Gabriel Faure
TWO SONGS Apres un Reve & Claire de Lune for voice and harp
Goodmusic GM544
For voice with harp accompaniment edited by Peter Lawson.
Apres un Reve & Claire de Lune are probably the two most well-known and best-loved of Faure’s songs for voice and piano. Apres un Reve (After a Dream) is an early song, published in 1878, the first of Trois Melodies, Op 7, with lyrics adapted by Romain Bussine from an anonymous Italian poem. The words describe a dream in which two lovers fly away from earth, soaring upwards towards an Aurora-like light in the sky. On awakening, the dreamer regrets he cannot return to the false world of the dream, as the rich harmonies of the repeated chords of the accompaniment descend into disappointment and sadness.
Claire de Lune (Moonlight) employs a poem by Paul Verlaine from Fetes Gallantes. The same poem was later to be set by Faure’s pupil, Claude Debussy, who also wrote the hauntingly beautiful piano piece with the same title. Faure’s setting was in 1887 and, unlike Apres un Reve, the piano has the tune, wistfully weaving it around the vocal line.
In this edition, I have added a number of understood ritardandi, extra dynamics and lots of pedalling suggestions. The keys for high voice (Soprano or Tenor) are the same as for the high voice version in the original publication. The lower keys for the original publications, C minor and B flat minor respectively - would suit a mezzo soprano or baritone, but in this case, I have transposed them down a semitone to B minor and A minor - so as to be equally suitable for mezzo soprano, contralto, baritone or bass voices.
The Harp part is similar to the Piano accompaniment, but with pedal instructions added, sustaining pedal markings removed and arpeggiations added to the first chord of each change of harmony.
Both keys are included in the copy.
Instrumental parts (published as Goodmusic GM545) can replace the voice line using the high voice version. An orchestral accompaniment is also available (Goodmusic GMCL243). Peter Lawson
Apres un Reve & Claire de Lune are probably the two most well-known and best-loved of Faure’s songs for voice and piano. Apres un Reve (After a Dream) is an early song, published in 1878, the first of Trois Melodies, Op 7, with lyrics adapted by Romain Bussine from an anonymous Italian poem. The words describe a dream in which two lovers fly away from earth, soaring upwards towards an Aurora-like light in the sky. On awakening, the dreamer regrets he cannot return to the false world of the dream, as the rich harmonies of the repeated chords of the accompaniment descend into disappointment and sadness.
Claire de Lune (Moonlight) employs a poem by Paul Verlaine from Fetes Gallantes. The same poem was later to be set by Faure’s pupil, Claude Debussy, who also wrote the hauntingly beautiful piano piece with the same title. Faure’s setting was in 1887 and, unlike Apres un Reve, the piano has the tune, wistfully weaving it around the vocal line.
In this edition, I have added a number of understood ritardandi, extra dynamics and lots of pedalling suggestions. The keys for high voice (Soprano or Tenor) are the same as for the high voice version in the original publication. The lower keys for the original publications, C minor and B flat minor respectively - would suit a mezzo soprano or baritone, but in this case, I have transposed them down a semitone to B minor and A minor - so as to be equally suitable for mezzo soprano, contralto, baritone or bass voices.
The Harp part is similar to the Piano accompaniment, but with pedal instructions added, sustaining pedal markings removed and arpeggiations added to the first chord of each change of harmony.
Both keys are included in the copy.
Instrumental parts (published as Goodmusic GM545) can replace the voice line using the high voice version. An orchestral accompaniment is also available (Goodmusic GMCL243). Peter Lawson
