The
piano music of Gabriel Fauré is among his best known work. Written between the 1860s and the 1920s,
Fauré's major sets of piano works are thirteen
nocturnes, thirteen
barcarolles, six
impromptus and four valses-caprices. These sets display the change in his style, over the decades, from uncomplicated youthful charm to a final enigmatic but sometimes fiery introspection, by way of a turbulent period in his middle years. His other notable piano pieces, including shorter works, or collections composed or published as a set, are Romances sans paroles,
Ballade in F♯ major,
Mazurka in B♭ major, Thème et variations in C♯ major, and Huit pièces brèves. For
piano duet, Fauré composed the
Dolly Suite and, together with his friend and former pupil
André Messager, an exuberant parody of
Wagner in the short suite Souvenirs de Bayreuth. Much of the ambidextrous Fauré's piano music is difficult to play, but it is rarely virtuoso in style. The composer disliked showy display, and the predominant characteristic of his piano music is a classical restraint and understatement.