Gabriel Fauré's 13 Nocturnes span almost the entire part of his creative career. Being a sensitive and romantically inclined person, the Nocturne was very close to his heart, and these Nocturnes are the finest examples of the genre since those of Chopin.
In the early Nocturnes, youthful virtuosity goes hand in hand with romantic expression much in the manner of Chopin and Schumann, and yet Fauré's language is already very personal. In the late Nocturnes, his idiom has become more austere and inward-looking, showing influence not only of the disastrous events of the first World War, but also of contemporary composers like Debussy and Satie.
In the early Nocturnes, youthful virtuosity goes hand in hand with romantic expression much in the manner of Chopin and Schumann, and yet Fauré's language is already very personal. In the late Nocturnes, his idiom has become more austere and inward-looking, showing influence not only of the disastrous events of the first World War, but also of contemporary composers like Debussy and Satie.
