Gabriel Urbain Fauré (1845-1924), a famous French composer, his compositional style was influenced and inspired by Frédéric François Chopin (1810-1849), Robert Alexander Schumann (1810-1856) and Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847). His music works was inherited French music tradition, given more complex and changeable sound effects, that make him play a decisive role in modern French music history. According to Fauré’s piano works, his compositions were divided into three periods.

His early compositions were inherited cantabile style of Chopin’s. He composed Nocturne No. 2 in B Major, Op.33 in 1880, it showed elegance characteristic. Nocturne No. 7 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 74, composed in 1898, included variety tonality and more complex tempo, present unique personal style. In 1915, he composed Nocturne No. 12 in E Minor, Op. 107, which used lots of chromatic materials. Comparing to his previous works, he created more unique color and showed deep emotion.

This thesis has six chapters. Chapter one, the preface, includes research motive, purpose, scope and method. Chapter two, introduces Fauré’s life and piano musical style. Chapter three, discuss the origin and compositional style changes of nocturnes, analyzes three nocturnes. Chapter four, performance interpretation, provides personal point of music connotation of the three works. Chapter five, conclusion.