Nocturne No. 7 in C-sharp minor, Op. 74

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Musical Terms (7)

• clair et fluide French
  Clear and fluid. A two-part direction combining the French clarity ideal with an uninterrupted flow of motion — no bumps, no accents unless marked, no clinging to expressive moments.
  Clair means each note is fully articulated without blurring; fluide means the passage never stops moving forward. In the impromptus and valses-caprices, both qualities must coexist: brilliant clarity in the fast passages with an underlying flow that makes the whole feel inevitable. Rushing destroys the clarity; lingering destroys the fluidity.
• doux et mystérieux French
  Soft and mysterious. A characteristic marking in Fauré's later piano works calling for an inward, veiled quality — not quiet for lack of expression, but hushed by intention.
  Achieve this by keeping the tone uniform and slightly submerged, avoiding any note that protrudes. The pedal should blend rather than blur. Think of the sound as coming from inside the keyboard rather than from the surface. The listener should feel they are overhearing something private.
• legato singing tone English
  Fauré's melodic lines require an absolute legato where one note flows imperceptibly into the next, with an evenness of touch borrowed from the French vocal tradition.
  Connect every melody note with the finger — no air between notes, no bump at the connection. The thumb crossings must be entirely invisible. In the nocturnes, the right-hand melody should float above the left-hand accompaniment like a voice above a murmuring accompaniment. Change fingers silently on repeated notes.
• mélodie intérieure French
  Inner melody. Fauré frequently hides the most expressive melodic line inside the texture — in an inner voice or in the left hand — while the outer voices move more neutrally.
  Hunt for the mélodie intérieure before practising. In works like the Nocturne No. 6 and the Thème et Variations, the most important line may be in the tenor or alto register. Once found, bring it out with slightly deeper key contact while keeping the surrounding voices lighter. The listener should gradually become aware of it, as if discovering it themselves.
• modal harmony English
  Fauré's characteristic use of modes — Dorian, Mixolydian, Lydian — alongside or in place of tonal harmony, giving his music its distinctive archaic shimmer.
  Modal harmony in Fauré often produces unexpected chord progressions that feel inevitable but not functional in the tonal sense. Do not fight the strangeness; lean into the colour of the unexpected chord. Listen for the leading tone that does not resolve as expected and give it space rather than forcing a tonal interpretation.
• pédale discrète French
  Discreet pedal. Fauré's piano writing is marked by restrained, carefully placed pedalling that blends harmonies without obscuring inner voices or the clarity of the melodic line.
  Change the pedal at the harmonic rhythm, not the melodic rhythm. In the barcarolles, the rocking bass can sustain across the beat, but clear the pedal at each new harmony. In the preludes, almost no pedal is needed — Fauré's texture is transparent by design and does not require artificial blending.
• sans rigueur French
  Without rigidity. Fauré's instruction for passages requiring flexibility of tempo — a gentle give within the phrase, not metronomic but not freely improvised.
  Sans rigueur is subtler than rubato. The pulse should feel like breathing: slightly expansive at a peak, slightly contracted in approach. Never halt entirely or exaggerate; the flow must continue. This quality defines the barcarolle rhythms and the long melodic arches of the nocturnes.