Greer 1991 Modal Sensibility in Faure 1iyti61

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Modal Sensibility in Gabriel Fauré's Harmonic LanguageAuthor(s): Taylor GreerSource: Theory and Practice, Vol. 16 (1991), pp. 127-142

Published by: Music Theory Society of New York StateStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41054249 .

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Modal Sensibilityn

Gabriel

Fauré's

HarmonicLanguage

byTaylor

Greer

of the

greatest

hallenges

n

interpreting

he music of Gabriel Fauré is

accounting

orthe

originality

f his harmonic

anguage.

t is often sserted

that

Fauré's unusualblend

of

tonality

nd

modality

an be attributedo his

education t l'Ecole

Niedermeyer,

ne of the two

principal

music conservatories

n

France

during

he mid-nineteenth

entury.

o

be

sure,

n

his classes he was

exposed

not

only

o Louis

Niedermeyer's

wn modal

accompaniment

or

lainchant

ut lso

to

the harmonic heories f Gottfried

Weber as formulated

y

his

student,

ierre de

Maleden,

and laterwritten own

by

Gustave Lefèvre.1 ew criticshave considered

what

onsequences

hismodal

ensibility,

owever auré

developed

t,

had forhis har-

monic anguage s a whole.2 orexample, hough rançoiseGervaisdevelopsuseful

categories

n her

xhaustive

tudy

f Fauré's

harmonic

ractice,ncluding orrowings

from

regorian

nd

non-Gregorian

odes,

modulatory

ormulas,

nd the

ike,

he fails

to consider owthenumerous

ncipits

hat he solates it nto broader

armonic

on-

text.3

It s

my

ontentionhat linear

onception

f tonal tructures crucial f we are

to

understandherole

modality lays

n

Fauré's

unique

harmonic

tyle.

n

thefollow-

ing

essay

will

showthat

n

threemature

ongs,

Les

Présents,"

La

Rose,"

and "Une

Sainteen son

auréole,"

auré uses

theflatmediant s both

coloristic

onority

nd a

structural

armony.

ince his

experiments

ithmodalcolor

and

chromaticism

n

gen-

eral)

become more

pronounced

n

the

songs

written

uring

he 1880s and

1890s,

the

works o be discussed re drawn rom hisperiod.Yet his modalborrowingsre not

limited o theharmonic

phere;

hey

re also

inextricably

ound

up

with he

develop-

mentof linearmotives.

My

reason

for

considering

armonic

ractice

nd motivic

treatment

ogether

s that n Fauré's modal

sensibility hey

re linked: his

greatest

works

re

distinguished

ess

by

a

revolutionaryarge-scale

esign

or new

species

of

chromatic

armony

han

by

the

way

in

whichhe uses

traditional odal elements o

unify

n

entire

omposition.

n

addition,

n

the ast

ong

will

how hat auré's reatment

127

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128

Theory

nd Practice

Example

: Two

Progressions

sing

lat

Mediant

(a)

(b)

»te.

o

^==s=

==

^S

h

.

if

L

ft

v

.

i

P«»

II

Vol.

XVI

of the

flat

mediant s intimate-

ly

connected

withhis musical

setting

f the ext.

Whenwritingn major

keys,

Fauré,

like

other

igh-

teenth-nd

nineteenth-century

composers,

was fond of

enriching

is harmonic

alette

by borrowing

r

mixing

otes

from the

parallel

Aeolian

mode and

more

rarely

from

the

parallel Phrygian

and

Lydian

modes.

The

object

of this

tudy

s two

ases

of modalmixture

n

which

single

chord

a

major

triad

builton

the flat

mediant

is

placed

in two differentarmonic

contexts,s illustratedytheprogressionsnExample1 Thecrucial uestion s what

harmonic

unction

oes

the middle

hord

n

each

group

have.

By examining

aurés

musicfor

nswers

o that

uestion,

we can

develop

a harmonicexicon

forhis use of

the

flat

mediant.

n theone

hand,

t can be

interpreted

s a means

of

prolonging

he

initial

hord

f

the

progression:

he

onic

t

a)

and

thedominant

t

(b).

According

o

such

n

interpretation,

his hord

s

a coloristic

onority

hich

urely

risesfrom

oice

leading

and

thusnever

ontributes

o a

piece's

fundamental

armonic

tructure.

n

Example

2a the

Al?

hord

esults

rom he

nteraction

f

contrapuntal

ines:

the

oprano

contains

common

one;

the

nner

oices

consist

f a chromatic

nflectionf

3

and

a

chromatic

ower

neighbor;

nd

finally

he

hird

motion

n the

bass

elaborates

he

onic.

Likewise,

he

second

progression

an be

viewed

as a variation

f

a traditional

oice-

leadingpatternetween utervoices:̂ 5-8 substitutingor5-6, as shown nExample

2b and

2c.

Also,

the

oprano rolongs

via

an

upper

neighbor.4

Yet,

on

the other

hand,

n some

of

Fauré

s works he

flat

mediant erves

s a

structural

armony, elping

o

shape

a

composition's

middleground

esign.

Naturally,

the

chord's

harmonic unction

iffers

adically,

epending

n whether

t

follows

he

dominant

r

tonic.

n theformer

ituation,

t

provides

harmonic

upport

or

>3

within

the

oprano's

escent

etween

and

2,

as indicated

n

Example

3a.

The direct

ctaves

Example

2:

Flat Mediant

s Tonic

Prolongation

t

(a)

and

Dominant

rolongation

at

b)

and

c)

(a)

(b)

(c)

a

I

N

N

n

(2*^

IL

^

»

^

IL

o^«

p.

i

p.

y

5

-

6

-

5

p.

y5""8"*5







Gréer

Modal

Sensibility

n

Fauré

129

Example

: Flat

Mediant s

Middleground armony

(a)

(b)

J 11 j

,ljqg

J

I

7

7

7

[tf

'~"^

7

~

, '

:

3EE^JT-f

r-

*-

^r-

T

"

F:

V

till

V

F:

V

till

V

implied

by

the outer wo

voices'

approach

o

5

in

this

xample

re alleviated

y

the

interpolationf a VI6 chord hown t (b). By contrast, hen heflatmediant ollows

the

onic,

ts

arge-scale

armonic unctions more lusive.Since at the nd of a

piece

Fauré often voids

a traditional

-I

cadence,

other actors

ome into

play

that

help

reinforce losure:

1)

the statement

nd

development

f

melodic motives ssociated

with heflat

mediant,

ften

n

the

bass;

(2)

the

trategic

lacement

f the

till

pro-

gression

t the

opening

nd close of a

piece.

Both factors

will

be illustratedt

greater

length

elow.

"Les Présents"

In

many

f Faurés

songs

he

piano accompaniment

onsists f a

short,

epeating

figure

which

ventually

ecomes

hevehiclefor

ntroducing

ubtleharmonic

hanges.

"Les Présents,"p. 46,no. 1 (1887), his musical ettingf a poem byVilliers e l'Isle

Adam,

provides good example

f this

ype

f

opening.5

he

piano

begins

by repeat-

ing

a two-measurestinato

igure

our

imes,

wice

by

tself

nd twice s

accompani-

ment or he

vocal

line which nters t measure

(see

Example

4).

The ostinato on-

sists of two chords

F

and

At6

which are

presented

n

different

egisters

nd are

closely

ntertwined ith n

eighth-note

elody

lternating

etween

he

pianist's

wo

hands.

Despite

he

parallel

motion

mong

he

upper

hree

oices,

Fauré avoidsfifthsr

octaves

n

the

pair

of chords

y presenting

heflatmediant n

firstnversion. hus the

primary

ifferenceetween he eduction

n

Example

5

and

themodel

n

Example

2a is

that he bass

ascends a fifth

n

place

of the

original

minor hird. n

addition,

auré

Example

: "Les

Présents,"p. 46,

no.

1

mm.

1 4

dolce

WVi 1

[jj

I

I

i

[y>

1







130

Theory

nd

Practice

Vol.

XVI

Example

5: "Les

Présents,"

Reduction

f

piano

ntroduction,

mm.

-3

F:

I

-

Example

6: "Les

Présents,"

middleground

reading

f

mm. -12

Ä

to

( 3)

to"

/*

fr;

*

hi «*

*

F:

I

occasionally

ndows

he ass

with

strong

elodic

unction,

s

inmeasure

,

wheret

unfoldsshortmotive,b-D-C,which he ingerchoes t measure1 and n retro-

grade

tmeasures

-8.6

The

song's

orm

an be described

s

ternary:

easures

-12,

measures

2-24,

and

measures

4-31.Of

the hree

ections,

he irstnd

hirdre

distinguished

y

the

conspicuous

bsence f

any

tructural

ominant

armony,

s

opposed

o

the econd

that

oncludes

ith

traditional

-I cadence

measures

3-24).

t s

inthese uter

wo

sections

here he hird

motion

etweenonic nd

flatmediant

nd the

bass's

nitial

melodic

motive

lay

hemost

rominent

ole.

In

the

middleground

eduction

f measures

-12

displayed

n

Example

the

third

pan,

b-D-C,

now

ppears

n

different

uise

as

part

f he tructural

oprano.

This ine

begins

nd

nds

n

5,

which t

measure

2 sounds

n

the

iano

ccompani-

ment.he l?2sinitiallyupportedy he iano'sAb6hord ut s laterupercededy

a

V^

of

V at measure

1 This atter

armony

s

striking

n

that

t reflects

he

opra-

no's

rpeggiation

p

to his

oint:

-A-C-Eb.

In

the

hirdection

he

latmediant

inally

akes

ts

ppearance

s a structural

harmony:

he

middleground

eduction

n

Example

strongly

esembles

he

model

n

Example

a. What

s unusual

bout

the

song

is

that t

presents

his

modal-based

onority

n

two

com-

Example

: "Les

Présents,"

iddleground

reading

f

mm.

2-31

pletely

înèrent

ettings:

s

a means

^ ^ ^-^

of

prolonging

he

onic t the

fore-

'^y

(¿9

(27)

^-^

(3y

ground

nd

as a fundamental

ar-

,

^^ p

i

-

monyn tsownright. he use of n£ ^ ^^^J^m ^t .^ Lfi====f

bill

n

the

inal ection

omes

s

no

i

W)

m

"

y'

'*

H*

surprise,

s

it s

implied

r at

east

1*^

^

l

hinted

t from

he

very eginning.

<j

Indeed,

t s this

harmonic

inship

il

between

he

nitial

iano

ostinato

f|^:i

m

i

=^

and

theharmonic

lan

of

thefinal

#^_ ^^H î* '?

section

which

ompensates

or he

1 ̂ ^

'

U^ 1

lack of a

final

V-I

cadence

and

helps

bring

he

ong

o a

close. Of







Gréer

Modal

Sensibility

n

Fauré 131

particular

nterests the

principle

f "motivic

arallelism"

t

work

n

this

ong

through

which chromatic iminutionn

the

accompaniment

orresponds

ith he

ong's

fun-

damentalmelodic ine.7

The third

pan,

?7-5,

lso controls

hemelodic tructure

n

the

final ection uthere t s harmonizedifferently:hebass ascendsbyminor hird nd

then eturns

o via an

El?7

hord,

s

illustratedn

Example

7.

"La Rose"

In

another

ong

from he

ame

period,

La

Rose",

Op.

51,

no.

4

(1889-90),

the

flatmediant

lso

plays

a central

ole. This

harmony

ppears

twice

n

the

song,

as a

brief xtension f a

cadence nearthe

beginning

nd

in the

dense,

middle ection n B

major.

We shall examineboth

nstanceswith

pecial

emphasis

n themotivic

unction

of thebass.

Throughout

he

song

Fauré

creates a trio

among

three

parts,

he

singer,

he

pianist's oprano

ine,

nd

therest f

the

piano

accompaniment,

ach of

whichhas its

own distinct melodic shape and

rhythmic

ontour. he

singer's

alling

lines

in

measures

3, 5, 7, 9,

and

11

complement

he

right

and's ascend-

ing argeggios

n

measures

, 4, 6, 8,

and

10 in

a

quasi-antiphonal

rrange-

ment.

The

piano's

opening

rpeggio

is

reproduced

n

Example

8).

In

addi-

tion,

a

sharp

contrast

n

rhythmic

Example

8:

"La

Rose,"

op.

51,

no.

4,

piano's

opening

rpeggio

■

.

fl - r ff f h

contour xists

between he

pianist's

eft

and nd

the wo

upper

parts:

onstant

napes-

tic

rhythms

n

the

formernd

more

rochaic

hythms

n

the atter

reate

continuous

texturef sixteenthotes.

The

underlying

armonic

lan

of

measures

-12,

lthough

ased on the

descend-

ing

third ass

motion

utlined

n

Example

3b,

contains

everalnew

chromatic

ouches.

At measure

the

V7

proceeds

o a

D'>6 chord

ubstituting

or he

tonic

see

Example

9a).

The

flatmediant

n

measure

ushers n

a

passingharmony,

*

which

hen ontin-

ues on

to the

dominant ne

measure

ater.

n

this

ontext,

ecause the

flatmediant

up-

ports

>3

n

the

oprano's

escent,

t s

part

f

the

fundamental

armonic/melodictruc-

ture

of the

opening

section.

Within

measures

6-9 the bass

also

plays

a

significant

motivic

ole,

tracing

ut a

chromatic

ersion

f the

pianist's

nitial

ising

rpeggio

n

measure

,

as shown

by

the

beam in

Example

9a:

5-l-l>3-5.

This

arpeggiation

s an

elaboration f the

bass's

descending

hird

motion,

-

bill,

slightly

ifferentersion

f

which

ppears

ater n

the

ong.

Like^

he

bass,

the

soprano

lso contains heflat

mediant,

assing

downward

from

to 2.

As the

graph

n

Example

9b

indicates,

>3

s

initially

upported y

a

Dl?6,

which t

measure

is

supplanted

y

an

A'>

harmony.

uriously,

when

viewedfrom

middlground

erspective,

he

opening

ection s

a whole

displays

he same

dialogue

between

inger

nd

accompanist

witnessed

n

the

opening

measures.The

three-staff

format

f

Example

9a

emphasizes

he

antiphonal

haracter

f the

structural

elody:

câl?1

in

thevoice

and

aM-e1

n

the

ccompaniment.

The

piano's tranquillamente

t

measure

9

signals

moment f

great

ontrast

n

"La

Rose" for

nowhere

lse

in

the

ong

do

abrupt

hanges

n

texture,

egister,

hythm,







132 Theory

nd

Practice Vol.XVI

Example

a: "La

Rose,"

middlegroundeading

f mm.

1-11

©

©

Qi

/^

/y±

rì*

,/Tpg

/

fr

*

0

w

^ «^ ^ y^

F:

I

V

till

V

Example

b:

© © ©

^r

uv 'lip/3

r

^

77 6' |r 7

F:

I

V

till

V

and

dynamics

ll coincide.

et

his

extremeurface ontrast

onceals

the

nderlying

armonic

ontinuity

which onnects

7

in

measure

8

with hedominant

n measure

4.

Indeed,

he

progression,

-1>III-V,

and the ircuitousass arpeggia-

tions oth

ppear

n measures

-

11,

seen

in

Example

10.

In

this

middleground

raph

he

latmedi-

ant

performs

structural

armonic

function,

upporting

>3

in

the

soprano.

t s as

if,

yrepeating

he ame hord

air

ive imes

measures

8-37),

aure

magnifies

single

momentromhe irstection

nd hen ontinues

ith more

hro-

matic ersion

f he

pening

armonic

rogression.

measures

8-44

lsowitness

wo imultaneous

tatements

f n

arpeggiated

ug-

mented

riad hat

rows

ut f the

peningassage. hey

re solated

n

Example

0

by

brackets.he ugmentedifthpan nthe assdependsnthe hromaticrpeggia-

tion

mentioned

bove,

eginning

ith

l>

n

measure

6

and

ontinuing

hrough

'>

nd

C.

The derivation

f this

pan

from hebass's

third

pan,

C-Ab-C,

is

depicted

n

Example

1

The

descending

inor

ixth

pan

n the

oprano

s no

less

prominent,

connecting

2 at

measure

8 with 1 n measure

0. These

wo

rpeggiated

ugmented

triads

eveal ne

ofFaurés mature

ethodsf

motivic

evelopment:

he

imultaneous

presentation

f wo

rmore inearmotives

n

different

oices.8

n the

ollowingong,

this

echniqueelps ortray

nmusical erms central

mage

n

he

oem's

inal

ines.







Gréer

Modal

Sensibility

n Fauré

133

Example

10: "La

Rose,"

reduction

f mm.

27-44:

two

arpeggiateciugmented

riads

marked

y

brackets

@ @ ®

i

I

^^^^^^™

'

r

^^^

b#

^

^ -

<fl

8

-

7

|>6

'

6

.^^

5

_

6 7 7

l_

8

-

7

|>6

^

'

I

^6

*

5

M

6 7 7

v

kn

v i

Example

11: Derivation

f "La

Rose,"

mm.

27-43

from

escending

ass motion

y

C27) C43)

(fr

J

J

J

J

lJ

J

J

lJ;

~.

^J

F:

V

till

V

V

till

V

'V

till

V

"Une

Sainteen son

auréole"

La Bonne

Chanson,

Op.

61

(1892-94),

Fauré's

settings

f nine

poems

from aul

Verlaine's

ycle,

reveals

daring

ut

refined

armonic

anguage.

Une Sainteen son

auréole"

hereafter

bbreviateds

"Une

Sainte"),

hefirst

ong

n

the

ycle,

s

a virtual

showcasefor

Fauré's

unique

fusion f

modality

nd

tonality.

he

prolongational

ech-

niques

involving

he flat

mediant

bserved n

"Les

Présents" nd "La

Rose" both

appear tcrucialuncturesnthis ong. n addition,inearmotivesnvolving>òperme-

ate the ntire

work,

erving

ot

only

s the

ong's

structurallimax

but lso as a

musi-

cal

commentary

n the

poem

tself.

Fauré's

treatment

f

modal

mixture lso

highlights

nother

rucial

spect

of La

Bonne

Chanson:

his

sensitivity

o

the

poetry.

Although

ome critics

rgue

that

his

musical

ettings

f

Verlaine

ail to

do

justice

to

the

poet's

aesthetic f

ambiguity

nd

pure

nuance,9

thers

raise

Fauré's

gift

or

apturing

he

distinct mood" of

each

poem

in

the

ycle

with n

"instinctive

usical

perception."10

et this

instinct" or

ortraying

poetry

n

musical

erms s

difficulto

define.On the

one

hand,

Fauré

himself

dmitted







134

Theory

nd

Practice

Vol.XVI

in

a 1902

interview

hat is aim

was

to "extricate

he

general eeling

f a

poem,

rather

than o concentrate

n itsdetails."1

On the ther

and,

substantial umber

f Fauré's

ninety-seven

élodies

how

profound

wareness f

poetic

details.While

thorough-

going xegesisof his text etting racticewould constitute book-lengthtudy,nthe

remainder

f

this

ssay

will focuson three

spects

of his

setting

f

"Une Sainte":

1)

the

role

that he

flatmediant

lays

n

the

ong's

fundamentalarmonic/melodic

truc-

ture;

2)

the

presentation

nd

development

f

inearmotiveswhich nvolve

?3;

nd

3)

the

expansion

of the

song's prevailing hrase

ength

which,

t two

different

oints,

coincides

with

ne of these

inearmotives.

Let

us

begin

with

synopsis

f the

poem,

the text orwhich s

reproduced

n

Figure

1 The narrator

as

completely

urrendered o

reverie,

ontemplating

hat

thoughts

is

lover's

name wakens

n

his mind:

saint,

horn

all,

or

the

pearlish

ue

of a

young

girl's

blushing

ace. As a

single

xhalation

f sixteen

ines,

he

poem

is a

continuous

itany

f

visual nd

auditory

mages,

wo

per

stanza.The final

wo ines

of

this itany erve s the limaxof thepoemand theaxis aroundwhich verythinglse

turns.

here

is

ample

evidence

n the text o

support

uch an

interpretation.

irst,

Verlaine

ccentuates

hese

ines with

his choice of

punctuation:

he

first

eriod

n

the

poem

occurs

t the

nd of

ine 16.

Second,

the

only

ctive

verbs,

I see"

and

"I

hear,"

appear

n

the

ame ine

where he

narrator

inally

merges

rom is

heretofore

ndless

series

of

free ssociations.

ntil

his

point

hereader

s at a loss as

to whatholds

this

paradise

of sounds

nd

images

together.

ndeed,

they

re united

n that he

narrator's

imagination

s stirred

o

eloquenceby

a

single hought,

is over's

name,

which

ven

n

the

final

ine

he never

ivulges.

he closest

he

comes

s his

description

f ts

regal,

.e.,

"Carlovingian,"

haracter.

Figure

1: "Une Sainte n sonauréole, La BonneChanson, aul Verlaine

Une Sainte

n son

auréole

Une Châtelaine

n sa

tour,

Tout e

que

contient

a

parole

Humaine

e

grâce

t

d'amour;

La note 'or

que

fait

ntendre

Le

cordans

e lointain

es

bois,

Mariée

la

fiertéendre

Des

nobles

Dames

d'autrefois;

Aveccela lecharmensigne

D'un

frais ourire

riomphant

Eclos

dans

des candeurs

e

cygne

Et des

rougers

e

femme-enfant;

Des

aspects

acrés

lancs

t

roses,

Un doux

ccord

atricien.

Je

vois,

'entends

oute es

choses

Dans

son now

Carlovingien.









136

Theory

nd Practice Vol.

XVI

Fauré's

treatment

f

phrase engths

lso

emphasizes

modal

mixture,

nd their

comparison

s

particularly

ppropriate

n this

ong

because of the

repetitive

ature

f

the

piano

accompaniment,

hich ften

epeats

two- r three-measurestinato.

igure

2 summarizeshesong's phrasegroupings;ach bracket epresents phrase nd the

number

f measures

s indicated

y

an arabic

numeral elow.For

example,

n

the

pen-

ing

thirteen

easures

i.e.,

ending

n thedownbeat

f measure

14)

the

piano's

three-

measure

ccompaniment

igure ppears

four

imes,

he ast

time

engthened

y

one

measure.

Whenviewed

gainst

his

attern

f

regularity,

uch an occasional

rregulari-

ty

has a

strongmpact

n the

istener. his

particular

hrase xpansion

s also

signifi-

cant s

itcoincides

with hebass's

inflected

hird

pan.

As the

ong

unfolds,

auré on-

tinues

o

link

rhythmic

nd

pitch

rganization

y uxtaposing

he

development

f the

third

motive

with he

xpansion

f

phrase

ength.

The

shift

n

phrase

ength

an also be

interpreted

s a musical

referenceo the

poem's

rregular

eter.

erlaine s well

known or

he nexhaustible

ariety

f

metric

schemesnhispoetryalledvers mpair.Une Sainte" s noexception. erethemetric

scheme

consists

of constant

lternation

etween

eight

and nine

syllables per

line

throughout

ll sixteen

ines.13

hough

Fauré

makes

no

attempt

n his

setting

o mirror

this cheme

directly,

is

occasional

expansion

f

phrase engths

erves s a

musical

counterpart

o

Verlaine

s

pattern

f

alternation.14

The

arrival

f the

El?

7

chord

n measure

2 ushers

n

a

new,

more

brooding

sti-

nato

in both

voice and

accompaniment

he

piano's

ostinato

pattern

s

striking

n

account f ts

ow

range

nd ts

polyrhythmic

haracter.

henthevoice enters

t mea-

sure

24,

it contains

rochaic

hythms

gainst

which

he

piano uxtaposes

wo

ines

n

duple

meter,

oth

n

half

notes,

ne

lagging

ehind he

other

y

a

quarter

ote.

These

interlockinguple

patterns

top

every

hreemeasures

t the

change

of

harmony.

he

piano'smoving ine voice spansa diminished ourth, t>-G, n which s nested he

bass's

inflected

hird

motive,

k-Bt-Ak

The

flatmediant

lso

plays prominent

ole

n the econd

stanza's

overallhar-

monic nd

melodic

tructure,

s

shown

n

Example

13. The same

bass

arpeggiation,

5-l_|,3-5

f

already

bserved

n "La

Rose,"

occurs

between

measures

22

and

38,

but

here

tforms

motivic

orrespondence

ith

he

piano's

pentatonic

igure

f the

pening

Example

3:

"Une

Sainte,"

middleground

eading

f

mm.

14-38

(u)

(22)

(38)

iÎ"^Î* M"~r#LJ ~d~i

r--r^î-+-

j-

Ah

I

V

till

V I









138

Theory

nd

Practice

Vol.XVI

Example

4: "Une

ainte,"

m.

0-94

67

'ii'h' rij i ,1 i J j i ■ 1} { Ji f

pa-

tri- ci-

en,

Je

vois,

I ___-

-

-

- -

-

-

19

'

73

^1T> J r irrJ r ir i^ff

J'en-

tends tou- tes ces choses

Dans son

ijkj, _ il |j r r j |j.^ _ u_^,

"^j

_

i i

_

'

nom Car- lo-

vin-

gi-

en.

I

P

dolce

¿Vj *m

-

i

-

i

■

i

-

i

-

i

"

i

...a j

r

^r"

=^-







Gréer

Modal

Sensibility

n Fauré 139

Example

15: "Une

Sainte,"

overlapping

tatements

f four

fragments

f

pentatonic

motive,

mm.

70-80

© ® ®

^ N

é

J

J

'K H

Hf

Vf

f

This

motivic condensation also serves an

important

formal

function.

Considering

he factthatno dominant hord

appears

n

the final

twenty-eight

ea-

sures,

he

ong's

conclusion acks the raditionaladential

losure hat

haracterizeshe

end of stanza I.15

nstead

Fauré relieson motivic

epetition

s much

as

harmony

o

convey

sense of

finality.

Fauré also expandstheprevailing hrase ength rom hree o fourmeasures

one last

time,

buthe

delays

t until

he

piano's

solo

epilogue

measures

85-89).

One

possible explanation

or this

delay

is the conflict

betweenthe

voice's and

piano's

phrase engths hroughout

hefinalmeasures. efore

measure

0,

the

voice and

piano

share he same

phrasegrouping.

etween

measures

0

and

84,

however,

his

unity

s

disrupted,

s the

voice

part

ings

n

two-measure

hrases

n

complete

efiance f the

by-now

amiliar

hree-measurestinato n

the

piano. By

reserving

he

final

phrase

expansion

or he

piano

alone,

Fauréresolves his

onflict f

phrase

ength

n

favor f

thevoice

and,

n

the

process,gives

the

piano

a more

reflective

haracter,

s

if

t

had

been

istening

o thevoice all

along.

The

close

correspondence

etween

music and text n

"Une

Sainte" becomes

clearonly nthefinal pproach o the onic,where hevivid extualmages numerated

over

the

entire

oem

still

inger

n

the

istener'smind

like a "halo" of

memories.

Fauré

creates a

musical

counterpart

o this

"halo"

by

recapitulating

ragments

nd

inflections f the

openingpentatonic

motive

uring

he

final wo

lines of text.

Thus

when he

inger ays

"I

see,

hear

ll these

hings,"

he udience

hears hem

oo.

This

musical halo"

is also

reflected

n

the

repetition

f the

bass's

inflectedhird

span,

which

not

only

helps

naugurate

he

ong

i.e.,

ends stanza

)

but lso

brings

t to

a

conclusion.

n

this

respect

he flat

mediant's

function s a

prolongation

f tonic

serves

large-scale

ormal

unction.

middleground

eduction

f the

entire

iece

is

displayed

n

Example

16.









Gréer

Modal

Sensibility

n

Fauré

141

Notes

1.

"L'Ecole de

Musique

Classique

Niedermeyer,"

ncyclopédie

de

la

Musique

et

Dictionnaire

u

Conservatoire,

d.

Albert

avignac

(Paris:

Delagrave,

1913-31),

Part2, Vol. 6, 3617-21. See also Lefevre'sTraitéd'harmonie l'usage des cours

de

l'Ecole de

musique

lassique

fondéepar

L.

Niedermeyer

Paris,

Ecole

Niedermeyer,

889).

2. Two

studieswhich

xplore

arious

onsequences

f

Fauré'

exposure

o

theories

f

modality

n

his

compositional

echnique

re

James

Kidd,

"Louis

Niedermeyer's

System

for

Gregorian

Chant

Accompaniment

s a

Compositional

Source for

Gabriel

Fauré,"

Ph.D.

diss.,

University

f

Chicago,

1974),

and

Robin

Tait,

The

Musical

Language

of

Gabriel

Fauré

(New

York:

Garland,

1989).

Neither

uthor,

however,

ocuses

n the inear

spects

f Fauré's

harmonic

ractice.

3.

See "Etude

comparée

des

langages

harmoniques

e

Fauré et

Debussy,"

La Revue

Musicale,

197 ):

272-73.

4. A good illustrationf this ype f dominant rolongationan be found nFauré's

song

Au

Cimetière,

Op.

51,

no.

2,

mm.

10-12.

5. The scores used

in

this

tudy

nclude heHamelle

editions f Deuxième

Recueilde

Vingt

Mélodies,

Troisième ecueil

de

Vingt

Mélodies,

nd the nternational

dition

of La Bonne Chanson,

6. It can be debated

whetherhe hird

pan,

El?-D-C,

s the enor

oice

dropping

elow

the bass or the bass

presenting

ts

own melodic material.

ndeed,

throughout

Fauré's

musicthedistinctionetween

hebass as an

independent

elodic ine and

as a succession f chord oots ecomes

blurred.

7.

This

concept

has

a

long

history

n

Schenkerian

nalytical

tudies,

ncluding

harles

Burkhart's Schenker's 'Motivic

Parallelisms,'"

Journal

of

Music

Theory

22

(1978):

145-75;

John

Rothgeb's

"Thematic Content:

A

Schenkerian

View,"

Aspects ofSchenkerian heory, d. David Beach (New Haven: Yale University

Press,

1983),

39-60;

and

Allen

Cadwallader

Echoes and

Recollections: rahms's

Op.

76,

No.

6,"

Theory

nd Practice

13

1988):

65-78.

8. For a detaileddiscussion

f the

ways

n

which he imultaneous

tatementsf

aug-

mented riads

ortray

econtede l'Isle's

text,

ee

my

dissertation

Tonal Process

in

the

Songs

of GabrielFauré:

Two

Structural

eatures f theWhole-tone

cale,"

(Ph.

D. diss. Yale

University,

987),

94-104.

9. Two studiesuse Verlaine's

poetry

s a means of

comparing

auré's

approach

o

text-setting

ith thatof his

contemporary,

laude

Debussy.

See Laurence M.

Porter

Meaning

n

Music:

Debussy

and Fauré as

Interpreters

f

Verlaine,"

Topic:

A

Journal

f

theLiberal Arts

35

(Fall 1981):

26-37

and Arthur

.

Wenk,

Claude

Debussy

nd thePoets

Berkeley:University

f California

ress,

1976),

22-63.

10. David Cox, "France,"A History f Song,ed. Denis Stevens London:Hutchinson,

1960),

209.

11.

Interview ith ouis

Aguettanteprinted

n

Paris-Comoedia,

March

3, 1954,

106.

12. An

extreme

xample

of this occurs

in

the

song

"Clair de

lune,"

Op.

46,

no.

2,

where he voice

enters

nly

t m.

12

as

if

to

accompany

he

piano's free-standing

menuet.

13.

Of the nine

poems

whichFauré chose from he

original

wenty-one

n

Verlaine's

cycle,

two others

onform o this ame metric cheme: La lune blanche uitdans

les bois"

no.3)

and

"J'allais

par

des chemins

erfides"

no.

4).







142

Theory nd

Practice

Vol.XVI

14. Fauré

lso

mphasizes

he nflectedhird

pan y lightlyistorting

he

oem's

ine

organization;

e uniteshewords

arole

and

humaine

which

re he astword

n

line

3 and

thefirst ord

n

ine

4,

respectively)

n

a

singlephrase:

musical

enjambementf orts.

15. While t s

certainlyossible

ohear omekind f

El?

hord the

xpected

ontinu-

ation f he adential

^

implied

n

m.

78

when he

iano

ndvoice all

ilent,

lti-

mately

must

eject

uch

reading.

t s a mistakeo

try

nd

xplain

auré's ar-

monic ubtleties

y upplying

he

ery

adence eavoids.

16. Two

examples

re "Clairede

lune,"

Op.

46,

no.

2

and "La

lune

blanche,"

a

Bonne

hanson,

hich

reboth et o

poems

y

Verlaine.

Greer 1991 Modal Sensibility in Faure 1iyti61

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