Classical Music | Soprano

Gabriel Fauré

Nell  Play

Susanna Phillips Soprano
Lydia Brown Piano

Recorded on 10/06/2010, uploaded on 02/28/2011

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

“Nell” is the first song of Gabriel Fauré’s opus 18 triptych. Based on a poem of the same name by the French Parnassian poet Leconte de Lisle, the song is a moving and joyous declaration of love. Its four stanzas tell of the lover that compares his love-filled heart to the rose, the songs of love to the cooing of doves, the presence of his beloved to the flaming sun, and, above all, his affections will outlast the murmuring of the sea. Fauré’s setting, which appeared in 1878, is a marvelous example of the wealth of expression that can be obtained, through skilled hands, by simple means. In the key of G-flat major, a rippling accompaniment of broken chords is all that is allotted to the piano, save for the few crucial moments it provides a more declamatory bass. This unsophisticated accompaniment leaves the vocalist free to interpret and give full utterance to de Lisle’s lyrics within the confines of the lovely melody which Fauré provides. Yet, this exposure, indeed, presents a great danger to the vocalist, not in terms of difficulty of technique but instead of expression, demanding a precise breath control and keenness and subtly of expression.

When Fauré sought to publish “Nell,” his publisher severely misjudged the piece, perceiving it as only another trite love song and salon piece, and was intent to give it the rather mundane title “Juin.” Fauré raised his objections and pointed out what is particularly obvious, and crucially important to the composition a song, yet often overlooked—that the evocation of summer and its beauty is but mere imagery subordinate to the poet’s love and the object of his affection, Nell.     Joseph DuBose