Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) is best known as a composer of songs, the Requiem, several pieces of chamber of music and the Pavane. The Œuvres complètes de Gabriel Fauré, published by Bärenreiter since 2010, has taken on the task of displaying his music in all its variety to a new listening public. Now the eighth volume has appeared in print: Jean-Michel Nectoux’ thematic catalogue.

With 201 entries in chronological order, the catalogue lists every known work by this French composer. The entries, each with its new ‘N’ number, provide information on opus numbers (those assigned during Fauré’s lifetime), scoring, key, musical incipit, text incipit, text source, manuscript sources, date of origin, dedicatees, date of first performance, relationships to publishers, printed editions, authorial and non-authorial arrangements (if any), commentary and bibliographic references. No fewer than six indices make the volume easy to search.

The thematic catalogue (Catalogue Nectoux) will soon prove to be an indispensable reference work for anyone interested in Fauré and the music of his era. It is a distillation of Nectoux’ scholarly efforts of the past 50 years, the result of his journeys to every library where Fauré’s manuscripts are preserved – and a milestone of French musical scholarship.