Gabriel Fauré (1845 – 1924) was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his name sits comfortably amongst those of his near-contemporaries Berlioz, Debussy and Saint-Saens. It is said that his career straddles the gap between Romanticism and modernism: when he was born Chopin was still composing and by the time of his death jazz had arrived. Among his best-known works are his Pavane, Requiem, Sicilienne, and his nocturnes for the piano but I’m going to look at an interesting collection of pieces for piano duet that Faure composed called the Dolly Suite, Op. 56.
The Dolly Suite consists of six short pieces written between 1893 and 1896, to mark the birthdays and other events in the life of the daughter of the composer’s mistress, French singer Emma Bardac (who went on to become Claude Debussy’s mistress, too; she clearly had a thing for composers!). Each piece has its own title: Berceuse, Mi-a-ou, Le Jardin de Dolly, Kitty-valse, Tendresse, and Le Pas Espagnole, and the complete suite takes about fifteen minutes to perform.
The best-known piece is Berceuse (French for “lullaby”), which in the UK became famous as the play-out tune to the BBC radio programme for very young children, Listen with Mother, which broadcast from 1950 onwards, and which will likely be recognised by many a baby boomer. The Berceuse has been arranged for several combinations of instruments over the years but below we’ll listen to it in its original piano duet form, played by Dutch brothers Lucas and Arthur Jussen. Are you sitting comfortably?
