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Fauré

Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924) was a French composer and organist who served at the Madeleine in Paris for nearly thirty years before becoming director of the Paris Conservatoire in 1905, where his pupils included Ravel, Enescu, and Nadia Boulanger. His Requiem deliberately omits the Dies Irae; when asked why, Fauré said he saw death as a happy deliverance rather than a terrifying ordeal, and the music reflects exactly that. He lost his hearing progressively in later life and composed much of his finest chamber music in near-silence. His shorter pieces for strings, including the Pavane, Berceuse, and Sicilienne, are among the most elegant in the repertoire.

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