Fauré: Après un rêve, Op. 7 No. 1 (After a Dream)

Fauré - Works for Cello & Piano

Born in 1845, the French composer and organist Gabriel Fauré is now acknowledged as one of the most important writers of chamber music of his period. The delicate and elegant style of his music, redolent of the salons of Parisian high-society, is underpinned by a core of emotional depth and an often adventurous approach to harmony. Although he did not compose a great deal of music for the solo cello, he seems to have had a special affinity for the instrument and its lyrical qualities. It is therefore no surprise that these works have become favourites with both audiences and performers. This recording contains all the pieces originally written by Fauré for cello and piano, including one of his most beautiful and enduring short compositions, the “Elégie”, opus 24, and the two sonatas, opus 109 and 119.

The Fauré Album

Nathan Milstein

Rec. 17th/19th January, 1950 in Manhattan Center, New York City

Works for Violin & Piano

Katharine Gowers studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School and Guildhall School of Music (where she won the Gold Medal). In 1997 she won the International Parkhouse Award with pianist Charles Owen. She has toured with Nigel Kennedy and the English Chamber Orchestra playing Bach’s Double violin concerto, and in 2001/2 with Alfred Brendel on a world-wide chamber music tour.

Joshua Bell - Voice of the Violin

Fauré - La Chanson d'Eve and other songs

Fauré - Cello Sonatas Nos. 1 & 2

Fauré’s two cello sonatas are compact, beautifully written works whose musical language, with its many subtle changes of tonality and gift for melody, has been described as conveying ‘the power of tranquil thought’. Written in the summer of 1917, during the First World War, the neglected First Sonata begins with a troubled Allegro, followed by an eloquent Andante and a sparkling Finale. The C minor Andante of the Second Sonata has its origin in a Chant funèbre commissioned for the celebration in May 1921 of the centenary of the death of Napoleon. This recital also includes an arrangement of the ever-popular song Après un rêve, as well as the virtuosic Papillon.

Four Centuries of French Piano Music

Reverie

A collection of beautiful melodies arranged for cello and guitar

Lynn Harrell - Andante Cantabile

Cello Encores

As he explains in his liner notes for this CD, Lynn Harrell uses the voice as his point of departure for this collection of encores. They are largely reflective pieces, with a bit of fun such as the unfairly forgotten Glazunov Spanish Serenade thrown in for good measure, and this once popular disc now makes a return to the catalogue, at budget price.