Thirteen in number like the Nocturnes, they similarly accompanied Fauré during some forty year, as a lighter and livelier counterpoint to the Nocturnes. They are generally shorter and less elaborate, less profound in expresion. but amongst them are some of the most precious gems to flow from Fauré pen. Moreover, the genre itself is ideally suited to the character of Fauré's genius. Its very name conjures pictures of Venice. of moon-lit love nights, of the gentle rocking waters. The fluidity of Fauré's harmonic. rhythmical and instrumental idiom - his most striking similarity with Chopin - his rare gift for the chiaroscuro, predestinate him to be a Musician of the water.
The first four Barcarolles form a group of their own. They sail on calm and serene lakes or lagoons, not on stormy seas like some of the later ones. They show the graceful and beguiling features of the early Fauré. and do not yet reach the magic or evocative power of their successors. Thus, the First Barcarolle, in A minor, related to the Barcarolle-like First Impromptu, though built on three different themes (the third of which acts as a kind of Trio), does not abandon the gentle rocking of its opening.
The Second Barcarolle, in G major, though built along similar lines, is at once more lively and more contrasted. But neither this, nor the graceful and Chopinesque Third Barcarolle, in G flat major, manage to match the First 's quality of inspiration. They even seem a little long drawn-out for the slightness of their contents, an unusual weakness for Fauré. While plainly reverting (for the last time in Fauré's Piano music) to the immediate charm of his "first style", the Fourth Barcarolle, in A flat major appears as a more concise and more spontaneously inspired piece of music, featuring attractive oppositions of 3/4 and 6/8 rhythms.
The Fifth Barcarolle, in F sharp minor, the first true masterpiece in the series, holds a position similar to that of the Sixth Nocturne, written the year before. Here, Fauré boldly sails towards the open sea, whose powerful surge pervades the whole piece, alive with the rough and healthy flavour of salty sprays. The Sixth Barcarolle, in E flat major, though it reverts to the calm waters of the first ones, already shows the firmness and sobriety of style typical of the later Fauré. This applies to an even greatter extent to the Seventh, in D minor, which actually opens his so-called "third period", a short and reticent utterance, strangely dark and agitated, and not devoid of anxiety. After a light and lively start, the Eighth, in D flat major, strikes deeper emotions. Its unexpected loud ending sets it apart from all the preceding ones. The Ninth and Tenth Barcarolles are both in A minor but whereas the former is a poetic and nostalgic recollection of Venice, imbued with subtle charm, the grey and austere Tenth is the most enigmatic of the thirteen. The Eleventh Barcarolle, in G minor, reaches a level of almost metaphysical abstraction, the lofty stylization of the liquid element being by now devoid of any picturesque element. After the ray of sun of the Twelfth Barcarolle, in E flat major, whose smiling charm almost seems to conjure the Fauré of twenty years before, the series closes with the perfect abstraction of the Thirteenth, cast in the "white" key of C major. Its sparse and sublimated sounds hardly seem to belong to this world: they rather evoke the shores of beyond ...
Harry HALBREICH
Marinkyo's School > Gabriel Fauré > Harry Halbreich > Gabriel Fauré / The Barcarolles
