Faure, G :: Pavane

Pavane
Faure, G
Gabriel Faure's Pavane, originally an orchestral piece, is presented here in an arrangement for flute and guitar by Stefan Nesyba.

In addition to being known for his fine songs and the teacher of eminent students, French composer Gabriel Faure has also gained fame for his music in other genres, including chamber music and orchestral pieces. In a letter to his wife, the composer alludes to the creative process involved in the genesis of his Pavane, Op. 50, While I was thinking about a thousand different things of no importance whatsoever, a kind of rhythmical theme in the style of a Spanish dance took form in my brain.... This theme developed by itself, became harmonized in different ways, changed and modulated; in effect, it germinated by itself. Written during the summer of 1887, it received its first performance in Paris a year later. Scored for orchestra with chorus ad libitum, the piece is sometimes performed with chorus, as a part of a dramatic entertainment (so popular in 19th century France) and as a ballet, but most commonly as we hear it tonight, an orchestral piece. With the Pavane, a stately processional dance of the Renaissance, Faure joins many of his peers in paying homage to music of the past. The piece has served as a model for some of his younger contemporaries; Debussy in the Passepied from Suite bergamasque and Ravel in Pavane pour une infante defunte, which was written while he was a student of Faure at the Paris Conservatoire. Scored for winds in pairs and strings, the Pavane is built on one basic melody, first announced on solo flute against pizzicato strings, with other instruments taking it up in turn.

- Linda Mack, 2001