Four Centennial Concerts Will Honor the Work of French Composer Gabriel Fauré

Source: UMass Department of Music

November 4 of this year marks the 100th anniversary of the death of French composer Gabriel Fauré, and the UMass Department of Music & Dance will honor the occasion with a series of four concerts between October 29 and November 2. The Festival has been organized by the voice faculty members William Hite and Mary Hubbell.

Fauré, one of the most important French composers of the 19th and 20th centuries, was also an educator, administrator, critic, and inspiration for many artists. This festival explores his enormous vocal and chamber music output, as well as the music of his teachers, colleagues, and students. With participation from 27 students and 12 faculty members, the concerts encompass the music of 19 composers (7 of whom are women) and offer 44 pieces of music.

All four concerts will take place in Bezanson Recital Hall and are free of charge to all attendees.

The tributes to Fauré will begin on Tuesday, October 29 at 11:00 a.m. as part of the department’s Listening Room series. Presented entirely by music students, this concert offers songs and chamber music by Fauré, Cécile Chaminade, Camille Saint-Saëns, and Reynaldo Hahn, among others.

On Thursday, October 31st at 7:30 a,m,, the “Masterworks” concert will present two of Fauré’s greatest masterpieces: the song cycle La Bonne Chanson (featuring Hite, tenor and pianist Lemuel Gurtowsky) and Piano Quartet No.1 (with Elizabeth Chang, violin, Ronald Gorevic, viola, Edward Arron, cello, and Gilles Vonsattel, piano). The concert will begin with a short talk on the life and work of Fauré by Hubbell.

“Fauré and his Influence” is the theme of the concert on Friday, November 1 at 7:30 p.m. As the Director of the Paris Conservatoire, Fauré had direct influence on the next generation of composers. This concert opens with Fauré’s cycle Cinq mélodies de Venise, featuring Hubbell (soprano) and Jingjing Wan (piano), and then explores the music of his students and admirers: Lili Boulanger, Germaine Tailleferre, George Enesco, Albert Roussel, and Florent Schmitt.

Finally, the department will present “Fauré and the Salon” on Saturday, November 2 at 7:30 p.m. Faculty and student performers will come together to offer a collage of pieces one might have heard in a Parisian salon during the Belle Époque. Featuring songs and chamber music by Fauré, Massenet, Debussy, Édouard Lalo, Régine Poldowski, Nadia Boulanger, Mel Bonis, and many others.