Born in Ambert, Puy-de-Dôme, Jan 18, 1841
Died in Paris, Sept 13, 1894
- Chabrier was a law-trained civil servant in the French Department of the Interior,1 but he also composed and played the piano (virtuosically). He did not turn to music full-time until the 1880s, by which time he had attained some recognition for his compositions.2
- Chabrier was friendly with “Parnassian” French poets in the 1860s, including Verlaine. Many of his works are art song settings of their poetry.3
- Chabrier was also friends with Impressionist painter Edouard Manet and posed for several paintings. Chabrier left behind an impressive collection of Impressionist paintings at his death. 4
- Chabrier was interested in staying abreast of avant-garde movements in music and was an early French proponent of Wagner. But though he composed serious operas influenced by Wagner, like Gwendoline, Chabrier also loved to write witty or ironic music, like an entertaining four-hand piano piece on themes from Tristan und Isolde (Souvenirs de Munich) and funny songs like “Villanelle des petits canards” (“Villanelle of the Little Ducks,” a song about ducks taking a country stroll)5
- Fun fact – Chabrier has been dubbed “the first musical Impressionist,” whose work would influence those well-known for the genre like Debussy and Ravel.6
Learn More
Sources
- Paul J. Horsley and Christopher H. Gibbs, program notes, “Viva España,” The Philadelphia Orchestra, February 7, 8 and 9, 2019, PhilOrch.org, accessed August 19, 2019, https://www.philorch.org/sites/default/files/concert/pdfs/Viva%20Espan%CC%83a.pdf.
- Steven Huebner, “Chabrier, (Alexis-)Emmanuel,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed August 19, 2019, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000005351.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Roger Nichols, “Composer of the Month: Emmanuel Chabrier,” BBC Music Magazine Vol. 27, No. 9 (2019), 66.