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Gabriel Fauré, one of the greatest of French composers, served as Director of Paris Conservatoire for many decades. His appointment as Director had aroused great controversy in the school, since Fauré was a graduate of the rival Ecole normale de musique (which has always been considered to be an 'also ran' school for musicians who were not good enough to enter the Conservatoire.) Fauré served as Director of the Conservatoire with great distinction into his 80s (as we can see him in this photograph) -- even though by that time he had become partially deaf. In this incredible photograph, Fauré appears together with Jacques Thibaud, Alfred Cortot and Pablo Casals.
The photograph is signed by the director of the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris, and by Jacques Thibaud, Alfred Cortot and Pablo Casals