From now on Fauré’s experiments in this sort of thing become more frequent and more radical. In ‘The Absent One’ he uses ordinary suspensions for their atmospheric effect. Other songs of the same period--among which ‘Silvie,’ ‘After a Dream,’ ‘Barcarolle,’ and ‘Over There’ are the best--show traces of the development. ‘Nell,’ in opus 18, shows an increasingly delicate feeling for the inner voices in the accompaniment; the broken chords that support this melody are not a mere harmonic support but a delicate weaving of suggested voices. The ‘Traveller’ shows increased power and vigor. The ‘Lullaby,’ in opus 23 (one of his best songs), shows an attempt to get color by means of regular suspensions and dissonances, secondary seventh chords, and the like, all permitted in the old system but employed here with a special emphasis which is unescapable. ‘The Secret,’ in the same group, shows a similar attempt. The _Chanson d’amour_ in opus 27 should be mentioned in passing. In opus 39 we find the beautiful song, ‘The Roses of Ispahan.’ Here Fauré uses exactly the same harmonic device that we have pointed out in ‘Lydia,’ but this time with more confidence: [Illustration: Music score] Ont un parfum moins frais ont une odeur moins douce The awkwardness and uncertainty in the former passage is not to be found here. Fauré has discovered his medium. Henceforth he will use it with increasing boldness and success. The ‘Nocturne’ of opus 43 and _Les présents_ of opus 46 show still more freedom in the use of constantly changing tonality. ‘Tears’ in opus 51 uses the chromatic shift of key almost continuously. But the trick has ceased to be a technical experiment. It has become a means of artistic expression. For this song, along with ‘In the Cemetery,’ shows tragic energy and a moving personal appeal which, as we have seen, had been all but absent from French song for half a century. _Mandoline_ and _En Sourdine_ in opus 58 are songs of consummate artistry and ‘The Prison’ of opus 74 reaches a very high emotional standard. The later songs show Fauré using generously the technical freedom which he so laboriously attained. But the songs are now less interesting. They are too likely to be abstruse without being inspired. Technically they are of extreme interest, but they suggest that Fauré had been left behind by the modern musical movement and was rather breathlessly trying to catch up.