Zachary Gates Prof. Helevering Dec. 9th 2011 Cantique de Jean Racine G.

Faure

Firstly, I chose this piece because it was simply the most beautiful piece I had heard when I first got into high-school. The auditioned chorus (the Chorale) was going on a tour of Florence, Rome, and the Vatican and I was lucky enough to get into the chorale my freshman year. Even though we were in Italy, we sang this french piece in a 1000 year old church just outside of Florence, In the Duomo, and in the Vatican. Hearing this piece ring off the walls of some of the most oldest and beautiful structures I had ever seen was something that cannot be forgotten and the way the harmonic structure in this piece just constantly pushes and moves just filled me with the same feelings that these historical settings did. Behind this piece lies a rich history of the composer Faure and the musical trends of his time period. In addition, this piece marked a transition in between periods of style in music in Europe. To better express the content of the piece Cantique de Jean Racine, we must delve into the life and time of Gabriel Faure. Instead of primarily being a composer, Faure spent most of his time developing his organ playing and choirmaster studies. He was a music student at L'Ecole Niedermeyer and he went on to be the organist at L'Eglise de Madeleine and head of the Paris Conservatoire. Throughout all these positions in his life though, Faure had very little time to compose, forcing him to retreat over summers to secluded houses to focus on writing music. While a student at cole de Musique Classique et Religieuse (School of Classical and Religious Music), Faure studied under Niedermeyer until Niedermeyer died, at which point he studied under Camille Saint-Saens. It was probably due to the religious traits of his school that led Faure to use the religious Latin text of Jean Racine for his composition. Also, when Camille Saint-Saens took over the

school, he introduced contemporary composer's music to the school like Liszt, Wagner, and Schumman. The blending of his studies in classical religious music, piano, and new contemporary pieces and theory helped create Catique de Jean Racine, and many more pieces from a composer that was considered a transitional composer inbetween the Romantic and Contemporary periods. Faure, however busy, tended to find a little more time as head of the Paris Conservatoire for composing then when he was a struggling organist and pianist. As a transitionary figure in the world of music, Faure made big sweeping changes in the way music was not just written, but taught in France. Once the head of the Paris Conservatoire, he fired the conservative teachers that were unwilling to explore new music and completely revamped the curriculum of the conservatory to include the works of Wagner and Debussy, which prior to Faure, were close to banned in the Conservatoire. The revolutionary ideas in the music world did not stop there. As a modern-leaning composer, he had a lot of impact as a member of an old-established music society in France , Le Socit Nationale de Musique. When it was decided by some young musicians in France that that society was not forwardthinking enough and was holding back the progression of music. Therefore they created a new society; Le Socit Musicale Indpendante. Faure quickly became the president of this society while still holding his position at the older society. Having his hands in both candy bowls at the same time allowed him to bring the sophistication of the older society to the newer society, and the more contemporary and modern musical ideas of the newer society to the older one. This was key in developing the progression to a new style of music, and as a leading composer in France, Faure led music to a new era. The long sweeping melodies and strong melodic and harmonic appoggiaturas in Cantique are a testament to the Romantic side of the piece, but there is a definite contemporary tint to what he's writing, hidden in very minute and well-justified atonal note choices in the harmonic structure and melody. Nothing too drastic could be done as this piece was written while Faure was 19 years old and

writing for a competition. While captivated by the new contemporary works coming out from Liszt, Faure still needed to be conservative in the harmonic theory he used for the piece, but he definitely pushed some boundaries in his use of harmony, ultimately winning him the contest. While Faure truly pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable in harmony, there were many people before him that pushed the boundaries of what was feasible in harmony, and Faure was greatly influenced by that. By analyzing the text he used, we can get a good sense for how Faure felt about religious music. There were no extreme secularist motions passing through France at the time, and Faure had been immersed in religious music at his school and in his organ works. Jean Racine was an extremely successful dramatist and writer in the second half of the 17th century and had many philosophical ideas about him. Even so, he was a devout christian and wrote in latin the hymn that Faure used for his piece. The yearning nature of the harmonic and melodic progression help convey the message of the text that loosely translated to english mean, in short, Word, equal to the Almighty, our only hope, Eternal light of the earth and the Heavens; We break the peaceful night's silence, Divine Saviour, cast your eyes upon us! He sets the piece in Db Major which is a difficult key for strings to play in. He arranged it originally for organ and orchestra, but it is mostly performed today with only orchestra. Putting the piece in Db major though inhibits the bass players from really laying down a really strong and low tonic. The Ab and dominant function of the key is lower and able to be played stronger. This subtly creates a nice flow from V to I that will be accentuated many more times in the piece.

Chopin at the time was really popularizing the use of Rubato in music and it becomes

extremely clear in Cantique where Rubato is used rather tactfully and appropriately. When the secondary dominance kicks in and the viola and violin are playing those E and G naturals, the pace of the music really picks up as if you're hurling towards the I chord harmonically in the chord structure, time wise in the tempo, and melodically wise in the step-wise motion of the entire chorus in measures 22-24. (This would have been deemed very acceptable under Chopin's very strict and heavy handed view on the use of rubato in his music and in the music of others. While modern recordings may flair these stretching and tightening of certain measures or phrases, there are many indications that this is the desired type of performance). Another important stylistic cue to gain from the piece is the amount of times that the Faure wrote in Legato or sempre legato. Also the word dolce is rather stressed in the piece, adding to the real richness and flow of the long melodic and step wise phrases. Measures 22-24 also mark a mini-modulation to F minor by using the Bb vi chord in Db major as the iv chord in F minor and E naturals in the soprano tonicizing our temporary tonic, F. These E naturals in fact were foreshadowed in the previous orchestral parts where E naturals served as chromatic neighbor tones to the third scale degree of Db major. He put the chromatic neighbor tones on strong beats to let our ears get comfortable with the tonicization of F minor. Very smart. He then in measure 27 uses a big V7 i in F minor (that was the only way this thing would let me write the letter I without capitalizing it...). Then some more modulation comes into play with a tumultuous, yearning, and sweeping harmonic progression leading to an A major chord following a strong V8,6 V7,5 I, or a PAC. Speaking of cadences, it's easy to see where a phrase may come to an end, but where it leaves off and where it picks back up is so well coordinated it's hard to determine what is a cadence and what is not. For instance in measure 18-19 going from et-er-nel there is a distinct I-V-I occuring and resting on a stable half note. However in the next measure on et des cieux, nous romp there's another strong I-V-I, but implied rubato and crescendo leads us to a V-vi right towards the end of the measure,

thus extending the phrase. Is then there a PAC in measure 23 in the new key we momentarily modulated to in len-ce? At this point we can see a pattern of moving up in thirds in his modulations. In addition, the piece as a whole has come into full swing, which works well since the orchestra is extremely well suited to play in A major and the upright basses can now support grander sounds for the root and fifth with the open E and A strings as exhibited in measures 31 to 32. He sticks in A major when the chorus comes back in but they are soon in F minor, moving back a third. Soon after he sticks us in Eb minor after using some pretty strong D naturals in the tenor part. Overall, the same chord progression is being used over and over again, and the stepwise motion of the notes themselves are very similar with each passing phrase. The only difference is which note Faure decides to tonicize and therefore make the new tonic. This harmonic theme rather then melodic theme is extremely impressive, as you don't walk away with just a melody theme in your head, but a real feeling for the harmonic theme of the piece. The whole piece in it's entirety and each note each part has to bring to that piece. By measure 65 the piece has brought itself back to the beginning and we are in Db Major again with the same bass line and overall tenor harmony. He then writes the same stepwise harmonic progression, intensifying in the crescendo and amount rubato used in the style until everything settles down and stays in Db major with no modulation and ends the song in a peaceful repeat of V I. Of course to add a tiny little bit of fun he adds an A natural to the tenor in measure 85 to lead to the third of the IV chord (Bb) that goes to V and then I in a PAC. A very peaceful and serene ending to a yearning harmonic structure. It's very accurate of the essence of a hymn and the feelings given towards him. The yearning of the text corresponds with the yearning of the harmony and the stretch of the phrase. But as in the hymn, all ends well and in peace. Or in theory terms. V I.

For translations: http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Cantique_de_Jean_Racine,_Op._11_(Gabriel_Faur%C3%A9)

For performance style anaylsis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKwHiGg21KA

For actual music and reference: http://www.free-scores.com/download-sheet-music.php?pdf=21976

For history on Gabriel Faure http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Faur%C3%A9