Editing Gabriel Fauré (section)

===Modern assessment===
A 2001 article on Fauré in ''[[Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians]]'' concludes thus:
{{blockquote| Fauré's stature as a composer is undiminished by the passage of time. He developed a musical idiom all his own; by subtle application of old modes, he evoked the aura of eternally fresh art; by using unresolved mild discords and special coloristic effects, he anticipated procedures of Impressionism; in his piano works, he shunned virtuosity in favor of the Classical lucidity of the French masters of the [[clavecin]]; the precisely articulated melodic line of his songs is in the finest tradition of French vocal music. His great Requiem and his ''Élégie'' for Cello and Piano have entered the general repertoire.<ref name=baker>Slonimsky, Nicholas. [http://bakr.alexanderstreet.com/View/665229/Highlight/faure#faure1 "Fauré, Gabriel (-Urbain)"], ''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', Schirmer Reference, New York 2001, accessed 8 September 2010 {{subscription}}</ref>}}

Fauré's biographer Nectoux writes in the ''[[Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians]]'' that Fauré is widely regarded as the greatest master of French song, and that alongside the ''mélodies'', the chamber works rank as "Fauré's most important contribution to music".<ref name=grove/> The critic [[Robert Orledge]] writes, "His genius was one of synthesis: he reconciled such opposing elements as [[mode (music)|modality]] and tonality, anguish and serenity, seduction and force within a single non-eclectic style, as in the ''Pelléas et Mélisande'' suite, his symphonic masterpiece. The quality of constant renewal within an apparently limited range&nbsp;... is a remarkable facet of his genius, and the spare, elliptical style of his single String Quartet suggests that his intensely self-disciplined style was still developing at the time of his death".<ref>Orledge, Robert. [http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t114/e2442 "Fauré, Gabriel (Urbain)"], ''The Oxford Companion to Music'', Oxford Music Online, accessed 26 September 2010 {{subscription}}</ref>