Pavane, op. 50 Gabriel Fauré Music at Emory University 2015/2016

The Pavane, one of the most popular works by French composer Gabriel Fauré, exists in two versions. Fauré originally composed the piece in a purely orchestral version. Later, at the request of his patroness, Countess Grefulne, Fauré created another version of the Pavane for orchestra and chorus. The pavane originated in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries as a tranquil court dance, usual in duple meter. The plucked strings that accompany the famous central melody in the Fauré Pavane might serve to evoke a lute from those earlier times. The introduction and varied reprise of the haunting melody frame a more turbulent central episode. Throughout, the Fauré Pavane is notable for its lyricism and rich, transparent orchestration. This piece is mesmerizing, almost dreamlike in this performance; a conversation about the nature of love, itself.