Fauré made a piano transcription of the 'Pavane', but subsequently he revised his original orchestral score. Howat's new transcription is true to the spirit of Fauré's arrangement. The preface quotes from Sir Adrian Boult's recollection that Fauré preferred (and played the piece at) a tempo considerably faster than the rather doleful interpretations one often hears.

Fauré composed the Pavane in the summer of 1887, originally as a purely orchestral piece for the concert series of the Parisian conductor Jules Danubé. For some reason Danubé left it unperformed, a miscalculation he must have later regretted when the piece became immensely popular in various forms for orchestra or piano, with or without voices.

Edited and arranged by Wendy Hiscocks and Roy Howat