Fauré studied music at the École Niedermeyer, Paris, under the noted French composer Camille Saint-Saëns. From 1866 to 1905 Fauré was organist in a number of churches, including the churches of Saint Sulpice and the Madeleine in Paris. In 1896 he became professor of composition at the Paris Conservatoire and from 1905 to 1920 was its director. Among his students were the French musicians Nadia Boulanger and Maurice Joseph Ravel and the Romanian composer Georges Enesco.

Along with Saint-Saëns, Fauré was instrumental in keeping French musical values alive at a time when the tendency throughout Europe was to adopt the goals and techniques of German romantic music. Fauré preferred a discreet emotional range, rather than the sometimes flamboyant emotionalism of the Germans. He composed within the smaller genres, especially songs and short piano pieces. He valued musical logic and never allowed literary or philosophical associations to rule over or interfere with the smooth flow of his music.