DOLLY SUITE
The French composer and organist Gabriel Fauré (Pamiers 1845 - Paris 1924) was professor of composition at the Paris Conservatory of Music and among his pupils were Maurice Ravel, Nadia Boulanger, Florent Schmitt and Charles Koechlin. It was only after many years that he was also recognized as a great composer outside France. He composed songs, piano music, chamber music, stage music, operas, orchestral pieces and a worldfamous Requiem.
His 'Dolly Suite' opus 56 was composed between 1893 and 1896 for fourhanded piano. The six parts are 'Berceuse', 'Mi-a-ou', 'Le Jardin de Dolly' (Dolly's Garden), 'Kitty-valse', 'Tendresse' (Tenderness) and 'Le Pas Espagnol' (The Spanish step). The suite was already orchestrated in 1896 by the French composer Henri Rabaud, winner of the Grand Prix de Rome in 1894.
