Welcome to Hyperion Records, an independent British classical label devoted to presenting high-quality recordings of music of all styles and from all periods from the twelfth century to the twenty-first.

Hyperion offers both CDs, and downloads in a number of formats. The site is also available in several languages.

Please use the dropdown buttons to set your preferred options, or use the checkbox to accept the defaults.

Click cover art to view larger version
Track(s) taken from CDA67875

Nocturne No 6 in D flat major, Op 63

composer
3 August 1894; published in 1894

Angela Hewitt (piano)
Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
CD-Quality:
Studio Master:
CD-Quality:
Studio Master:
Recording details: August 2012
Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin, Germany
Produced by Ludger Böckenhoff
Engineered by Ludger Böckenhoff
Release date: September 2013
Total duration: 9 minutes 12 seconds

Cover artwork: Autumn Effect at Argenteuil (1873). Claude Monet (1840-1926)
© Samuel Courtauld Trust, The Courtauld Gallery, London / Bridgeman Images
 

Other recordings available for download

Stephen Hough (piano)
Marc-André Hamelin (piano)
Kathryn Stott (piano)

Reviews

‘Hewitt's way with the Valses-caprices is scintillating and extrovert, most notably in the second waltz's swing-high, swing-low teasing sophistication … she is notably sensitive, too, to the openings of Nocturnes Nos 6 and 13, and to the latter's anguished utterance … Hewitt's excellently recorded disc (as bright as the playing) provides an invigorating modern alternative’ (Gramophone)

‘Take a French composer with a contrapuntal bent, whose music requires a rigour, poise and nuance akin to that of a ballet dancer. Then choose a pianist, such as Angela Hewitt, whose feel for all these qualities is a given. The result is an exquisite Fauré recital … Hewitt's clarity is exemplary. The purity and strong, supple backbone of her playing lets Fauré's inventive genius, his extraordinary sensitivity to colour, harmonic shading, texture and eloquence, shine on its own terms’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘It is strange how little of Fauré’s piano music seems to be part of the regular repertoire nowadays compared with, say, Debussy or Ravel. It is even stranger when you hear it played with such captivating élan and finesse as by Angela Hewitt. With her radiant sparkle in two Valse-caprices, the sun seems to shine, and she traces a whole rainbow of moods through three nocturnes (Nos 5, 6 and 13), the early Ballade and the Thème et variations Op 73. Utterly delightful’ (The Daily Telegraph)

‘Those unfamiliar with Fauré's keyboard works will find that Hewitt's selection provides a perfect introduction, She is complemented by a fabulous recording quality and an instrument (her trusty Fazioli) that does her justice at every turn’ (International Record Review)

‘A very thoughtfully planned sequence, beautifully executed; the sharply contrasting characters of each of the variations are perfectly focused, while the joyous exuberance of the early Ballade sweeps all before it. She's equally precise and revealing in the apparently slighter works, too, finding just a hint of the danger that gives the French waltz its special edge in the Valses-caprices, and including two of the greatest of the nocturnes: the sixth in D flat major and the 13th in B minor, Fauré's last and profoundly tragic piano work. All these pieces are presented with exemplary clarity and wonderfully crystalline tone’ (The Guardian)

‘Hewitt knows that some regard the composer’s Nocturnes, Ballade, and Theme and Variations Opus 73 as 'salon' music, and sets out to prove that these short pieces are as complex and nuanced at heart as they are serene and accessible on the surface. Particularly masterly are the variations, the heartbreaking 7th and final 12th very lovely’ (The Independent on Sunday)

‘A thoughtful and satsifying Fauré selection traversing his career and showing his art in diverse hues … Hewitt's interpretations are powerful and poetic’ (The Sunday Times)

‘Hewitt brings not just an intimate grasp of the music’s harmonic and technical demands, but an essential refinement—most evident in the Theme and Variations, in which she finds élan, lightness and grandeur without overemphasising the differences between the 11 variations. As for the Valses-caprices, you can’t mistake Hewitt’s delight in the playful passage-work’ (Financial Times)

‘Angela Hewitt is totally sympathetic to Fauré's sometimes elusive world and her Fazioli piano is superbly recorded’ (Liverpool Daily Post)
In the early 1890s, Fauré, whose marriage had turned problematic, had a love affair with Emma Bardac, a gifted mezzo-soprano married to a philandering banker. The relationship sparked his song cycle La bonne chanson, which shows a freeing-up of language, a sense of expanded possibility.

The D flat major sixth nocturne (1894) exhibits extended, irregular phrase lengths and chromatic manipulations which share that quality of freshness and adventure; and the central section, with its melody high above flurries of glittering semiquavers, is so beautiful that once a society lady begged to know where he had dreamed it up. Fauré replied: ‘In the Simplon Tunnel.’ Gradually the different ideas are brought together and implode. Then the opening idea returns, to reach a soft close.

In 1904 Emma finally left her husband … for Claude Debussy.

from notes by Jessica Duchen © 2023

Au début des années 1890, Fauré dont le mariage était devenu problématique, eut une liaison avec Emma Bardac, une mezzo-soprano très douée mariée à un banquier coureur de jupons. Cette relation donna naissance à son cycle de mélodies La bonne chanson, qui révèle une libération du langage, une impression de perspectives accrues.

Dans le sixième nocturne (1894), en ré bémol majeur, les phrases sont plus longues et irrégulières, avec des manipulations chromatiques qui partagent cette qualité de fraîcheur et d’aventure; et la section centrale, la mélodie scintillant au-dessus de rafales de doubles croches étincelantes, est si belle qu’un jour, une dame de la haute société lui demanda où il l’avait conçue. Fauré répondit: «Sous le tunnel du Simplon.» Peu à peu, les différentes idées sont réunies et implosent. Ensuite, l’idée initiale revient, pour atteindre une douce conclusion.

En 1904, Emma finit par quitter son mari … pour Claude Debussy.

extrait des notes rédigées par Jessica Duchen © 2023
Français: Marie-Stella Pâris

Anfang der 1890er-Jahre hatte Fauré, von Eheproblemen geplagt, eine Affäre mit Emma Bardac, einer begabten Mezzosopranistin, die mit einem treulosen Bankier verheiratet war. Die Beziehung regte ihn zu seinem Zyklus La bonne chanson an; in ihm zeigt sich die zunehmende Befreiung seiner Sprache, der Eindruck von neuen Möglichkeiten.

Einen ähnlichen Eindruck vermitteln erweiterte, unregelmäßige Phrasen und chromatische Wendungen im Nocturne Nr. 6 Des-Dur (1894); und der Mittelteil mit einer Melodie, die über Schwärmen flirrender Sechzehntelnoten aufleuchtet, ist von solcher Schönheit, dass eine Dame ihn einmal bat zu verraten, wo er diese Musik erträumt hätte. Fauré erwiderte: „Im Simplon-Tunnel.“ Schrittweise werden die Themen kombiniert und fallen in sich zusammen. Das Anfangsthema kehrt zurück und führt das Stück zu einem ruhigen Schluss.

1904 verließ Emma ihren Ehemann—um mit Claude Debussy zusammenzuleben.

aus dem Begleittext von Jessica Duchen © 2023
Deutsch: Friedrich Sprondel

Other albums featuring this work

Fauré: Nocturnes & Barcarolles
Studio Master: CDA68331/22CDsStudio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
Fauré: Piano Music
CDA67064Last few CD copies remaining
Fauré: The Complete Music for Piano
CDS44601/44CDs Boxed set (at a special price)
Stephen Hough's French Album
CDA67890
Waiting for content to load...
Waiting for content to load...