Gabriel Faure (1845-1924) was one of the most important composers in the music history of France from the late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century. Faure's output in piano music was abundant, including Nocturnes, Barcarolles, Preludes, and Impromptus. His piano works were rarely performed outside France compared to the works of the two French impressionist composers, Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy. The reason why Faure received relatively less international attention mainly because he was only active on the musical stage of France and could be regarded as the representative of the French music of the epoque. In his musical career from 1875 to 1921, Faure composed thirteen nocturnes among which the Nocturne No. 13 was his last piano work. His creation of nocturnes can be divided into three stages according to their time of production and his composing style. Faure's nocturnes in the first stage bore the influences of his predecessors such as John Field and Frederic Chopin. The second stage exhibited the composer's attempt at innovation. The nocturnes in the third stage were marked in style by a shift from exquisiteness to simplicity. Besides these significant differences, the three stages demonstrated Faure's specific techniques, such as the merging of church modes in the tonality of works and inserting rests on downbeat. This thesis includes three parts and begins with the introduction on Faure¡¦s life and on the origin, definition and development of nocturnes. The second part of the thesis elaborates on each of Faure's thirteen nocturnes in respect to their music periods, background and composing techniques. The discussion on the interpretation and techniques required in the performance of Faure's nocturnes will be the conclusion of the thesis.