Fauré composed his violin sonata in 1875/76 and in so doing opened up a new tradition for this genre in French music. In a review, Saint-Saëns expressed his enthusiasm for this work by his friend and...
In a typically humorous manner Satie countered the myth of the great master's 'last thought' with his 'Next-to-last thoughts' (Avant-dernières Pensées). As was usual with his piano works from 1912 onw...
Fingering: Pascal Rogé According to Ravel himself, the strange title of the little piano piece composed in 1899, 'Pavane for a dead princess', should not be ascribed too much importance. He chose it m...
Ravel’s plans for a piano concerto can be traced back to 1906, but it was only in early 1929 that the composer seriously started work on one. He later stated that he wrote it “in the spirit of the con...
This composition for violoncello and piano in the style of a Sicilian dance is from Gabriel Fauré's middle creative period and was first published simultaneously in France and England in 1898, reflect...
Following the enthusiastic reception of his first Violin Sonata (HN 980), it was clear to Fauré that he would continue to write chamber music. In 1880 he wrote a little piece for cello and piano that...
'Virtuoso piece in the style of a Hungarian rhapsody” - thus reads Ravel's entry on 'Tzigane” in the so-called 'Autobiographical Sketch”. Composed in 1924, there are three versions of this work: with...
Although Satie took the classical form as a model for his 'Sonatine', it is quintessentially an ironic work. The composer, who later in life liked to be seen walking through the streets wearing a stif...
Two copies needed for performance This was the last concerto that Saint-Saëns wrote for his own instrument, the piano. Its subtitle has a dual meaning. Firstly, it was composed quickly in Luxor and Ca...
Whereas numerous French composers of the time tried to breathe new life into the larger forms of instrumental music, Chabrier concentrated on the smaller dance and character forms. The 'Bourrée fantas...
