Nocturne No.12 e-moll Op.107 - Fauré, Gabriel - PTNA Piano Music Encyclopedia

Fauré, Gabriel : Nocturne No.12 e-moll Op.107

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Work Overview

Music ID : 182

Composition Year：1915　
Publication Year：1916
First Publisher：Durand
Instrumentation：Piano Solo　
Genre：nocturne
Total Playing Time：5 min 30 sec
Copyright：Public Domain

nocturne

Piano Solo

piano solo

e moll

Commentary (2)

Author : Shiraishi, Yuriko

Last Updated: May 27, 2014

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Note: This article is automatically translated from the original Japanese text. The author of the original work did not supervise this translation.

Composed between August and September 1915, it was published by Durand in 1916. It is dedicated to the pianist and composer Robert Lortat (1885-1938), with whom Fauré developed a close friendship from the 1910s, when Fauré served as director of the Paris Conservatoire. The premiere took place on November 23, 1916, at the Concerts Jacques Durand, performed by Louis Diémer (1843-1919), who, like Lortat, was a pianist and composer. On this occasion, Diémer performed this Nocturne alongside Barcarolle No. 12, which Fauré had dedicated to him. In E minor, 12/8 time.

Writer: Shiraishi, Yuriko

Author : Shiraishi, Yuriko

Last Updated: May 27, 2014

[Open]

Note: This article is automatically translated from the original Japanese text. The author of the original work did not supervise this translation.

No. 12

Among Fauré's piano miniatures, which are often structured in ternary form, No. 12 has a somewhat different structure. Although the return of the opening theme at Tempo I is observed in measure 43, the piece does not converge; instead, it progresses to the end, accelerating continuously with tempo indications at measure 76 (Allegro ma non troppo) and measure 91 (Più mosso). Therefore, here we would like to consider the section from measure 43, where the theme returns, as the second part of the work, interpreting it in a binary form: A (measures 1-42) - A’ (measures 43-90) - Coda (measures 91-107).

The theme fluctuates between E minor and E major. This alternation between major and minor is generated by the treatment of the third scale degree (G natural and G sharp), which is one of Fauré's important expressive methods. The theme, initially accompanied by a sense of tranquility and a somewhat melancholic atmosphere, is given a progressive flow by the effect of melodic hemiola created by the quadruplets seen in measures 5, 10, and elsewhere. Such rhythmic techniques are also employed in Fauré's barcarolles as a means of creating dynamism. In the latter half of Section A (from measure 21 onwards), the inner voices become subdivided, building up to Section A'. In Section A' as well, similar to Section A, the notes become subdivided from the latter half (measure 61), and furthermore, the tempo accelerates from measure 76 onwards. The piece then reaches its climax with the powerful coda passage (from measure 91), which R. Orledge called "Brahmsian" (*1).

R. Tait states about this No. 12 that it is "one of Fauré's most impressionistic works, simultaneously fusing the concepts of barcarolle and nocturne, i.e., the images of night and flowing water" (*2). Indeed, in its structure, with a quiet and solemn theme and the interwoven hemiola rhythmic technique, one can observe the integration of nocturne and barcarolle.

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1. Robert ORLEDGE, Gabriel Fauré, London, Eulenburg, 1979, p. 164.

2. Robin TAIT, The Musical Language of Gabriel Fauré, Ph. D. Thesis, University of St-Andrews, 1984 : New York, Garland, 1989, p. 285.

Writer: Shiraishi, Yuriko