Editing Gabriel Fauré (section)

===Orchestral and chamber works===
Fauré was not greatly interested in orchestration, and on occasion asked his former students such as [[Jean Roger-Ducasse]] and [[Charles Koechlin]] to orchestrate his concert and theatre works. In Nectoux's words, Fauré's generally sober orchestral style reflects "a definite aesthetic attitude&nbsp;... The idea of timbre was not a determining one in Fauré's musical thinking".<ref name=nectoux259>Nectoux (1991), p. 259</ref> He was not attracted by flamboyant combinations of tone-colours, which he thought either self-indulgent or a disguise for lack of real musical invention.<ref name=grove/> He told his students that it should be possible to produce an orchestration without resorting to [[glockenspiel]]s, [[celesta]]s, [[xylophone]]s, bells or electrical instruments.<ref name=d132>Duchen, p. 132</ref> Debussy admired the spareness of Fauré's orchestration, finding in it the transparency he strove for in his own 1913 ballet ''[[Jeux]]''; [[Francis Poulenc|Poulenc]], by contrast, described Fauré's orchestration as "a leaden overcoat&nbsp;... instrumental mud".<ref>Nectoux (1991), p. 258</ref> Fauré's best-known orchestral works are the suites ''[[Masques et bergamasques (Fauré)|Masques et bergamasques]]'' (based on music for a dramatic entertainment, or ''divertissement comique''), which he orchestrated himself,<ref>Duchen, p. 196</ref> ''[[Dolly (Fauré)|Dolly]]'', orchestrated by [[Henri Rabaud]],<ref>Duchen, p. 226</ref> and ''[[Pelléas et Mélisande (Fauré)|Pelléas et Mélisande]]'' which draws on incidental music for [[Maurice Maeterlinck|Maeterlinck]]'s play; the stage version was orchestrated by Koechlin, but Fauré himself reworked the orchestration for the published suite.<ref name=d132/>
{{listen
 | filename = faurepiece.ogg
 | title = Pièce for Oboe and Harp
 | description = Arranged for bassoon and piano, performed by Kathleen Walsh (bassoon) and Amy Crane (piano)
 | format = [[Ogg]]
| filename2 = Faure - Elegie.ogg
 | title2 = Élégie
 | description2 = Performed by Hans Goldstein (cello) and Eli Kalman (piano)
 | format2 = [[ogg]]
 | filename3 = Faure - Fantasie.ogg
 | title3 = Fantaisie
 | description3 = Performed by Alex Murray (flute) and [[Martha Goldstein]] (piano)
 | format3 = [[ogg]]
}}
In the [[chamber music|chamber]] repertoire, his two piano quartets, in [[Piano Quartet No. 1 (Fauré)|C minor]] and [[Piano Quartet No. 2 (Fauré)|G minor]], particularly the former, are among Fauré's better-known works.<ref name=sackville265>Sackville-West, p. 265</ref> His other chamber music includes two [[piano quintet]]s, two [[cello sonata]]s, two [[violin sonata]]s, a [[piano trio]] and a [[String Quartet (Fauré)|string quartet]]. Copland (writing in 1924 before the string quartet was finished) held the [[Piano Quintet No. 2 (Fauré)|second quintet (in C minor, Opus 115)]] to be Fauré's masterpiece: "...&nbsp;a pure well of spirituality&nbsp;... extremely classic, as far removed as possible from the romantic temperament."<ref name=copland/> Other critics have differed somewhat: ''The Record Guide'' commented, "The ceaseless flow and restricted colour scheme of Fauré's last manner, as exemplified in this Quintet, need very careful management, if they are not to become tedious."<ref name=sackville265/> Fauré's last work, the [[String Quartet (Fauré)|String Quartet]], has been described by critics in ''[[Gramophone (magazine)|Gramophone]]'' magazine as an intimate meditation on the last things,<ref>Nichols, Roger. "Fauré and Ravel", ''[[Gramophone (magazine)|Gramophone]]'', August 2000, p. 69</ref> and "an extraordinary work by any standards, ethereal and other-worldly with themes that seem constantly to be drawn skywards."<ref>Cowan, Rob. "Debussy, Fauré, Ravel", ''Gramophone'', December 2008, p. 97</ref>