Interesting that you hadn't heard of Fauré – I'd rank him among the most famous French composers, but maybe those rankings are different in your part of the world. I'd say his Pavane is probably the best known piece, and the Requiem is up there as well, but the latter perhaps because it seems to be one of the most performed medium-sized works by amateur choirs (the church choir I'm in has done it nearly every year on All Souls' Day for the past decade … there was a time when I was fed up with it but I honestly think I've cycled back to acceptance). I guess with the different spread of Christian denominations choral singing is maybe not such a widespread "people who claim to be cultured do this" activity over there?
On the subject of national chord progressions, I remember being taught that chord iii was often used instead of the tonic in French music … ok I've just looked it up in my old music theory book and it says "we can hear it used as a substitute for I in late nineteenth-century French music, where its rather ambiguous nature is typical of the style". And the example they give is from Fauré's requiem! There is obviously no explanation of why French music in particular should favour ambiguity though, haha.
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Date: 2025-09-27 06:24 pm (UTC)On the subject of national chord progressions, I remember being taught that chord iii was often used instead of the tonic in French music … ok I've just looked it up in my old music theory book and it says "we can hear it used as a substitute for I in late nineteenth-century French music, where its rather ambiguous nature is typical of the style". And the example they give is from Fauré's requiem! There is obviously no explanation of why French music in particular should favour ambiguity though, haha.