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| align="center"|60px|alt=Gabriel Fauré |Gabriel Fauré in
1896
<small>Play the "Berceuse" from Dolly</small>
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The
piano music of Gabriel Fauré is among his best known work. Written
between the 1860s and the 1920s, Fauré's major sets of piano works are
13 nocturnes, 13 barcarolles, six impromptus and four valses-caprices.
These sets display the change in his style, over the decades, from
uncomplicated youthful charm to a final enigmatic but sometimes fiery
introspection, by way of a turbulent period in his middle years. His
other notable piano pieces, including shorter works, or collections
composed or published as a set, are Romances sans paroles, Ballade in
F♯ major, Mazurka in B♭ major, Thème et variations in C♯ major, and
Huit pièces brèves. For piano duet, Fauré composed the Dolly Suite and,
together with his friend and former pupil André Messager, an exuberant
parody of Wagner in the short suite Souvenirs de Bayreuth. Much of the
ambidextrous Fauré's piano music is difficult to play, but it is rarely
virtuoso in style. The composer disliked showy display, and the
predominant characteristic of his piano music is a classical restraint
and understatement. (more...)
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Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_music_of_Gabriel_Faur%C3%A9>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1542:
Catherine Howard , the fifth wife of Henry VIII of England, was
executed for adultery.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Howard>
1880:
American inventor Thomas Edison observed the Edison effect, which later
formed the basis of vacuum tube diodes designed by English electrical
engineer John Ambrose Fleming.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermionic_emission>
1970:
The English rock band Black Sabbath released their eponymous debut
album, which is recognised as the first major album to be credited with
the development of the heavy metal genre.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sabbath_%28album%29>
1981:
Sewer explosions caused by the ignition of hexane vapors destroyed more
than two miles (3 km) of streets in Louisville, Kentucky, US.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisville_sewer_explosions>
2010:
A terrorist bombing at a bakery popular among foreigners in Pune,
India, killed 17 people and injured 60 more.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Pune_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
ventripotent (adj):
1. Having a big belly.
2. [[gluttonous
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ventripotent>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
188px
He could not be captured,
He could not be bought,
His running was
rhythm,
His standing was thought;
With one eye on sorrow
And one eye on
mirth,
He galloped in heaven
And gambolled on earth.
And only the poet
With wings to his brain
Can mount him and ride him
Without any rein,
The stallion of
heaven,
The steed of the skies,
The horse of the singer
Who sings as he
flies.
--Eleanor Farjeon
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eleanor_Farjeon>