Farewell!
The chiseled form and two-syllable lines recall Gautier’s “L’Art.” Grandmougin’s poem also abounds in rich rhymes—“diaprés”/“prés,” “grèves”/“rêves,” “charmes”/“larmes.” Form and content create an admirable unity: the short lines emphasize ephemeral images (bloom, smoke, change, dreams), creating a cadence into which the final “Adieu!” drops with fatalistic certainty. Line 16 even comments on the meter—“Sont courts!” says the two-syllable line, “They are short!” The confessional tone has vanished and the pronoun “je” occurs only once, replaced by the impersonal “on.” Emotion has receded into form; personal expression into detached reflection.
Fauré reached back to “Lydia” to set this Olympian poem (see example 2.5). The chorale texture, portato articulation, and steady quarter notes all recall the earlier song. The Lydian fourth, C♮, appears on cue in the third phrase, harmonized by the modal dominant, B♭ minor. James Kidd also noted the influence of Niedermeyer and d’Ortigue’s treatise on plainchant accompaniment in “Adieu,” both in the left hand’s parallel thirds and in the unusual iii-IV progression in m. 7.30 Fauré has purged all operatic vulgarity: the expression remains dolce (or even dolcissimo) throughout the song; the dynamics rarely swell above piano; and the one sustained high note is to be sung pianissimo. Critics have unfailingly singled out “Adieu” as the jewel of the cycle, perhaps because its reticence fits with an idealized vision of Fauré’s style—for Jankélévitch, “Adieu” possessed “more conviction” than the first two songs.31 Yet the song owes this conviction, or authenticity, to a deliberately archaic style that Fauré cultivated in response to the Parnassian poets. The neoclassical restraint of “Adieu,” no less than the theatricality of “Rencontre” and “Toujours,” plays its role within the poetic allegory of Poème d’un jour.
EXAMPLE 2.5. Fauré, “Adieu,” Poème d’un jour, mm. 1–12.
EXAMPLE 2.6. Hypothetical half cadence in Fauré, “Adieu,” Poème d’un jour, m. 8.
The old church modes allow “Adieu” to resolve the tonal issues that plagued the first two songs. The opening vocal phrase awakens obvious memories of “Rencontre”: as in the opening song, the melody descends from D♭ and then outlines a ii7 chord as it reascends. Of course, the first note plays a different tonal role in the outer songs, functioning as
In this way, the ancient modes correct the tonal slippage of “Rencontre.” In “Adieu,” Fauré rewrote the opening melody of Poème d’un jour according to the modal system that he pioneered in “Lydia,” using the raised fourth as a pivot between the keys of G♭ major and B♭ minor. Yet since the Lydian scale does not include A♮, the chromatic tone needed for a modern applied dominant, it prevents the song from settling on the mediant. The song hovers between tonal centers, but never drifts off course as in “Rencontre.” With this modal reinterpretation of the D♭-C-B♭ line, “Adieu” reintegrates the dissociated harmony of the first song, grounding the modern tonal language in the timeless forms of antique art.
EXAMPLE 2.7. Fauré, “Adieu,” Poème d’un jour, mm. 28–34.
The symmetrical da capo form also allows “Adieu” to contain the turbulent energies of “Toujours.” The middle section returns to the key of the second song, oscillating between F♯ minor and D major, tonic and submediant. The restless arpeggios return along with the melodic upbeats, ruffling the serene hymn. The da capo restores order in m. 23, even as the piano’s broken chords quietly absorb the restless energies of the middle section. “Adieu” thus recapitulates the journey of Poème d’un jour, absorbing the cycle’s violent emotions within the sturdy symmetry of the da capo form. Nevertheless, the specter of chaos peeks out once more at the end. On the penultimate line, as the poet recalls his first declaration of love, “Adieu” drops abruptly into E♭ major (see example 2.7). Orledge perhaps exaggerated in writing that “Fauré comes close to disaster at the end of ‘Adieu,’ ” but the effect is certainly jarring within this Apollonian song.32 The tonic returns after two bars, and a pair of plagal cadences smooth away the brief disruption. This final harmonic detour bids farewell to the third relations that troubled Poème d’un jour from the opening bars and seals the victory of form over passion.
Fauré composed Poème d’un jour at a turning point in his career. He had just published his first work, the Violin Sonata in A Major (op. 13), and the following year he would complete two major works, the Ballade (op. 19) and the Piano Quartet in C Minor (op. 15). As Fauré broke with Pauline Viardot’s theatrical family, he gradually divested himself of the operatic ambitions that she had foisted on him, which had led to a string of vain projects.33 As the composer would reflect years later, “This break was perhaps not so bad for me, since within the dear Viardot family I would surely have been diverted from my true path.”34 Within the coming-of-age plot of Poème d’un jour, the operatic tone of the first two songs perhaps represents the stage career that had tempted the young composer chez Viardot, while the third song points to a higher path, embodying the poise, craftsmanship, and historicity prized by the Parnassians. These qualities make “Adieu” a worthy prize song for the apprentice composer as he embarked on a new stage in his career.
Poème d’un jour also marks a milestone in Fauré’s conception of the word-music relationship. In a 1911 article, the composer surprisingly disparaged his settings of Leconte de Lisle. While few listeners will agree with his assessment, Fauré’s explanation bears repeating. The poetry, he wrote, is “too full, too rich, too complete for music to adapt to it successfully.”35 The rich rhymes and intricate forms of the Parnassians do indeed present a daunting challenge to the composer, and the strain can be felt in “Adieu.” Grandmougin’s two-syllable lines fit awkwardly into the symmetrical melodic structure; they either tumble out quickly or echo redundantly like afterthoughts. The lonely iambs introduce a note of hesitancy, complicating the flow of the vocal melody. The Parnassian form thus clips the wings of the operatic muse who fluttered so freely through the first two songs. In the end, Poème d’un jour exalts poetry, guardian of the manly virtues of reason, logic, and form, above pure music. But the balance of power would shift radically in Fauré’s next song cycle after he met his most congenial poet.
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