A Study On The Funeral Of Foley

Gabriel Fauré, representative of the late Romanticism and the Impressionism,was a French composer, pianist and organist. Characteristic of French flavors, His works was harmonious and introverted. His major sets of piano works include thirteen barcarolles, thirteen nocturnes, six impromptus, nine preludes etc. When creating valse, Fauré added capriccio element which marked the development of waltz.Therefore, this thesis, titled A Study on Capriccio Valses of Fauré, consists of three chapters and it seeks to explore how "Capriccio” Style is reflected in Fauré’s four capriccio waltz. By this means, we can clearly understand the contributions he made to the inheritance and development of waltz.Chapter one mainly discusses the development of forms of waltz and the features of each period. Besides, based on Fauré’s life and his works of different period, it expounds the creation background of Fauré’s four capriccio waltz.By analyzing the stylistic features of capriccio waltz, Chapter two lays stress on the characteristic of this style-- the combination of capriccio and waltz. Moreover, this chapter fully discusses the capriccio element reflected in waltz from the perspective of four elements of music, namely melody, rhythm, harmony, texture(accompaniment figure) and three other aspects, that is, structure of works, development of theme and the connection of paragraphs.Chapter three compares Chopin’s waltz and Fauré’s capriccio waltz in terms of structure, element and developmental technique, which brings to the natural conclusion of Fauré’s contribution to the inheritance and development of waltz.