One of the most gifted composers of the French school, Gabriel Faur (1845-1924) created distinctive music strikingly original in texture, melody, and harmony. According to Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Faur 's music "reflected French civilization at its most fastidious." This handsome and affordable volume unites two of Faur 's superb orchestral works in one convenient, authoritative edition. Pell as et M lisande, Op. 80, composed in 1898, is a four-movement suite for orchestra written after Faur 's incidental music for the drama by Maurice Maeterlinck -- a tragic tale that later inspired Debussy's opera of the same name. The volume also includes Faur 's enormously popular Pavane, Op. 50, one of the most performed short orchestral works in the repertoire.