In his late works, Fauré returns to themes of his earlier works. These ideas can be placed in distinct groups such that each forms a sort of musical chain of references. There are three main groups or chains: (1) the Lydia Group which originates in an early song of the same title; (2) the Soir Group which originates in the song of 1894; and (3) the Ulysse Group which is named after the character in the opera Penelope. Nectoux traces these referential chains as the various ideas return in later works and in different guises. Numerous works are mentioned and discussed. The self-borrowings are not evidence of a lack of melodic inspiration since the ideas are always transformed and re-worked. Rather, these references to his earlier works in the late works are "similar in function to the memories of his youth with which his last letters are full"; they relate to the Romantic representation of memory. The chains of references also reveal a unique continuity in his work. "Fauré's output is highly unified."

Works: Fauré: La Bonne Chanson (232), Prométhée (232), Sonata for Violin, Op. 13 (232), Piano Quartet, Op. 15 (232), Elégie (232), Chanson d'Ève (236), Violin Concerto, Op. 14 (237), Symphony in F (or Orchestral Suite), Op. 20 (237), Symphony in D Minor, Op. 40 (237).

Index Classifications: 1800s, 1900s

Contributed by: David C. Birchler