Élégie, Op. 24

About this piece

Fauré wrote the Élégie in 1880 as the slow movement of a cello sonata that he never finished; in January 1883 Hamelle published it as a stand-alone piece. It is dedicated to the cellist Jules Loëb, who gave the first public performance under its new title with the composer at the piano at the Société Nationale de Musique in December 1883. The work was a success from the start, and the conductor Édouard Colonne asked Fauré for a version with orchestra. A sombre C-minor melody frames a more agitated middle section that builds to a fortissimo climax before the opening theme returns; Nectoux calls it 'one of the last manifestations of French musical Romanticism.' Henle publishes an Urtext edition (ed. Jean-Christophe Monnier, cello markings by David Geringas) with marked and unmarked parts, and Hamelle's c.1883 first edition and other free editions are on IMSLP. Recordings include Jacqueline du Pré, and Steven Isserlis with Jeremy Denk.

Technical overview

A single Molto adagio movement of about seven minutes. It asks for a long-breathed legato cantilena, playing on the D string ('2a corda'), triplet and dotted figures, fast sextuplet and 32nd-note runs in the central climax that climb high in tenor clef, wide dynamic contrasts from ppp to ff, and a quiet ending on the low C string.

Technical focus

• Legato
• Shifting
• Dynamics
• Hairpin Dynamics
• Rhythm
• Dotted Rhythms
• String Crossings
• 4 Note Slurs
• 2 Note Slurs