Fauré : Requiem

Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) Requiem Saturday 28 November, 7pm Chapelle Royale Duration: 1h15 without interval Among the sacred works that have established themselves in the repertoire, Fauré's Requiem occupies a singular place.

Far from the operatic or thundering requiems of Mozart, Berlioz, Brahms or Verdi, this is a score of intimacy, with modest means, yet of a charm that is thoroughly French.

Fauré clearly had no wish to outdo his glorious predecessors, but rather to keep pace with his time, when Parisian piety aimed to be within reach of the faithful, and he no doubt belongs more to the line of the recent requiems of Liszt and Saint-Saëns.

Created at La Madeleine in 1888, for a memorial service marking the first anniversary of an architect's death, this work, which plays (deceptively) at confidence, quickly enjoyed considerable success in the concert hall.

“They have said of my Requiem that it does not express the terror of death. Someone called it a lullaby of death.

” More than a century after Gabriel Fauré's death, it is only right to perform his most emblematic sacred work: the Requiem he gave at La Madeleine for the centenary of the execution of Louis XVI, on 21 January 1893.

There followed a great many revivals around the world, often in enlarged versions for concert halls. ), following the arrangement of 1893.

He completes the programme of spiritual works with pieces by Rossini, Schubert and Brahms, showcasing the choristers wonderfully, whom Fauré, as Maître de Chapelle of La Madeleine, held especially dear.

The Chœur et l’Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal du Château de Versailles weave a sublime setting for this bouquet of masterpieces…