Born in Paris, July 24, 1803
Died in Paris, May 3, 1856
[ah-DOLF ah-DAHM] / French pronunciation]
Nationality: French
Born in Paris, Nov 30, 1813
Died in Paris, March 29, 1888
- Charles-Valentin Alkan [PRONUNCIATION] was both a composer and one of the leading piano virtuosos of the 19th century.1
- Alkan showed musical talent from a very early age. He entered the Paris Conservatoire at age five (!) and gave his first public concert as a violinist at age seven. By his early teens, Alkan was already making a career as a concert pianist.
- By his 20s, Alkan was a celebrity in Paris and admired by Liszt, Chopin, George Sand, Alexandre Dumas, and many more cultural standouts.
- Despite his early success, Alkan spent much of his life as a hermit, possibly due to a depressive OCD (though it’s impossible to diagnose historical figures properly). These periods away from the public were typically marked by great compositional productivity.
- Alkan became increasingly interested in his Jewish heritage with age, which influenced both his music (through the use of Jewish melodies and Hebrew words) and his hobbies. He translated the entire Old and New Testaments of the Bible into French from Syriac.
- Fun fact – Alkan was one of the first composers to incorporate Jewish themes and references into classical music.2
- Much of Alkan’s compositions were written for piano.
“At a period when the piano was undergoing universal exploitation for new and more dazzling sonorities, Alkan made a positive contribution to virtuoso technique. His music can be exacting beyond the capacity of any but the most powerful players in technique, dynamic demands and stamina. It can also be disarmingly simple. He exploited the extreme ends of the keyboard, often in deliberate contrast with the middle range.”
Grove Music Online
- *A quick note regarding his name – Charles-Valentin’s real surname was Morhange. He took his father’s first name, “Alkan,” as his professional surname. Fun fact – all his siblings also used “Alkan” as their surname for their professional careers as musicians.3
- Alkan’s music has been seriously neglected, even while the composer was still alive. This may be due, in part, to the fact that much of it is incredibly difficult to play. Nonetheless, there’s an opportunity for a rediscovery of the 19th-century figure who influenced so many.
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Biography from the European Institute of Jewish Music (IEJM)
Biography from Hyperion Records
Pieces
Born Caen, Jan 29, 1782
Died Paris, May 12, 1871
- Daniel-François Auber [oh-BEAR; PRONUNCIATION] is known for writing opéras comiques (19th C. French operas with sung arias and spoken dialogue).4
Born in La Côte-Saint-André, Isère, Dec 11, 1803
Died in Paris, March 8, 1869
Born in Paris, Oct 25, 1838
Died in Bougival, near Paris, June 3, 1875
[“BEE-zay;” PRONUNCIATION]
Short biography from the English National Opera
Born in Baillif, Guadeloupe, Dec 25, 1745
Died in Paris, June 9, 1799
- Bologne (generally referred to by his title, “Chevalier de Saint-Georges”) was the son of a French planter in Guadeloupe and Nanon, an enslaved African woman. He studied fencing in France, became a master swordsman, gendarme and chevalier (knight).
- Saint-Georges was a virtuoso violinist and directed the Concert des Amateurs, one of Europe’s finest orchestras.
- Though he was blocked from becoming director of the Paris Opéra due to his color, he became successful a opera composer.
- He founded and directed the Concert de la Loge Olympique, the orchestra for which Saint-Georges commissioned Haydn’s “Paris” Symphonies.
- Around time of French Revolution, the Chevalier de Saint-Georges became associated with the abolitionist society Société des Amis des Noirs (Society of Friends of the Blacks).
- In 1792 he became colonel of the Légion des Américains et du Midi, a regiment of “citizens of color.”5
Born in Paris, Jan 21, 1858
Died in Sarcelles, Seine-et-Oise, March 18, 1937
- Bonis [“boh-NEES”] attended the Paris Conservatory where she studied harmony with Ernest Guiraud and organ with César Franck. She won the conservatory’s first prize for harmony in 1880.
- Bonis published over 300 compositions over the course of her lifetime, including piano works, chamber works, choral music, organ music and orchestral pieces.
- Bonis frequently published under the gender-neutral pseudonym Mel-Bonis (or Mel. Bonis).6
Composer website, maintained by Christine Géliot, Bonis’s biographer and great-granddaughter. The site is in French but includes an English version (click the flag in the upper right-hand corner)
Note: There are numerous inconsistencies in the dating and opus numbering of her pieces from one publication to another (probably due to the multiplicity of editions of her works, even during her lifetime). In this site, I have chosen to use the dates and opus numbers assigned in Géliot’s catalogue of Bonis’s works.
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BOULANGER, Lili
Born in Paris, Aug 21, 1893
Died in Mézy, March 15, 1918
- Marie-Juliette Olga “Lili” Boulanger was the first woman to win the Prix de Rome for composition (1913).
- She was the younger sister of composition pedagogue and conductor Nadia Boulanger (1887-1979).
- Lili Boulanger suffered from chronic ill health, dying in 1918 at age of 24.
- Boulanger’s compositions include songs, chamber music, choral works.
- Boulanger was deeply affected by living through the First World War. Many of Boulanger’s works deal with themes of war or prayers for peace.7
- Together, Lili and Nadia Boulanger organized a charity to help musicians who had become WWI veterans.8
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Short biography from Naxos
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BOULANGER, Nadia
Born in Paris, Sept 16, 1887
Died in Paris, Oct 22, 1979
- Not only a composer, Nadia Boulanger [PRONUNCIATION] was a conductor, the older sister of composer Lili Boulanger, and one of the 20th century’s most influential teachers of composition.
- Boulanger studied at the Paris Conservatory from the age of 10. Her teachers included Widor and Fauré (composition) and Vierne and Guilmant (organ). She placed second in the Prix de Rome competition in 1908.
- Boulanger ceased composing in the 1920s, a few years after the death of her sister Lili. Boulanger felt that her sister had been more talented than herself, so she redirected her own efforts away from original composition, and instead toward teaching, and promoting the music of her sister and other 20th-century composers, notably Stravinsky.32
- Short biography from UNC Chapel Hill
“I’m not sure you did the right thing in giving up composition.”
Gabriel Fauré, to Nadia Boulanger33
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CANTELOUBE, Joseph
Born in Annonay, Oct 21, 1879
Died in Paris, Nov 4, 1957
PRONUNCIATION / “kahnt-loob”
- Joseph Canteloube studied composition under Vincent d’Indy, first informally and then at the Schola Cantorum in Paris. Under d’Indy’s influence, Canteloube became a member of a circle of French composers dedicated to preserving regional traditions of folk music and incorporating folksong into classical composition.
- Canteloube is best known for his five volumes of arrangements of Chants d’Auvergne for voice and orchestra, written between 1923–54.9
Pieces
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,10 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.
- Chabrier was friendly with “Parnassian” French poets in the 1860s, including Verlaine. Many of his works are art song settings of their poetry.
- 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.
- 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).11
- Fun fact – Chabrier has been dubbed “the first musical Impressionist,” whose work would influence those well-known for the genre like Debussy and Ravel.12
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CHAMINADE, Cécile
Born in Paris, Aug 8, 1857
Died in Monte Carlo, April 13, 1944
- Chaminade studied piano as a child with her mother. Her father opposed her enrollment in the Paris Conservatory, so Chaminade studied privately with Conservatory professors, including Benjamin Godard.
- Chaminade composed about 400 works over the course of her life, and almost all of them were published.
- Though most of Chaminade’s works are piano miniatures or songs (which were more marketable for a woman composer), she also composed larger works: like her Concert Piece for piano and orchestra, and a program symphony entitled Les amazones: Symphonie dramatique, both of which were performed during her lifetime.
- Chaminade performed extensively as a concert pianist. She was especially popular in the United States, where numerous “Chaminade Clubs” popped up to celebrate her music.13
Biography from the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society
Pieces
- 6 Études de concert, Op. 35
- 6 Romances sans paroles, Op. 76
- Capriccio for Violin and Piano in e minor, Op. 18
- Concertino in D Major for Flute, Op. 107
- Concertstück in c-sharp minor, Op. 40
- La lune paresseuse
- Les sylvains, Op. 60
- Pierrette, Op. 41
- Scarf Dance, Op. 37, No. 3
- Sèrènade aux étoiles, Op. 142
- Sérénade espagnole, Op. 150
- Valse carnevalesque, Op. 73
Born in or near Paris, 1643
Died in Paris, Feb 24, 1704
- Charpentier spent much of his career as a composer and singer at the private musical establishment of Parisian noblewoman Marie de Lorraine known as “Mademoiselle de Guise,” and later also served as a church musician, notably at Sainte-Chapelle, the chapel at the Palais de Justice.
- Until recently Charpentier’s fame has been overshadowed by that of his contemporary Lully, who as a court musician to Louis XIV had one of the most influential and prestigious music jobs in Europe.
- A great deal of Charpentier’s output is religious music, not only from his time working as a church musician, but also because his patroness Mademoiselle de Guise was very devout.14
Born in Paris, Jan 20, 1855
Died in Limay, near Mantes, Yvelines, June 10, 189915
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CHEN Qigang
Born in Shanghai, Aug 28, 195116
*Qigang pronounced “tchee-gahng”
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COLOMBIER, Michel
Born in Lyon, May 23, 1939
Died in Santa Monica, Nov 14, 2004
- Colombier was a French film composer who wrote scores for French films and Hollywood films. Some of his credits include Man on Fire (2004) and The Golden Child (1986).17
Born in Rouen, April 10, 1707
Died in Paris, Jan 21, 1795
- Corrette was a French organist, teacher, and composer of church and theatre music.
- The performance methods Corrette wrote for students are valuable for scholars of historic performance practice, because he gives clear instruction on techniques specific to his time.18
Born in Paris, Nov 10, 1668
Died in Paris, Sept 11, 1733
Also known as Couperin le grand to distinguish him from the many other musical members of the Couperin family, including one other François Couperin.19
Pieces
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D’INDY, Vincent
Born in Paris, Mar 27, 1851
Died in Paris, Dec 2, 193120
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DEBUSSY, Claude
Born in St Germain-en-Laye, Aug 22, 1862
Died in Paris, March 25, 1918
Pieces
- Beau soir
- Clair de lune
- Danse (Styrian Tarantella)
- Deux Arabesques
- Estampes
- Fantaisie for piano and orchestra
- Images for Orchestra: No. 3, Springtime Rounds (Rondes de printemps)
- Jeux (“poème dansé”)
- La Boite a Joujoux (The Toy Box)
- La Mer
- Nocturnes
- Petite Suite
- Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
- Préludes (Book 1)
- Rêverie
- Sarabande
- The Engulfed Cathedral
- The Girl with the Flaxen Hair
- The Prodigal Son
Born in New Orleans, c1827–9
Died in Paris, France, 1901
His name is sometimes given as Edmund Dédé.
- Edmond Dédé was the son of free Creole parents in New Orleans. His first music teacher was his father, a militia bandmaster.
- Dédé traveled to Paris to attend the Paris Conservatory, where he enrolled in 1857. He saved money for the journey by working in New Orleans as a cigar maker. At the conservatory, he studied with Fromental Halévy, and was friends with fellow student Charles Gounod.
- Dédé was a violinst and conductor as well as a composer. He conducted the L’Alcazar Orchestre for some 20 years.
- Edmond Dédé’s son, Eugène Arcade Dédé, also became a respected composer.21
Born in Paris, Dec 15, 1657
Died in Versailles, June 18, 1726
- Michel-Richard Delalande is among the most well-known French Baroque composers from the generation after Jean-Baptiste-Lully. Delalande was a contemporary of François Couperin.
- Like Lully before him, Delalande served in the court of Louis XIV (and later Louis XV) at Versailles.
- Fun fact – As a teenager, Delalande was briefly pursuing a career as a violinist and auditioned for Lully’s opera orchestra. He didn’t get the gig. Following this “failure,” Delalande turned his attention to organ and sacred music, for which he would eventually become famous.
- In 1683, when the composer was in his mid-20s, Delalande won an organ competition at Versailles, awarding him the position at the Chapel Royal. Delalande gradually worked his way up in the court (even taking over Lully’s former position), resulting in a prosperous musical career.
- As a composer, Delalande is best remembered for his expansive collection of grand motets, which were amply used for services at the royal chapel. Delalande also wrote opera, ballet music, and instrumental works.22
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Short biography from The Kennedy Center
Short biography from Naxos
Born in St Germain du Val, Feb 21, 1836
Died in Paris, Jan 16, 1891
- Delibes composed operetta, opera and ballets. His best-known works include the opera Lakmé and the ballet Coppélia.
- Delibes worked as a church organist, rehearsal accompanist and opera chorus master before devoting himself full time to composition in 1871.
- In 1881 Delibes became a composition professor at the Paris Conservatory, which is surprising because he himself claimed to have no mastery of counterpoint.23
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DES PREZ, Josquin
Born near Saint Quentin, c1450–55
Died in Condé-sur-l’Escaut, Aug 27, 1521
- Josquin des Prez (pronunciation), often referred to as simply “Josquin,” is considered by many to be the greatest composer of the Renaissance. His music bridged the gap between the Middle Ages and the High Renaissance and would be a significant point of influence for 16th-century composers.
- While Josquin’s music has ebbed and flowed in popularity since his death, miraculously, it’s never left the Western soundscape.24
- Thanks to the printing press, Josquin became the first celebrity of the music industry.
- As a composer, Josquin wrote for all the significant vocal genres of the time: masses, motets, and chansons. His music spans the gamut from sacred to secular, serious to playful, and everything in between.
- Fun fact – Josquin and Leonardo da Vinci were colleagues at the Sforza court in Milan. Da Vinci’s Portrait of a Musician is almost certainly a portrait of Josquin.25
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Biography from Classical Music
Biography from Hyperion Records
Pieces
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DUKAS, Paul
Born in Paris, Oct 1, 1865
Died in Paris, May 17, 193526
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DURUFLÉ, Maurice
Born in Louviers, Jan 11, 1902
Died in Paris, June 16, 198627
Born in Paris, May 31, 1804
Died in Paris, Sept 15, 1875
Born Jeanne-Louise Dumont
- Farrenc was a concert pianist who achieved a professional level of technique in her teens. She also studied composition at the Paris Conservatory.
- Farrenc served as Professor of Piano and the Paris Conservatory from 1842-1873. She was the only woman to hold a permanent, high-ranking position at the Conservatory in the nineteenth century.28
- Fun fact – Farrenc fought for equal pay to that of her male colleagues at the conservatory… and won!29
- Farrenc was a pioneering scholar of early performance practice. Her scholarly magnum opus is Le trésor des pianistes, an anthology and treatise on early keyboard music and historically accurate performance techniques. Until his death in 1865, Farrenc’s husband, flutist and scholar Aristide Farrenc, collaborated on this project. It was published by the Paris music publishing firm Aristide had founded.
- Farrenc’s daughter Victorine Farrenc was a piano prodigy who died in 1859 at the age of 33 after a debilitating illness. This loss was so devastating that Louise Farrenc ceased to compose.30
- As a composer, the bulk of Farrenc’s works were written for her own instrument, the piano, and are known for their technical difficulty without being overly flashy. Farrenc had a “down-to-earth” musical personality and avoided overt sentimentality.
“Louise Farrenc is a major musical personality hiding in plain sight.”
Jessica Duchen, BBC Music Magazine31
Historical Context
- The year that Farrenc was born (1804)…
- Napoleon crowned himself Emperor
- Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony had been written but had yet to receive its premiere.32
- Haiti declared its independence
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Pieces
- Nonet in E-flat Major, Op. 38
- Overture No. 1, Op. 23
- Overture No. 2 in E-flat Major, Op. 24
- Piano Quintet No. 1 in a minor, Op. 30
- Piano Quintet No. 2 in E Major, Op. 31
- Piano Trio No. 1 in E-flat Major, Op. 33
- Piano Trio No. 2 in D, Op. 34
- Symphony No. 1 in c minor, Op. 32
- Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 35
- Symphony No. 3 in g minor, Op. 36
- Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 44
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FAURÉ, Gabriel
Born in Pamiers, Ariège, May 12, 1845
Died in Paris, Nov 4, 1924
- Gabriel Fauré (pronunciation), while often overshadowed, undeniably transformed French music through his influence, his teaching, his leadership, and his compositions.33
- As a composer, Fauré was the most advanced composer in French music of his time and anticipated Impressionism, among many other significant stylistic trends. His musical language is deeply personal and immediately identifiable.
- The bulk of Fauré’s music consisted of piano music, songs, and chamber music (works that could be performed by his friends and colleagues in Paris salons). He is regarded by many as the greatest master of French art song.
- Growing up, Fauré anticipated training for a career as a church musician. The arrival of a new piano teacher at Fauré’s school in Paris, Camille Saint-Saëns, played a pivotal role in the teenaged Fauré’s decision to start composing. Saint-Saëns would go on to become an important mentor for the young composer.
- Fun fact – Fauré was ambidextrous. His piano compositions share a common characteristic in that both hands are of equal importance and “in many passages alternate and complement each other for the presentation of a theme or the execution of a run.”34
- Among his many professional posts was educator at the Paris Conservatoire, where he taught many burgeoning young composers such as Nadia Boulanger, Arthur Honegger, George Enescu, and Maurice Ravel.35
Learn More
Biography via Deutsche Grammophon
Pieces
- Après un rêve (After a Dream), Op. 7 No. 1
- Ballade in F-sharp Major, Op. 19
- Berceuse for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 16
- Dolly Suite, Op. 56
- Élégie, Op. 24
- Fantaisie for Flute and Orchestra, Op. 79
- Masques et Bergamasques, Op. 112
- Pavane, Op. 50
- Requiem, Op. 48
- Sicilienne, Op. 78 (from Pelléas et Mélisande)
- Violin Concerto in d minor, Op. 14
Born in Liège, Dec 10, 1822
Died in Paris, Nov 8, 1890
Franck was born in Belgium and spent most of his career in France.36
Born in Paris, Sept 21, 1698
Died in Paris, Aug 5, 1787
- François Francoeur was part of a family of French string players who were employed by the Musique de la Chambre du Roy and the Paris Opera during the 18th Century.
- François Francoeur is known as le cadet (“the youngest”). He studied violin with his father Joseph Francoeur (“Francoeur père”) and started work as a violinist with Musique de la Chambre du Roy at the age of 12. In 1727 he gained the title of compositeur de la chambre du roi and in 1730 he joined his father and brother as a member of the 24 Violons du Roy.
- François Francoeur frequently collaborated with his friend François Rebel, first in composing operas together, and later in co-directing the Paris Opéra. The two worked together so much that the Parisian public considered them as a single artistic unit.37
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GAUBERT, Philippe
Born in Cahors, Lot, July 5, 1879
Died in Paris, July 8, 1941
- Gaubert was a French flutist, composer and conductor. He won first prize for flute at the Paris Conservatory in 1894 and second prize for composition in the Prix de Rome in 1905.
- Gaubert enjoyed a successful career as an orchestral and solo flutist, a conductor and artistic director at the Paris Opéra, and professor of flute at the Paris Conservatoire.
- In addition to flute music, Gaubert composed operas, ballets, songs, and works for orchestra.
- With his teacher Paul Taffanel, he wrote the influential flute method, Méthode complete de flúte.38
Born in Paris, Aug 18, 1849
Died in Cannes, Jan 10, 1895
- Godard was a musical prodigy who entered the Paris Conservatory at 14.39
- Godard composed symphonies, operas and other large-scale works, but today is best known for his salon music and songs.40
- Godard was also well known for his performances of chamber music as a violist.41
- It has been suggested that Godard’s early death from tuberculosis may have contributed to his relative obscurity today, by preventing him from reaching full maturity as a composer.42
Born in Paris, June 17, 1818
Died in Saint-Cloud, Oct 18, 1893
Born in Goffontaine, near Saarbrücken, c.July 5, 1819
Died in Leipzig, April 21, 1898
- Gouvy didn’t study music as a child. He came to Paris to study law in 1836, took piano lessons while he was there, lost interest in law, flunked out of his law classes and decided to become a composer.
- Gouvy was independently wealthy, so he could devote his time to composing and promoting his works (he often funded performances himself).
- Gouvy produced over 90 compositions over the course of his life.42
Born in St Rémy-des-Monts, Sarthe, Jan 21, 1828
Died in Paris, Jan 15, 1907
Born Marie Félicie Clémence de Reiset
This video contains an interview and pronunciation of the composer’s name.
- The composer was born into a wealthy family and studied music from the age of six. One of her teachers was Friedrich von Flotow, composer of the opera Martha. After her marriage, she studied with Camille Saint- Saëns.43
- She acquired the title of Vicomtesse de Grandval when she married the Vicomte Charles de Grandval, a military officer.44
- The composer published under many pseudonyms, as well as publishing as “Clémence de Grandval” and “Marie de Grandval.”45
- In 1880, Clémence de Grandval won the inaugural Concours Rossini award for her oratorio La fille de Jaïre.46
Born Liège, Feb 8, 1741
Died in Montmorency, Seine-et-Oise, Sept 24, 1813
- Grétry was the most successful composer of opéra comique for the Paris Opéra in the two decades leading up to the French Revolution.
- Marie Antoinette made Grétry her personal court music director in 1774.46
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HAHN, Reynaldo
Born in Caracas, Aug 9, 1874
Died in Paris, Jan 28, 1947
- Born in Venezuela to a Catholic Spanish mother and German Jewish father, Hahn’s family moved to Paris when he was four. He was educated at the Paris Conservatoire and achieved early and career-long success with his mélodies (French art songs).47
- One of Hahn’s teachers at the Conservatoire, Jules Massenet, did much to help launch the young composer’s career. The two remained close until Massenet died in 1912.48
- Hahn was a baritone and often performed his own songs in salon gatherings, accompanying himself at the piano.
- Hahn was also a conductor and music critic.
- Fun fact: Two of Hahn’s best friends were Sarah Bernhardt and Marcel Proust. Hahn had actually been lovers with the latter for a couple of years in the mid-1890s, after which they remained close friends.
- Additional fun facts:
- Hahn composed a musical comedy about the young Mozart (Mozart, 1925). 49
- While in his 40s, Hahn enlisted to fight in the trenches in WWI and was awarded the Croix de Guerre.50
- Additional fun facts:
“Hahn would not have been dismayed that his reputation today rests firmly on his 100-or-so songs.”
BBC Music Magazine
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Biography from the European Institute of Jewish Music (IEJM)
Born in Paris, Jan 28, 1791
Died in Paris, Jan 19, 183351
Born in Paris, Dec 16, 1847
Died in Paris, Jan 28, 1903
This video contains an interview and pronunciation of the composer’s name.
- The composer’s parents emigrated from Ireland to France. The composer added the French accent mark to her surname.
- Holmès was an influential member of artistic circles in Paris. She was a devotee of César Frank and a defender of Wagner’s music. Camille Saint- Saëns once called her “France’s muse.”
- Holmès was a vocal supporter of independence efforts in many European nations, including her ancestral home of Ireland. She composed several nationalistic pieces of music in support of these causes.
- Like several other Romantic composers (Berlioz comes to mind), Holmès had a tendency to mythologize her life as part of her artistic identity. It remains difficult to distinguish fact from fiction in her biographical record. Rumors she supported during her lifetime included that she was the natural daughter of poet Alfred de Vigny, and that she was forbidden to study music as a child.52
- Fun fact: Holmès’s partner was the poet and critic Catulle Mendès. Three of the couple’s daughters appear in a famous painting by Renoir, The Daughters of Catulle Mendès.
- Biography from the Royal College of Music
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HONEGGER, Arthur
Born in Le Havre, March 10, 1892
Died in Paris, Nov 27, 1955