Jean-Michel Nectoux's important new biography of Gabriel Faure is the most comprehensive study yet of this central figure of fin de siecle France. It traces the composer's life and the rich cultural milieu in which he lived and worked: the world also of Saint-Saens, Flaubert, Verlaine, Ravel, Debussy and Proust. A large part of the book considers Faure's music, with particular emphasis on his adjustment to the musical language of the twentieth century and the formation of his late style. Works in all genres are discussed in detail. The book is the fruit of over twenty years' research by Nectoux, the foremost authority on Gabriel Faure. He has read more than 5000 previously unpublished letters and has unearthed more than 120 musical manuscripts in the process of writing this definitive study. The text is richly illustrated with rare photographs from Faure's lifetime and contains an extended chronology of the composer's life, a complete chronological listing of all his own works and a detailed bibliography.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations; Prelude; Acknowledgements; 1. Gradus ad Parnassum; 2. Scenes from provincial life; 3. Friends and lovers; 4. Faure as pianist and organist; 5. Roses for Des Esseintes: from the romance to the melodie; 6. Sotto voce: chamber music I; 7. Choral music; 8. The theatre I: operatic projects and incidental music; 9. The Verlaine years: song cycles and further operatic projects; 10. The theatre II: Promethee; 11. Works and days; 12. Pomp and circumstance; 13. Towards the twentieth century; 14. The theatre III: Penelope, Masques et Bergamasques; 15. Words and music: the van Lerberghe years; 16. The late piano works; 17. Light and shade: chamber music II; 18. Faure 'modern style'; 19. Ultima verba; 20. Inner voices; Chronology; Chronological catalogue of Faure's works; Bibliography; Index.