Iversen wrote:My music collection is organized alphabetically, and the next composer I'm going to listen to will be Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) - but but only his instrumental works, which has the advantage that I then can study languages while I listen.
EDIT... and after a mixed Anglo-Italo-Germanic interlude with traces of Slavic (the renaissance composer Fontana, the Irish-English John Field who invented the nocturne, the German-Bohemian Zdenech Fibich, Italo-Brits Ferrabosco father and son, the Germans Fesca and JCF Fischer and the Austrian Foerster) I'm now ready to return to France with the two Forquerays, Jean Françaix and César Franck, only interrupted briefly by the Hungarian Farkas Ferenc. OK César Franck was born Walloon, but he played his Cavaillé-Colle organ at saincte Clotilde in Paris. And after him monsieur Francoeur et les deux Hottetterres. Ye French wawe ne'er abates ere I reach the Italian keyboard master Girolamo Frescobaldi..
And it's all instrumental...
Although I can surely relate with this habit of studying languages while listening to instrumental music (and your collection is impressive, based on this sample), I suspect you know exactly what you are missing in regard of Fauré's vocal music, since his "Mélodies" are known as the super highbrow version of the inépuisable genre which is french chanson.
Having said that, nowadays I'm also a bit more in the "IAM - Je danse le MIA" mood. I do love classic french chanson (Brassens, Barbara, etc.), but frankly, upbeat they are not, so I tend to spare them for the right times.