Fauré composed an elegiac piece for cello and piano in C minor in 1880 as what he thought would be the slow movement of a cello sonata, and it was likely performed privately that June at the salon of Camille Saint-Saëns. Fauré never composed the surrounding movements, however, and instead published it in January 1883 as a stand-alone work titled Élégie. The piece’s dedicatee, cellist Jules Loeb, gave the public premiere with the composer at the piano on a concert of the Société Nationale de Musique on December 15 that year. Some three years later Fauré arranged the Élégie for cello and orchestra (published 1900), which Pablo Casals premiered with Fauré conducting at the Société National in 1901, adding to the piece’s status as one of the most beloved in the cello repertoire.

The title itself, meaning a lament or song of mourning, hints at the work’s sorrowful character, which Fauré expresses with remarkable restraint and elegance rather than dramatic excess. The Élégie opens with a darkly expressive theme in the cello, accompanied by quietly pulsing chords in the piano. This principal melody is one of Fauré’s most memorable—noble, introspective, and tinged with melancholy. His harmonic language, characterized by subtle chromatic shifts and unexpected modulations, creates an atmosphere of wistful yearning. The central section provides contrast with a more agitated character, building to a climactic moment before subsiding. The return of the opening theme brings a sense of resignation and acceptance, with the work concluding in an atmosphere of quiet reflection.

—©Jane Vial Jaffe