  That's a compliment.    I hope it helps.

I only looked at the example for a short while but I wonder if Faure had some harmonic idea in mind with the scales, something subtle that shades the held chords.  It might be worth investigating, if you can derive different harmonies from these interesting scales.

Walter Ramsey

[ramseytheii]

PS I made a typo in the PDF.  In the "Possible harmonic pattern" section the second chord should have an F-natural, not F-sharp as dictated by the key signature.

Walter Ramsey

[furtwaengler]

This has always been one of my favorites, and I played it first in 2000 and most recently in the spring of 2008. The scales were not nearly as difficult to memorize as the voicings in the second presentation of the opening theme (before the middle section). The key to the scales are remembering where the whole steps are, in each hand...it's all chromatic aside from that. I suspect it's something that felt natural in Fauré's own hands.

Great, great piece of music. Congrats on learning it!