Musical Notes and Thoughts

Thoughts on Faure’s “Elegy”

Faure, and his Elegy: I’ve been starting to work on bringing back Faure’s “Elegy”. The piece is difficult enough on cello, but there are spots that are downright brutal when seeking to play it on a double-bass. It is one of the most intense emotional pieces I have ever attempted to play (the Bruch “Kol Nidrei” rivals it).

Faure originally thought the piece would end up as the slow movement of a cello concerto, but that concerto never materialized. To me, the pathos of the piece speaks of my own longing for eternity with God, a new heaven and new earth, a world without the curse, without sin, without pain or crying.

I look forward to eventually playing it again with Marcia on piano, but I’m hoping to be able to pull it off using a MIDI accompaniment file that I’m in the process of creating, as that would allow me to play it more frequently. Whether that will ultimately work remains to be seen. The interaction between the solo instrument and the piano is rather complex, and a wide range of expression is required.

For me, Faure also provides a number of sobering biblical lessons. For the most part, he is one of my favorite composers. His focus was generally on smaller musical forms, often more on the quiet reflective side. Much of his career was spent as a church musician. His best known work is probably his “Requiem”.

He was writing at time when most of the public wanted large, loud spectacle. The downside for Faure was that as time wore on, his music, since it didn’t fit public taste, wasn’t played anywhere nearly as much as he thought it deserved. Towards the end of his life, he became bitter about it, and his last works reflect that bitterness. Those who were pointing towards the modern avant-garde liked that turn in Faure’s music, others didn’t (Saint-Saens said he thought Faure was going insane).

Biblically, we are warned that if a root of bitterness springs up, it will defile many: not a good way to go. That doesn’t negate the bulk of the beautiful music Faure wrote, but it does serve as a warning. While we might wish for greater influence, appreciation, etc., God knows what we can and can’t handle, and we are best off trusting Him to place us where He knows to be best.