Pavane

Fauré composed this immensely popular short orchestral piece in 1887, and its first performance took place the following year at Concerts Lamoureux in Paris. A few days after the premiere, the composer unveiled another version of the Pavane for chorus and orchestra, adding a text by Robert de Montesquiou, and in 1891 it was performed by these forces, with the addition of dancers, as a choreographic spectacle in the gardens of the Bois de Boulogne. The Pavane pays homage to a courtly dance of Spanish origin that flourished during the 16th century. Not surprisingly, it exercised a tangible influence on the Pavane pour une Infante Défunte by Fauré’s pupil, Ravel. The work opens with a wonderfully seductive melody on the flute set against an accompaniment of gently plucked strings imitating the sounds of a lute or guitar. For the most part, the scoring is delicate and refined with some beautifully nuanced woodwind writing, though there are darker undertones in the brief middle section.