Lydia (Op. 4 No. 2)

Gabriel Fauré · Level 4 (Intermediate) · Romantic · Piano

An early song to a poem by Leconte de Lisle. Fauré uses the Lydian mode (with its raised fourth), a nod to the heroine’s name. A song (voice and piano) arranged for solo piano: the right hand plays the vocal line, with the accompaniment notes that lie below it; the left hand plays the piano part as written. F major, 4/4, 41 bars (about 2 minutes), complete score.

▶ Play this piece with the interactive score

How to practise it

• Listen first: the site plays it while the score scrolls.
• Wait mode: the score waits for you at every note, at your own pace.
• Tempo challenge: play in time, with a score and a map of the bars you got right.
• Listen to the special colour of the Lydian mode (B natural in F major) and play very legato, with a soft tone. One hand sometimes plays two voices: hold the long notes for their full value and let the main line sing louder than the accompaniment. Triplets and other tuplets must be perfectly even: count them aloud with the metronome. For chords, shape the hand in the air before landing, all notes together.

More pieces by Gabriel Fauré

• Après un rêve (Op. 7 No. 1)
• Les roses d’Ispahan (Op. 39 No. 4)

Source : Arrangement Note after Note d’après la saisie CC0 du corpus OpenScore Lieder · CC0 1.0