Gabriel Fauré

Abstract In 1877, Fauré wrote a Libera me for baritone and organ; this, orchestrated, was eventually incorporated into the Requiem and is thus the earliest music in that work. In 1887–1888, Fauré composed what he called “a little Requiem” in five movements: Introit and Kyrie, Sanctus, “Pie Jesu,” Agnus Dei, and “In Paradisum,” but not including the old Libera me. This was first performed on 16 January 1888 under the composer’s direction in one of the grandest and most unattractive churches in Paris, La Madeleine. The occasion was what is listed in the church records as a “first-class funeral” service for a certain M. La Soufaché, an architect. Fauré conducted, and the treble soloist was Louis Aubert, who went on to study with Fauré and became quite a good composer himself. The Requiem’s first hearing that was not part of a service occurred at the Madeleine on 4 May 1888, but the composer asked the friends whom he had invited not “to sit together lest it begin to look like a PERFORMANCE!!!” In 1889, Fauré added the “Hostias” portion of the Offertory, and in 1890 he expanded .