Gabriel Fauré – Requiem, Op.48: VII. (“In Paradisum”) (1888)

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Good morning… it will be a sombre day. The French composer Gabriel Urbain Fauré composed his Requiem in D minor, Op. 48 in 1887/88. It is unusually gentle for a requiem mass for the dead. The transcendental final movement ‘In Paradisum’ features in the movie The Thin Red Line.

Erik Satie – Gymnopédies (1888)

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Good morning. The ‘Gymnopédies’ were dances performed by the ancient Greeks to honour Apollo. In 1888, the French composer and pianist Erik Satie set these dances to music and thereby laid much of the groundwork for today’s ambient music. Many arrangements have been made of these mood-setting sounds, most notable being the orchestrations by his great friend Claude Debussy. Have a good week.