Gabriel Fauré

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“Phillips, Edward R. (2000). Gabriel Fauré: A Research and Information Guide. New York: Routledge. {{ISBN|978-0-415-99885-7}}.”

“Mason, Daniel Gregory (1915). "Fauré and the Beginning of the New". The Art of Music: The Voice and Vocal Music. New York: The National Society of Music. pp. 347-353”

“Hale, Philip; Elson, Louis Charles, editors (1900). "Gabriel Fauré". Famous Composers and Their Works, Volume 5. Boston: J. B. Millet Company. pp. 79-86.”

“Elliot, Jr., Gilbert (July 1913). "Gabriel Fauré and His Songs". Harvard Musical Review. Volume 1, Number 10. pp. 10 and 25-27.”

“Laloy, Louis (December 1906). "Gabriel Fauré". The Music Lover's Calendar. Volume II.”

“"Common Chord" (August 16, 1905). "Key Notes: New Director of the Paris Conservatoire". The Sketch: A Journal of Art and Actuality. Volume 51, Number 655.”

“To love and understand Fauré constitutes a privilege from which it is difficult not to derive a sort of innocent pride. It is the mark of a subtle ear, the flattering indication of a refined sensibility.”

“How can it be that I did not know a work like that? I am bowled over by what I have heard.”

“He lacks the one fault which for an artist is a quality — ambition.”

“Ah, it's lovely, the Ballade, it really is delightful. I am unfair to Fauré's music in so far as I don't know it very well. When we get back, you'll have to play me lots of it.”

“Under an ancient portrait of Glück can be read this legend: "He preferred the Muses to the Sirens." Fauré, a purer musician than the composer of the Iphigénie operas, showed in Pénélope that he could unite in harmony the voluptuous Sirens with the serious Muses of order and intelligence. So much music and so wonderful, not a useless bar, not a note more or less than is required; much substance yet little material: it was the craftsmanship of Mozart just as that of Fauré, and this simplicity which exudes dryness is so great that it can surprise us before it touches and moves us.”

“Fauré, the direct heir of Chopin, has carried through all the methods of composition that one finds in the work of the Polish genius and in that of Liszt. He transforms them into his own style and goes further down the path opened by Chopin, since he feels all the expressive value of pure harmony. Chopin, Fauré — two of the piano's greatest lyricists.”

“He liked crescendo and diminuendo to be short and effective just like Toscanini, who obtained in this way the most striking effects of his staggering dynamism. Fauré had adopted the rule for shading that Hans von Bülow had laid down: when one reads "crescendo," it means leaving a more "piano" tone for a reinforcement of the sound; and when one reads "diminuendo," it indicates that one is playing as loudly as one can to allow the tone to be so softened.”

“When I arrived at Aix, I was delighted to see a poster announcing a concert of music by Fauré, to be performed under the direction of the composer. When we met he asked about my work and suggested that I play him the Schumann Concerto and his own Sixth Barcarolle which had been with me all the while. There was so much I could learn from such a teacher! Unlike Chopin and Debussy, who played their own music as no other mortal could hope to, Fauré was not a virtuoso, nor even a player of any great skill, but to hear him play taught me much of value.”

“When in 1882, Fauré met Lizst again in Zürich, he submitted to him the manuscript of the Ballade which he had just written. "I was rather afraid that it might be too long, " Fauré told me, "and I said this to Liszt, who gave me the marvelous reply: 'Too long, young man, has no meaning. One writes as one thinks.'" The composer of Mazeppa was certainly not the man to be surprised by lengthy developments.”

“For me art and music especially consists of raising ourselves as high as possible above that which is.”

“Imagining is trying to formulate all one would wish to be better, all that surpasses reality.”

“And I always enjoy seeing sunlight play on the rocks, the water, the trees and plains. What variety of effects, what brilliance and what softness... I wish my music could show as much diversity.”

“He denied the presence of inspiration: "Without work, which is art, there is nothing," he said. "Say only that which is of value, or stay silent" was the credo of his entire existence.”