Gabriel Urbain Fauré (1845–1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher, regarded as one of the foremost French composers of his generation. At nine he entered the École Niedermeyer in Paris, where he trained as a church organist and choirmaster and studied under Camille Saint-Saëns, who became a lifelong friend and mentor. In 1896 Fauré was appointed organist at the Church of the Madeleine in Paris and professor of composition at the Paris Conservatoire, becoming its director in 1905, a post he held until failing health and deafness forced his resignation in 1920. His best-known works include the Requiem, the Pavane, the Sicilienne, numerous nocturnes for piano, and songs such as “Après un rêve” and “Clair de lune.”

Fauré’s harmonic language, subtle and forward-looking, bridged French Romanticism and the modernism of the 20th century, influencing composers such as Ravel and Debussy who studied or worked alongside him. The intimate, lyrical Berceuse from his “Dolly” Suite, Op. 56 — written for piano four-hands between 1894 and 1897 as a birthday gift for a friend’s young daughter — has become one of his most widely loved and frequently arranged melodies, performed today in countless instrumental transcriptions including for guitar duo.

Compare recordings piece by piece — 8 works of Gabriel Fauré with more than one performance on the site →

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Faur%C3%A9