Papillon, Op. 77

About this piece

After the success of the Élégie, Fauré's publisher Hamelle asked him for a brilliant companion piece for cello and piano; Fauré obliged, probably in 1884, and called it simply 'Pièce pour violoncelle'. Hamelle wanted a more saleable title ('Libellules' appears on the 1884 contract), and the dispute delayed publication until 1898, when the piece came out as Papillon. Fauré reportedly remarked, 'Papillon or dung fly – call it what you like.' An Allegro vivo perpetuum mobile in A major frames a lyrical, espressivo middle section. Reviewing the 1913 Paris Conservatoire cello prize, where it was the set piece, Raymond Bouyer called it 'the triumph of détaché'. Henle publishes an Urtext edition (ed. Jean-Christophe Monnier, markings by David Geringas), and Hamelle's 1898 first edition is free on IMSLP. Recordings include Yo-Yo Ma with Patricia Zander and Paul Tortelier with Éric Heidsieck.

Technical overview

A single movement of 178 bars, about three minutes long. The outer sections are a light, rapid (crotchet = 138) stream of sixteenths mixing separate détaché bows with slurs of two and four notes, chromatic shifting in tenor clef up into thumb position, and pp leggierissimo control. The central section is a broad legato melody, and the piece ends with pizzicato chords.

Technical focus

• Detaché
• Shifting
• Thumb Position
• 2 Note Slurs
• 4 Note Slurs
• Legato
• Dynamics
• Hairpin Dynamics
• Pizzicato