Emmanuel Fauré-Fremiet, 1883-1971

Abstract

The great musical composer, Saint-Saëns, was not only a musician but also an amateur astronomer of some note. Had his interest in astronomy which, incidentally, he shared with Marie, the wife of one of his favourite pupils Gabriel Fauré, been combined with an interest in astrology he could perhaps have witnessed on 29 December 1883, with the help of his beloved telescope and inventive mind, the birth of a ‘nova’ and recognized that it was destined to shine brightly in the biological firmament for a period of almost 88 years. It was on that day that Marie presented her husband Gabriel with a son, Emmanuel. At that time (1883) Gabriel Fauré was 38 years old and already a highly successful musician, organist and composer who has since been described as the greatest of French song-writers, even as the French Schumann. In addition to his song-writing he is also well-known for his Requiem Mass, his violin sonata written in 1876 and for various quartets, nocturnes and other works. His music, in the words of a musical critic, ‘is remarkable for its exquisite workmanship, vitality, refinement and a reticent delicacy*; and these are all qualities that he passed on to his first-born son who displayed them to the highest degree, though in other fields. Although Gabriel Fauré married late, the marriage proved to be a very happy one. His wife, Marie, was the daughter of a leading sculptor, Emmanuel Fremiet (1824-1910) who, having started his career as a maker of wax models in a school of anatomy, afterwards became famous throughout France for his sculptures, particularly of animals. Perhaps his best known pieces are the lively equestrian statue of Jeanne d’Arc in the Place de Pyramides near the Louvre and the horses in the fountain at the Observatoire near the Luxembourg Gardens. He himself had been inspired and directed towards sculpture by his aunt Sophie (1797-1867) who herself had married a famous sculptor (Rude, 1784- 1855).