ABSTRACT
In the mid-1860s it seemed unlikely that Fauré, an impecunious music student of provincial origin, would ever become a famous musical figure in Paris; it is true that he had already composed a successful Cantique and some charming songs and piano pieces, but he lacked ambition. He did not seem to be going places’. The wily and perceptive Saint-Saëns privately nursed great hopes for his protegé’s future on account of the youngster’s sheer talent; Saint-Saëns lived to see his faith vindicated and Fauré saluted as a great composer, but in the meantime he must have despaired of young Gabriel’s complacency. Fauré’s connection to the École Niedermeyer, rather than the Conservatoire where the majority of France’s establishment musicians were trained, was always a sticking point with officialdom. It was Fauré’s saving grace in the world of musical politics that he enjoyed the support of the powerful Saint-Saëns, who frequently worked behind the scenes to secure advantages for his unworldly and slightly wayward pupil. Fouré during the Rennes period https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315093772/d7d4e238-286c-436a-9d38-d3ae01d9d8c3/content/figp53.jpg"/>
