Fauré and His Pupils

The Durham Singers present their summer concert ‘Fauré and His Pupils’ to celebrate the centenary of the composer’s death, and his legacy, on Saturday 29 June 2024, 7.30pm, at St Brandon’s Church, Brancepeth, Durham. Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924) is highly regarded as a French organist, composer and teacher, working at the Paris Conservatoire, and at the famous Madeleine church in the city. 

Our programme includes a well-known song by Fauré’s teacher Saint-Saëns, ‘Les fleurs et les arbres’, Fauré’s own ‘Cantique de Jean Racine’ and his pupil Nadia Boulanger’s ‘Cantique’. Choral pieces by pupils Ravel (arr. Tarney) and Roger-Ducasse, and Franck’s ‘Prélude, fugue et variation’ (organ soloist, Adam Heron) follow.

The evening culminates in a performance of Fauré’s Requiem; the choir is joined by Laura Oldfield for the soprano solo in ‘Pie Jesu’. We celebrate the lasting effect of a composer who was, in his time, considered radical and modernist and whose unique voice in French composition has continued throughout the twentieth and into the twenty-first century.