Date: 1887 -1900
Composer: Gabriel Fauré
Period: Romantic (1820-1869)
Review
Given the enormous and enduring popularity of Fauré's Requiem, it is curious to contemplate the sheer haphazardness by which this familiar masterpiece took shape. The initial version of 1887-1888 included but five movements, lacking the Offertorium and the Libera me, and was scored moreover for mixed choir and organ, harp, tympani, violas, and cellos divided, and double basses, with a boy soprano (for the Pie Jesu), and a solo violin for the Sanctus. This version was first heard at the Madeleine, where Fauré was choirmaster, on January 16, 1888, with children taking the soprano choral parts and the young
Louis Aubert singing the Pie Jesu. These gentle prayers were found to be dangerous "novelties" by the Madeleine's vicar, and the composer was reprimanded for them immediately following the ceremony. By May, two trumpets and two horns had been added. And in June 1889, the Offertorium was composed and added with a Libera me dating from 1877. Parts for trombones, bassoons, and violins were sketched and may have been included in a performance at the Madeleine on January 21, 1893 -- the manuscripts are ambiguous. Likewise, it is not known whether the elision of several bars from the Kyrie was made before or after that performance. Attempts to reconstruct the intimate, "authentic" 1893 chamber ensemble version of the Requiem have yielded two editions: one by composer and choral director
John Rutter , the other by Fauré scholar Jean-Michel Nectoux. Although similar, these editions differ in details of both scoring and text. Meanwhile, a third and final version of the Requiem with full orchestra was prepared in 1899, though it has been impossible to establish whether the instrumentation is Fauré's or that of his pupil, Jean Roger-Ducasse. This "symphonic" Requiem -- the version most often performed and recorded -- had its premiere at the Trocadéro, July 12, 1900, with a chorus of 250, a Torrès taking the Pie Jesu (a number that had to be encored),
Eugène Gigout at the organ, and the orchestra and chorus of the Conservatoire under the direction of Paul Taffanel.
Throughout, the suggestion of Gregorian chant informed by modern measure and melos lends Fauré's idiom immediate appeal and an aura of timelessness at once. The Requiem's seven movements form an arch whose keystone and crown is the central Pie Jesu -- the lone voice petitioning its savior for eternal rest in long-breathed, classically balanced, tender, and infinitely moving phrases -- flanked by the serene lift of the Sanctus (over which an exquisite violin cantilena wafts) and the gently consoling Agnus Dei. Coming before and after, respectively, the somber Offertorium and Libera me are reminders of judgment, the more effective for being understated, with their baritone solos standing forth from the choral body to plead for deliverance and rest. At the extreme points, the opening darkly hued Introit and Kyrie are balanced by the sublime radiance of the final In Paradisum -- "There may the choir of angels receive thee, and, with Lazarus, once a beggar, mayst thou have eternal rest." ~ Adrian Corleonis, All Music Guide
Albums with Complete Performances of the Work
Berlioz & Fauré: Requiems 1994
Credo: 1000 Years of Sacred Music (Box Set)
Daniel Barenboim: The Maestro 1997
Faure: Requiem 1998
Faure: Requiem
Faure: Requiem Op48
Faure: Requiem Op48; Bernstein: Chichester Psalms No1-3
Faure: Requiem Op48; Bernstein: Chichester Psalms No1-3
Faure: Requiem Op48; Bernstein: Chichester Psalms No1-3
Faure: Requiem Op48; Boulanger: Pie Jesu
Faure: Requiem Op48; Boulanger: Pie Jesu
Faure: Requiem Op48; Brahms: Tragic Overture in Dm Op81
Faure: Requiem Op48; Cantique de Jean Racine Op11
Faure: Requiem Op48; Messe basse
Faure: Requiem Op48; Schumann: Mass in Cm Op147
Faure: Requiem/Messe Basse
Faure: Requiem; Boulanger: Pie Jesu
Faure: Requiem; Cantique de Jean Racine; Messe basse
Faure: Requiem; Messe basse 1998
Faure: Requiem; Messe des Pêcheurs de Villerville
Faure:Requiem
Fauré, Duruflé: Requiem [Hybrid SACD] 2005
Fauré, Duruflé: Requiems 1997
Fauré, Duruflé: Requiems 2000
Fauré: Requiem 1998
Fauré: Requiem 1989
Fauré: Requiem 1986
Fauré: Requiem 1995
Fauré: Requiem
Fauré: Requiem 1998
Fauré: Requiem 1998
Fauré: Requiem
Fauré: Requiem
Fauré: Requiem 2003
Fauré: Requiem 1996
Fauré: Requiem 2003
Fauré: Requiem 2003
Fauré: Requiem 2006
Fauré: Requiem 1993
Fauré: Requiem 2007
Fauré: Requiem 2008
Fauré: Requiem
Fauré: Requiem 2008
Fauré: Requiem & Choral Favorites
Fauré: Requiem (1893 Version) [Hybrid SACD]
Fauré: Requiem (Transcription for Piano) 2001
Fauré: Requiem [Hybrid SACD] 2003
Fauré: Requiem [Hybrid SACD] 2005
Fauré: Requiem and Other Choral Music 1984
Fauré: Requiem, Op. 48 1974
Fauré: Requiem, Op. 48
Fauré: Requiem, Op. 48; Duruflé: Requiem, Op. 9 1994
Fauré: Requiem, Op. 48; Duruflé: Requiem, Op. 9 1997
Fauré: Requiem, Op. 48; Pelléas et Mélisande, Suite, Op. 80; Pavane, Op. 50 1988
Fauré: Requiem, Op.48; Duruflé: Requiem, Op.9 1987
Fauré: Requiem, Op.48; Pavane; Koechlin: Choral Sur Le Nom De Fauré; Schmitt: In Memoriam, Op. 72; Ravel: Pavane 1995
Fauré: Requiem, etc.
Fauré: Requiem; Bernstein: Chichester Psalms 2004
Fauré: Requiem; Cantique de Jean Racine; Duruflé: Requiem; Quatre Motets 1994
Fauré: Requiem; Cantique de Jean Recine; Ballade 2001
Fauré: Requiem; Dolly Suite; Pavane
Fauré: Requiem; La Naissance de Vénus; Cantique de Jean Racine 2001
Fauré: Requiem; Lili Boulanger: Pie Jesu; Psalm 24; Du fond de l'abîme 1996
Fauré: Requiem; Messe basse; Cantique de Jean Racine 1994
Fauré: Requiem; Monteverdi: Madrigali e Arie profane
Fauré: Requiem; Orchestral Music 2000
Fauré: Requiem; Palestrina: Missa Papae Marcelli 1997
Fauré: Requiem; Palestrina: Missa Papae Marcelli 1999
Fauré: Requiem; Pavane Duruflé; Requiem 2007
Fauré: Requiem; Pavane; Duruflé: Requiem 2007
Fauré: Requiem; Pavane; Pelléas et Mélisande 2001
Fauré: Requiem; Poulenc: Concerto in G minor 2004
Fauré: Requiem; Poulenc: Messe; Salve Regina 1991
Fauré: Requiem; Poulenc; Mass in G; Duruflé: Two Motets 2006
Fauré: Requiem; Songs 1997
Fauré: Requiem; Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms [Live] 2004
Fauré: Requiem; Trois Mélodies (Transcription pour piano seul); Nocturnes 1, 6, 7, 13 2001
Fauré: Requiem; Verdi Four Sacred Pieces 2007
Fauré: Requiem; Wagner: Siegfried Idyll 1998
Fauré: Shylock; Pelléas et Mélisande; Cantique de Jean Racine; Requiem 2002
Flute Music by French Composers
Gabriel Faure: Pelleas Et Melisande, Op. 80/Requiem, Op. 48 1992
Gabriel Faure: Requiem
Gabriel Faure: Requiem; Messe Basse
Gabriel Faure: Requiem; Pavane; Bach: Magnificat 1992
Gabriel Fauré: Requiem 2008
Gabriel Fauré: Requiem 1994
Gabriel Fauré: Requiem 1995
Gabriel Fauré: Requiem; Cantique de Jean Racine; Maurice Duruflé: Messe Cum Jubilo; Quatre Motets 1990
Gabriel Fauré: Requiem; Elegie; Messe Basse
Gabriel Fauré: Requiem; Maurice Duruflé: Requiem 1989
Gabriel Fauré: Requiem; Maurice Duruflé: Requiem 1998
Gabriel Fauré: Requiem; Pelléas et Mélisande; Three Mélodies; Pavane 2002
Gabriel Fauré: Requiem; Péllas et Mélìsande; Three Mélodies; Pavane
Howells: Requiem; Faure: Requiem
In Paradisum
Les voies de la musique 2005
Liszt: Via Crucis; Gabriel Fauré: Requiem
Musique sacrée français 2004
New York Philharmonic: The Historic Broadcasts, 1923 to 1987 [Box Set] 1997
New York Philharmonic: The Historic Broadcasts, 1923 to 1987, Vol. 4 1997
Panorama: Gabriel Fauré 2001
Portrait of Daniel Barenboim 1999
Poulenc: Concerto pour orgue; Fauré: Requiem 2000
Requiem
Requiem for a Millennium 1999
Requiem: Maurice Duruflé and Gabriel Fauré 2006
Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3; Fauré: Requiem 2002
Spiritus 2003
The Best of Fauré 1997
The Best of Fauré 1997
The World Of Fauré 1999
Ultimate French Classics: The Essential Masterpieces 2009
Wagner: Siegfried Idyll in E WWV103; Faure: Requiem Op48 1998
Albums with Excerpt Performances of the Work
100 Best Adagios 2008
100 Best Classics 2006
100 Best Sacred Works 2007
100 Chefs d'Oeuvre de la Musique Classique 2006
100 Heavenly Classics 1999
100% Classics, Vol. 2 1995
1000 Years of Sacred Music [Box Set] 2002
18 Divas françaises 1989
21st Century Cinema Classics 2003
25 Classical Christian Favorites 2003
25 Favoritas en Coro Sagrado 2001
25 Sacred Choral Favorites 2001
33 Highlights from Great Sacred Music 1996
A Bride's Guide to Wedding Music 2002
A Hymn for the World 1997
A Portrait of Thomas Hampson: Arias & Songs from Bach to Zemlinsky 1995
A Portrait of the Cambridge Singers
A Soprano Inspired 1998
Absolute Heaven 1997
Adagio Chillout 2004
Agnus Dei 1999
Agnus Dei II: Music to soothe the soul
Agnus Dei: Music of Inner Harmony 1996
All of the World's Most Beautiful Melodies (Box Set) 1995
Angel Voices, Vol. 2 1998
Angelic Voices 1999
Angels are Everywhere! 1995
Angels of Ecstasy 1999
Angels: Celestial Voices of Harmony 1996
Angels: Christmas with the Great Sopranos 2008
Art Is Calling for Me 1999
Artist Profile Series: Jeremy Summerley 2009
Ave Maria 1990
Ave Maria: Famous Arias & Choruses 1998
Ave Maria: Sacred Arias and Choruses 1997
Ave Verum: The Soul Ascends 1997
Baby Genius: Favorite Bedtime Songs 2007
Bach: Organ Solos from Clavierübung III; Schubert: Mass in G 1990
Bedroom Adagios 2003
Bedtime Beats: The Secret to Sleep 2006
Best Adagio Voices 100 2009
Best Classical Album of the Millennium 1999
Best Classics 100 2004
Best Classics 100 [DVD Video] 2004
Best Loved Sacred Music 1999
Best Relaxing Classics 100 2007
Bose Collection: Relax Disc 11
Carmina Sacra 1997
Cathedral Voices 2004
Celebrate with Pipe and Voice 2007
Choral Adagios 2004
Choral Favorites from King's 1990
Choral Favourites 1990
Choral Favourites from King's 2006
Choral Moods 1998
Christ's Passion & Resurrection 2004
Christian Classics: For Baby 2002
Cinema Classics 1999 1999
Class Brass - On The Edge 1993
Classic Battle: A Portrait 2002
Classic Branford Marsalis 2008
Classic CD No. 109 (Extra CD)
Classic Christmas Album 1996
Classic FM presents Voices
Classical Album 2000
Classical Chill 2008
Classical Chillout 2002
Classical Christmas - 15 Holiday Favorites 1995
Classical Heartbreakers 2004
Classical Legends 2002
Classical Lullabies 1998
Classical Music For Contemplation
Classical Music Prep School 2009
Classical Music to Relax To 2000
Classical Top 1000 [Box Set]
Classical: Christmas Collection 2008
Classics at the Movies: War 2002
Clive Barker 1999
Close of Day 1994
Conifer-The First Ten Years 1994
Creation 2001
David Devriès 1997
Dies Irae-The Essential Choral Collection 1997
Discover Choral Music 2007
Discover The Classics: Heaven and Earth 1991
Discover the Classics 1 (Box Set)
Divine Sopranos 1994
Dreaming Adagios 2008
Electrik [Bonus Track] 2006
Electrik [Includes Bonus CD] 2006
Elegy 2002
Eli: Voice in the Desert
En avant-première, les grandes nouveautés de l'année, 1994
Essential Choral Classics 2006
Experiencing Choral Music: Intermediate (Treble) 2005
Exultate, Jubilate 1998
Favorite Choral
Favourite Classics
Favourite Sacred Arias 1995
Floating World 2004
For Book Lovers Only 2003
For Your Soul 2002
For a Sunday Morning
Funeral Music
Gloria: Classical Music for Reflection and Meditation 1999
Glorious Trinity 1990
God Be in My Head: Sacred and Secular Treble Solos 2006
Grace 1997
Great Choral Classics 2001
Hear My Prayer 2004
Hear My Prayer - Choirboy & Choirgirl of the Year
Heavenly Adagios 2003
Heavenly Voices 2004
Her Greatest Hits [Deluxe Sound & Vision] [CDs+DVD] 2004
Hidden Colours 2002
How Can I Keep from Singing? 2006
How Lovely Are Thy Dwellings 1998
Hymn for the World, Vol. 2 1998
I Sing of a Maiden 1997
Impression of Brass
Impressions of Brass
In Classical Mood: In Praise 1998
In Classical Mood: Reflections 1996
In Memory Of... Classics for Funerals
In Paradisum
In Paradisum, Vol. 2: Spiritual Classical Melodies
In Paradisum: Spiritual Classical Melodies
In the Nursery: Music for My Baby, Vol. 2 2004
Inspired: The Breath of God (A Musical Companion to the Book) 1998
Into Paradise 2006
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring
Jubilee 2000: 2000 Years of Sacred Music 2000
Kiri 2001
Klassisk Musik att Koppla Av Till 2000
Kyrie 2000
La Belle France
Laudate Dominum 1987
Les Choeurs des Cathédrales 1995
Life is Beautiful, Vol. 2: Music for a Relaxing Weekend 2005
Light of the World: The Abbey School Choir 2007
Léopold Simoneau and Pierrette Alarie: Opera Recitals and Lieder [Box Set]
Mad About Angels 1995
Magnum Mysterium, Vol. 1: Sacred Music 1991
Magnum Mysterium, Vol. 2: Classical Music 1991
Make a Joyful Noise: Beloved Choruses
Mass: The Most Powerful, Uplifting & Passionate Music You Will Ever Hear 2000
Most Relaxing Classical Album in the World...Ever! 1999
Music For The Festive Year
Music from Our Heartstrings 2007
Music of the World: La Douce France
Music to Die For 2003
Musical Impressions from Manet to Gauguin
Musical Moods, Vol. 2 1999
My Soul Doth Magnify The Lord 2005
Mysterium: Sacred Arias 2001
Nature of Music, Vol. 2: Evening Music After Hours 2001
Nocturne Voices 2003
Northwest Chamber Chorus Live! 40th Anniversary Edition 2007
Of Winds And Song 1997
Once Were Angels: The Tradition of Boy Trebles 2003
Only Choral CD You'll Ever Need 2001
Paperhouse 1989
Passione
Peace: Pure Classical Calm 2005
Peaceful Adagios 2006
Perillo's Magnificat 2001
Philippe Herreweghe: By Himself [Includes DVD]
Philippe Herreweghe: Portrait 1997
Piano Transcriptions 2003
Pie Jesu 1995
Popular Choral Music from Truro Cathedral
Portrait 2004
Portsmouth Remembers 2004
Prayer: A Windham Hill Collection 2003
Prayers
Processional & Reflective Music for Weddings 2001
Pure Classic Moods 1996
Pure Classical 2007
Pure Classical Chillout 2004
Reflections 2007
Relax: The World's Most Beautiful Music 2008
Relaxing Adagios 2006
Relaxing Cinema Classics: Classical Masterpieces from the World of Cinema 2004
Remembrance 2003
Remembrance Classics 2004
Requiem 1999
Requiem(s) 2006
Richard Baker Presents--These You Have Loved, Vol.2
Romantic Approach 1999
Rêveries Saxophone & Organ V 1996
Sacrae Notae
Sacred Arias 1987
Sacred Classics
Sacred Classics [Denon] 2004
Sacred Songs 2005
Sacred Treasures IV: Choral Masterworks, Quiet Prayers
Sacred: Inspirational and Spiritual Music for Choir and Orchestra 2006
Salve Regina 1998
Secret Classics 1994
Security Police: Classical Tunes 2008
Serene Spirit: Divine Harmonies for Mind and Soul
Simply Peggy: Broadway, Classical & Spiritual Selections 2003
Something Borrowed, Something Blue 2002
Songs My Mother Taught Me: Celebrating Mothers in Music 2009
Songs of Praise
Sounds Sublime 2009
Sounds of Excellence: 200 Greatest Classics, Vol. 11 2000
Sounds of Splendour 2008
Stairway to Heaven 1995
Stay in Tune with PentaTone [Hybrid SACD] 2005
Stillness And Sweet Harmony 1996
Tears from Heaven
The #1 Choral Album 2002
The Best Choral Album in the World... Ever 1999
The Best Choral Album in the World...Ever! 1999
The Best of Aled Jones 2005
The Best of Domingo, Kiri Te Kanawa & Pavarotti
The Best of Kathleen Battle 2004
The Best of Naxos 9 1994
The Choirboys 2005
The Choristers of Caterbury Cathedrat
The Classic 100 [Box Set] 2008
The Classic 100, Vol. 1 2008
The Classical Album 2005 2004
The Classics at the Movies: Suspense 2002
The Cook and the Chef: Our Favourite Music 2009
The Essential Kiri 1992
The Greatest Choral Show on Earth 1999
The Impressionists: A Windham Hill Sampler
The Instruments Of The Orchestra
The Instruments of the Orchestra: Keyboard
The Legend of Sacred Music 2008
The Magic of Inspector Morse 2002
The Most Relaxing Classical Album in the World...Ever! 1997
The Most Relaxing Classical Music in the World...Ever! 2005
The Power & The Majesty: Essential Choral Classics 1995
The Telarc Collection, Vol. 9 1993
The Ultimate Most Relaxing Sacred Music in the Universe 2008
The Ultimate Relaxation Album, Vol. 2 2001
The Ultimate Relaxation Christmas Album 2 2005
The Very Best of Barbara Hendricks 2005
The Very Best of José Van Dam 2005
The Voice of France 2002
The Voice of the Chorus 2003
The Wedding Album 1995
The World's Finest Requiem
The World's Greatest Composers [Collector's Edition Music Tin] 2007
The World's Greatest Composers, Vol. 1 [Box Set] 2008
These You Have Loved, Vol. 2
Top 100: Favourite Classical Melodies [Box Set]
Top 100: Favourite Classical Melodies, CD 5
Trésors de la Musique Sacrée 1998
Tu Es Petrus
Two Thousand Years 1999
Ultimate Classical Christmas Album of All Time 2002
Ultimate Classical Dreams [Box Set] 2009
Ultimate Relaxation Collection 2003
Ultimate Relaxing Classical Collection 2004
Unforgettable Classics Collection 1995
Unforgettable Classics: Choral, Vol. 2 1999
Unforgettable Classics: Relaxation 1997
Unforgettable Sacred Classics
Unforgettable [SPJ Music] 1998
Victoria de Los Angeles 1999
Voices from Heaven 1997
Voices of the Soul 2006
Wedding Classics 2006
Wings of Song 2004
World's Most Beautiful Melodies, Vol. 4 1994
Æterna 2006
