Fauré's Lydia from his 2 Songs, Op. 4 has been arranged for viola solo and piano by the world-famous violist Donald McInnes, who held a professorship at the University of Southern California from 1985 to 2014 and is known in virtually every corner of the artistic world for his appearances with major orchestras, recitals, chamber music participation, and numerous master classes.

The 2 Songs, Op. 4 marked a period in which Faure moved away from his youthful penchant for the poems of Hugo. Instead, he began to tackle shorter lyrics by somewhat younger poets who had the power to inspire him to a more intense musical response. Leconte de Lisle's Lydia was an ideal match for the composer's new melodic espousal. Though the music appears with an element of simplicity at a first glance, a new sophistication emerged beneath the surface with a ravishing melodic line discreetly shadowed by the piano. An ancient Greek atmosphere is created partly by use of the Lydian mode with sharpened fourth of the scale.

Download and print the score today to gain access to this expertly edited arrangement of Fauré's Lydia for viola and piano by Donald McInnes!

Below is the original French text by Leconte de Lisle and the English translation for this song:

Lydia sur tes roses joues
Et sur ton col frais et si blanc,
Roule étincelant l’or fluide
Que tu dénoues.

Le jour qui luit est le meilleur;
Oublions l’éternelle tombe,
Laisse tes baiser, tes baiser de colombe
Chanter sur ta lèvre en fleur.

Un lys cache répand sans cesse
Une odeur divine en ton sein.
Les délices comme un essaim
Sorten de toi, jeunne déesse.

Je t’amie et meurs, ô mes amour,
Mon âme en baisers m’est ravie!
O, Lydia, rends moi la vie
Que je puisse mourir, mourir toujours!


Lydia, on your rosy cheeks
And on your neck, so fresh and white,
Flow sparklingly
The fluid golden tresses which you loosen.

This shining day is the best of all;
Let us forget the eternal grave,
Let your kisses, your kisses of a dove
Sing on your blossoming lips.

A hidden lily spreads unceasingly
A divine fragrance on your breast.
Numberless delights
Emanate from you, young goddess.

I love you and die, oh my love,
Kisses have carried away my soul!
Oh Lydia, give me back life
That I may die, forever die!