Pavane Op. 50 in F sharp minor is a one-movement work for small symphony orchestra with ad libitum choir. Composed by Gabriel Fauré in 1887, it is contemporary with his Requiem. The original score was written for a small orchestra comprising two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns and strings. At the request of Countess GREFFULHE, the dedicatee, the musician added a choral part (sopranos, altos, tenors and basses) to a text by Robert de Montesquiou-Fezensac, her cousin. It was premiered on November 25, 1888 by Concerts Lamoureux under the direction of Charles Lamoureux. The choral version was premiered three days later by the orchestra of the Société nationale de musique. Fauré also adapted the work for choir and piano, which is the subject of the present edition.
The work served as the basis for a ballet danced by the Ballets Russes in 1917, and Fauré included it in his incidental music Masques et Bergamasques, Op. 112 , in 1918. It also inspired the Passe pied of Claude Debussy's Suite Bergamasque, and Maurice Ravel's Pavane pour une infante défunte, written while Ravel was still Fauré's pupil at the Paris Conservatoire.
Widely used in cinema and advertising, it is all too often forgotten that this music, known to all, is by Fauré: this unjust oversight has now been rectified.
