Romance in A major, Op. 69

About this piece

Fauré's Romance began as an Andante for cello and organ; the autograph in the Bibliothèque nationale de France carries that title. For the 1894 version with piano he enriched the accompaniment, turning the organ's sustained chords into arpeggios, and quickened the tempo to Andante quasi Allegretto. It is dedicated to Jules Griset. Cellist Adolf Rehberg and the composer gave the premiere on 14 November 1894 at the Geneva Conservatoire, during a Fauré festival organised by Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, and Hamelle published it in 1895. Jean-Pascal Vachon (BIS) describes it as a 'veritable miniature' that aims to show off the player's lyricism rather than dexterity. Henle publishes an Urtext edition (ed. Jean-Christophe Monnier, markings by David Geringas), and IMSLP has Hamelle's 1895 edition as well as the cello-and-organ manuscript. Recordings include Steven Isserlis, and Bruno Philippe with Tanguy de Williencourt (harmonia mundi).

Technical overview

A single movement of 57 bars, about 3½ minutes. The cellist sustains a long, tied cantabile line in tenor clef over rippling piano arpeggios, with slurred sixteenth-note pickups, dotted figures, and short chromatic runs into treble clef at the close. Swells and fades are frequent, mostly between p and f.

Technical focus

• Legato
• Shifting
• Dynamics
• Hairpin Dynamics
• Dotted Rhythms
• 2 Note Slurs