Fauré was born in Pamiers, France, in 1845 and died in Paris in 1924. He trained as an organist and choirmaster, and worked as a church musician first in Rennes, then at St. Sulpice and, finally, at the Madeleine in Paris. He also gave private lessons to students on the organ and in composition and harmony as well. Because most of his time was spent in the world of academia and in church service, he composed most of his compositions during his summer holidays. His music at the time was considered very modern, and recognition as a composer came slowly.

In 1892 he became national inspector of the provincial conservatories, and in 1896 chief organist at the Madeleine and composition professor at the Paris Conservatoire, where his pupils included Maurice Ravel, Georges Enescu and Nadia Boulanger. From 1905 to 1920 he was the Conservatoire’s director, becoming well-known for the vocal and chamber works he produced until his death. The most famous of these is his Requiem, which is his most well known work to this day.

Fauré’s music is full of beautiful harmonies. His love life, however, wasn’t nearly as harmonious. In fact, he spent most of his life moving from one bad relationship to another. It all started when, in his early 30s, he fell for a woman named Marianne Viardot and asked her to marry him. Like many other women, she found Fauré attractive and intelligent. But she couldn’t make up her mind. This uncertainty dragged on for months until they became engaged and a date was set for the wedding. But Marianne postponed the date, and the continued delay was more than Fauré could handle. Marianne then broke off their engagement for good. Fauré was devastated. Several melancholy works resulted from his emotional pain and suffering, including his Elégie for cello and piano on tonight’s program

Fauré had no intention of remaining a bachelor, and he agreed to an arranged marriage. A friend found three potential brides, all of whom belonged to the artistic world. They were the daughters of two famous writers and of a well-known sculptor. The composer couldn’t make up his mind, so he wrote the names down on slips of paper, placed them in a hat, and randomly picked Marie Fremiet, daughter of the sculptor. They married and had two sons together, but, like his earlier relationship, the marriage didn’t work out very well. Marie disliked the active social life on which Fauré thrived. She most always refused to go with him to operas or concerts and would conveniently "forget" to do the laundry just to prevent him from going out at night. Gradually, a wall of silence grew between them and they saw less and less of each other. After the turn of the century they corresponded by letter even when they were both in Paris.