福雷最著名的作品，当属1887年创作的《安魂曲》。1885年和1887年，福雷的双亲相继去世，精神上的巨大打击促使福雷开始创作安魂曲。
相比于其他的安魂曲，这部作品在配器风格上清新淡雅，纯洁抒情，甚至回避使用任何鼓，很有古代音乐的遗风。这部作品没有使用传统安魂曲的《震怒之日》（描绘末日审判的情景），而是使用了更加抒情的《天堂经》（In Pardisum），这也是这部作品最著名的一个乐章。
现在一般认为福雷创作《安魂曲》是为了他死去的父亲，其实不然。可以说，《安魂曲》的创作冲动经历了相当长的时间，最早完成的部分可以追溯到1877年左右写就的《请拯救我》（也就是现在的第六乐章），也许那时福雷就有了创作《安魂曲》的计划，但实际上可能没有马上付诸实施，并一气呵成去完成它的想法。福雷从21岁起开始就在教堂从事音乐长近四十年，不可能不萌发写一部《安魂曲》的想法，事实上在这之前，福雷在他所钟爱的声乐作品的创作中已频频涉及到这个题材，因此《安魂曲》的出现绝非是因他父亲去世而至的一种偶然。
背景
1885年福雷的父亲去世，两年后1887年12月31日他的母亲也去世了，两次亲人的离去都是对作曲家精神上的巨大打击，于是福雷在母亲去世后仅一周，就借着这样的情思，开始完善早已构思在胸的《安魂曲》。用现在的话说，就是藉着这一动力而完成的作品。
根据现存部分手稿上作曲家亲自加注的日期，大概是1888年1月6日完成第四乐章《慈悲耶稣》、第五乐章《羔羊经》和第七乐章《在天堂》；1月9日写成第一乐章《进台咏·慈悲经》和第三乐章《圣哉经》，如此快的创作速度也就引证了《安魂曲》的腹稿早已打下。福雷的《安魂曲》在一周内完成的五个乐章，这就是我们现在所说的第一个版本。
从福雷这一版《安魂曲》，从配器与和声方面的特点来看，是它历来最吸引研究者与观众的原因所在，福雷一反19世纪以来《安魂曲》合唱与乐队规模庞大、创作上强调戏剧性冲突与悲剧张力的陈规，他这版的《安魂曲》乐队编制极小，总谱为：高音声部（treblev．）、小提琴独奏、5把中提琴、2把大提琴、3把低音提琴、2架竖琴、1组定音鼓、1架管风琴。这是当时罕见的、恢复中世纪古代安魂弥撒遗风的作品，但杂配器上则清新淡雅、纯洁抒情，特别是那些结构精巧的卡农段，令人不得不钦佩福雷对作曲技法与内容之间关系的深刻认识。福雷曾经表示过这部《安魂曲》最好不用乐队而纯以管风琴伴奏更接近他创作的原意。
一星期后，1888年1月16日，《安魂曲》由福雷担任管风琴师与合唱指导，在他任职的巴黎玛德莱教堂的一位建筑师的葬礼上进行了首演。
过了三个半月，也就是1888年5月4日，在马德莱教堂首次正式公演时，乐队编制同时也作了小小的扩充：在《羔羊经》总谱中，增加了2支小号、2支圆号。由路易斯·奥伯特（Louis Aubert）任高音独唱（另有资料独唱是由路易斯·巴拉德（Louis Ballard）担任。），但这已不重要了，重要的是这次公演在乐器上进行的扩充，可称为第二版《安魂曲》。
1892年1月28日《安魂曲》在巴黎的圣热尔维教堂作了第二次公演，福雷加进了两段音乐：在1877年就写成的《请拯救我》，和1887年起草、1889年完成的《奉献经》，成为现在的七个乐章。不仅如此，福雷这次还为乐队增加了铜管乐器，另外他规定这次演出必须由男孩担任女高音与女中音声部的演唱。这次修订可称为第三版《安魂曲》。
紧跟着的是，完成于1898～1899年的大总谱在1901年出版，这个新的版本配有大型乐队及管风琴，题“为女高音、男中音、合唱、管弦乐、管风琴而作”。今天我们听到《安魂曲》的大部分演奏，就是以这版本进行演出的，它可以叫做第四版。
有些学者认为这个大总谱不完全是福雷的原作，是由他的学生罗歇—迪卡斯加以增添完成的。可惜手稿已经遗失，现已无法考证。但可能性尚存，因为在这期间，罗歇—迪卡斯同时还将此作品改编成合唱与钢琴的演出谱。
福雷的《安魂曲》是—部独特的作品，在古今所有安魂曲中如此抒情动人的作品非常罕见，将近两个世纪以来，几乎每位《安魂曲》作曲家都把重心放在“末日经”上，都在挖掘“末日经”的震撼效果，做得最彻底、最有成效的就是前面提到的、同是法国人的柏辽兹。
福雷却摈弃了这段最常见的《震怒之日》的经文，对于那些关于最后审判日中，上帝惩罚罪人的恐怖场面，福雷一一回避，连淡淡地一笔带过都不存在，因此不再有任何“恐怖”的意味。他把重心摆在“安息”这个字音以及它的意义上。以“安息”开头，也以“安息”收尾，整体上追求一种温柔、宽恕与希望。
在他的《安魂曲》中没有最后的号角声、也没有泪水和被惩罚的痛苦、更没有末日判决的恐怖。他是带着赞美与抒情的感触来描写死亡的，希望死亡之翼不至于让人们感到恐惧惊惶。
为此，福雷特意在最后加了—段普通安魂曲中所没有的《在天堂》，那种庄严、梦幻，使人陶醉不已，也许1910年福雷写给朋友埃曼努尔的信中有一句话最能概括这部作品的要义，福雷写道：“我的安魂曲．写它并没有什么特殊的理由，如果一定要我讲的话，那么创作它是为了愉快和喜悦！”
赏析
1、《进台咏与慈悲经》。
贝多芬《皇帝协奏曲》的引子是从乐队三次合奏出响亮的和弦开始，引出钢琴三次自由的华彩乐段，钢琴兴起的浪潮遍及键盘的整个领域，雄壮的音调直接切入乐章的基本主题。他在这里表现了一种英雄式的豪迈。
瓦格纳《黎恩济》序曲中开始时的一段慢速度的引子与《皇帝协奏曲》如出一辙，用小号三次吹出了持续长音A，三次引出了乐队的主导动机，所不同的是用单件乐器来引出了乐队。来表现一种号召与希望。
福雷《安魂曲》的引子，应该说是很好的借鉴了这种手法。三次管乐齐鸣（其中二、三次用的是下行音符），管乐的三次不安和骚动，引出三次安祥的“请赐予他们永远的安息”的首句合唱，把作品领进了庄严的气氛之中，当管乐渐渐放下威严，和合唱完成了一次比一次圆润和安详的应答之后，音乐转入行板。男高音与女高音在管风琴伴奏下相继演唱起大段的十分优美的抒情旋律。进入到更为热烈的《慈悲经》中，福雷让合唱反复吟诵“天主垂怜我等”的经文，情绪渐渐热烈起来，在达到高潮后不久，力度随之渐弱，该乐章在令人顺服的极弱的音响中结束。这个乐章是整部《安魂曲》中最动人的篇章之一。
2、《奉献经》。一开始，女低音与男高音在D大调上相隔六度，作卡农进行，这段旋律类似古老的无伴奏教堂风格音乐。同样的音乐在E大调与D大调反复之后，男中音唱起—首朗诵调般的歌谣：“主啊，我们献上颂赞的牺牲与祷告，为了我们今天献祭的亡灵。”对往昔心灵解脱的祈求表现的更为坚定不移。最后回复到开头的复调合唱之中，以B大调“阿门”的祈祷，预告着短暂而又辉煌的《圣哉经》的到来。
3、《圣哉经》。这是整部《安魂曲》中最动人的篇章之一，在小提琴独奏与竖琴的陪衬下，女高音、男高音与男低音以齐唱方式，时起彼伏地呼唤“圣哉、圣哉、圣哉”，十分抒情且催人动容。当进入歌颂救世主的“和撒那”时，铜管进入了呈示，气势顿时恢弘起来。但很快就被独奏小提琴以浪漫的、华彩般的演奏接替，合唱声渐弱，将音乐引领到夜曲般的一片静谧中。下面我们完整地欣赏一下这段《圣哉经》。
4、《主耶稣》。在管风琴伴奏下，女高音（有时候会使用童女高音）唱起祈求哀恳的唱词：“仁慈的主耶稣，请赐予他们安息，赐予永恒的安息”。纯净的音色配合透明般的伴奏织体，音乐显得特别超脱、特别怡然。
5、《羔羊经》。这段音乐同以往出现过的四段音乐有所不同，配器上增加了铜管的分量，管风琴的应用也相当突出，合唱与乐队以更虔诚的旋律交织在一起。中间频繁的转调使《羔羊经》在色彩方面远比前面的段落复杂并丰富得多，结束时，乐队和合唱再现了引子中的管乐与合唱的应答以及安祥的旋律。
6、《请拯救我》。，似乎是延续了《羔羊经》的情绪，这个部分同样是比较戏剧化的，男中音在压底的合唱声部慈祥的拥抱中吟咏，并不断增加音量与情绪的张力，当唱到“愤怒的日子”和“要以权力与火焰来审判这世界”时，铜管加入，合唱团突然放大音量，将整部作品的情绪推向富于热情的高潮。
7、《在天堂》。在管风琴的伴奏下，女高音唱出柔和的曲调，深情地祈求解脱。弦乐与竖琴渐渐加入，轻轻地在合唱声中摇曳。乐曲中间情绪有所高涨，但很快又恢复以往的平静之中。整个乐章都被温柔的三音节的和声安抚着，宛如在梦境中，安详平和地推进，最后作品在“赐予永远的安息”的歌声中安静地悄然离去。下面我们把最后乐章《在天堂》完整的欣赏一遍。
这个作品乐思安详、旋律畅美，和声的组合精湛而敏感。女高音和男中音在其间穿梭，令合唱效果更为迷人。它不仅篇幅短小，规模也显得精巧，充满安详宁静。称它是一首赞美诗、或是一首小夜曲也不为过。
福雷自己的说过：“我的《安魂曲》被人批评没有表现出对死亡的恐惧，它被人称为死亡的摇篮曲，而这正是我对死亡的感觉：一种快乐的救赎希望，一种能触及永善的未来，而不是为逝去的人哀伤。”
简介 Introduction
Gabriel Fauré composed his Requiem in D minor, Op. 48, between 1887 and 1890. The choral-orchestral setting of the shortened Catholic Mass for the Dead in Latin is the best-known of his large works. Its focus is on eternal rest and consolation. Fauré's reasons for composing the work are unclear, but do not appear to have had anything to do with the death of his parents in the mid-1880s. He composed the work in the late 1880s and revised it in the 1890s, finishing it in 1900.
In seven movements, the work is scored for soprano and baritone soloists, mixed choir, orchestra and organ. Different from typical Requiem settings, the full sequence Dies irae is omitted, replaced by its section Pie Jesu. The final movement In Paradisum is based on a text that is not part of the liturgy of the funeral mass but of the burial.
Fauré wrote of the work, "Everything I managed to entertain by way of religious illusion I put into my Requiem, which moreover is dominated from beginning to end by a very human feeling of faith in eternal rest."
The piece premiered in its first version in 1888 in La Madeleine in Paris for a funeral mass. A performance takes about 35 minutes.
History
Fauré's reasons for composing his Requiem are uncertain. One possible impetus may have been the death of his father in 1885, and his mother's death two years later, on New Year's Eve 1887. However, by the time of his mother's death he had already begun the work, about which he later declared, "My Requiem wasn't written for anything – for pleasure, if I may call it that!" The earliest composed music included in the Requiem is the Libera me, which Fauré wrote in 1877 as an independent work.
In 1887–88, Fauré composed the first version of the work, which he called "un petit Requiem" with five movements (Introit and Kyrie, Sanctus, Pie Jesu, Agnus Dei and In Paradisum), but did not include his Libera me. This version was first performed on 16 January 1888 for the funeral of Joseph Lesoufaché, an architect, at La Madeleine, Paris. The composer conducted his work; the treble soloist was Louis Aubert.
In 1889, Fauré added the Hostias portion of the Offertory and in 1890 he expanded the Offertory and added the 1877 Libera me. This second version was premiered on 21 January 1893, again at the Madeleine with Fauré conducting. The church authorities allowed no female singers and insisted on boy treble and alto choristers and soloists; Fauré composed the work with those voices in mind, and had to employ them for his performances at the Madeleine, but in the concert hall, unconstrained by ecclesiastical rules, he preferred female singers for the upper choral parts and the solo in the Pie Jesu.
In 1899–1900, the score was reworked for full orchestra. This final version was premiered at the Trocadéro in Paris on 12 July 1900, during the Exposition Universelle. Paul Taffanel conducted forces of 250 performers.
The composer said of the work, "Everything I managed to entertain by way of religious illusion I put into my Requiem, which moreover is dominated from beginning to end by a very human feeling of faith in eternal rest." He told an interviewer,
It has been said that my Requiem does not express the fear of death and someone has called it a lullaby of death. But it is thus that I see death: as a happy deliverance, an aspiration towards happiness above, rather than as a painful experience. The music of Gounod has been criticised for its inclination towards human tenderness. But his nature predisposed him to feel this way: religious emotion took this form inside him. Is it not necessary to accept the artist's nature? As to my Requiem, perhaps I have also instinctively sought to escape from what is thought right and proper, after all the years of accompanying burial services on the organ! I know it all by heart. I wanted to write something different.
In 1924 the Requiem, in its full orchestral version, was performed at Fauré's own funeral. It was not performed in the United States until 1931, at a student concert at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. It was first performed in England in 1936.
Text
Most of the text is in Latin, except for the Kyrie which is Koine Greek. As had become customary, Fauré did not set the Gradual and Tract sections of the Mass. He followed a French Baroque tradition by not setting the Requiem sequence (the Dies irae), only its section Pie Jesu. He slightly altered the texts of the Introit, the Kyrie, Pie Jesu, Agnus Dei, and In Paradisum, but substantially changed the text of the Offertory (described below). He did not set the Benedictus (the conclusion of the Sanctus), and added two texts from the Order of Burial, Libera me and In Paradisum.
Fauré made changes to the text of the Offertory; at the beginning, he adds an "O". He changed "libera animas omnium fidelium defunctorum" ("deliver the souls of all the faithful departed") to simply "libera animas defunctorum" ("deliver the souls of the departed"). He replaced "Libera eas" ("Deliver them") at the beginning of the next verse with a repetition of "O Domine Jesu Christe, Rex gloriae, libera animas defunctorum", and he omitted the third verse (beginning "Sed signifer sanctus ..."). He concludes with an added "Amen".
Structure and scoring
The composition is structured in seven movements:
- Introit et Kyrie
- Offertory
- Sanctus
- Pie Jesu
- Agnus Dei
- Libera me
- In Paradisum
The piece has a duration of about 35 minutes.
Fauré scored the work for two soloists, chorus and orchestra. Its movements and their sections are listed in a table for the scoring in voices, key, time signature (using the symbol for common time, equivalent to 4
4) and tempo marking. The voices are abbreviated, S for soprano, A for alto, T for tenor, B for bass. The composer pides the choir into as many as six parts, SATTBB, but frequently uses unison of one part or several. Given the liturgical nature of the work, boy trebles are often used instead of sopranos.
