Ernest Chausson

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Ernest Chausson

Ernest Amédée Chausson (born January 20, 1855 in Paris , † June 10, 1899 in Limay , Yvelines department ) was a French composer .

Life

Chausson came from a wealthy family and enjoyed an excellent, very varied education. Interest in painting, literature and music arose in him early on. Chausson was also creative in all three areas. However, he initially complied with his parents' wish to study law. In 1877 he completed this course with his doctorate and became a lawyer for some time .

Soon, however, his interest in music took hold. Therefore, around 1879, he began to take private lessons, then lessons in the composition class at the Paris Conservatory with Jules Massenet . In 1881 he left the conservatory without a degree because he was extremely angry about the decisions of the jury of the Prix ​​de Rome , the most prestigious composition prize of the Paris Conservatory. Until 1883 he took lessons from César Franck . After that, Chausson worked as a freelance composer, but also appeared temporarily as a pianist.

Chausson's grave in the Pere Lachaise cemetery

His Paris Salon was one of the most important meeting places for the French capital's artistic elite - famous musicians such as Paul Dukas and Claude Debussy , writers and painters such as Eugène Carrière came together here. From 1886 he was secretary of the Société Nationale de Musique . Chausson traveled to Germany several times, including the Bayreuth Festival , in order to gather musical impressions.

Chausson died in a bicycle accident at the age of only 44. The opera Le roi Arthus , motivated by Wagner's Tristan and Isolde , was premiered posthumously in 1903 at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels .

style

Chausson developed an independent style of composition very early on. Essentially, the influences of two composers can be identified: that of his teacher César Franck and that of Richard Wagner . While Franck mainly passed on the formal design and processing of the compositional material as well as the tendency to great technical perfection to his pupils, Chausson orientated himself clearly on Wagner, especially in harmony . His music has a rather melancholy mood and a predilection for far-flung melodies. In almost all major works, Chausson uses cyclical principles to underline the unity of the work. In doing so, he draws on both the use of a cyclical theme and the technique of quoting from the previous sentences in the finale. It has often been pointed out that some of his works already refer to the music of Impressionism . Today the “Poème” for violin and orchestra is probably his best-known composition. Without a doubt, Chausson is one of the most important French composers.

Works

  • Symphonic poems
    • Viviane op. 5 (1882)
    • Solitude dans les Bois op.10 (1886)
    • Poème op.25 (1892–96)
    • Soir de Fête op.32 (1893)
  • Orchestral works
    • Symphony No. 1 in B flat major, Op. 20 (1889–90)
    • Symphony No. 2 unfinished (1899)
  • Operas
    • Les Caprices de Marianne , Lyric Comedy op. 4 (1882–84)
    • Hélène , Drame lyrique op.7 (1883–86)
    • Le roi Arthus , Drame lyrique op. 23 (1885–96)
    • La Légende de Sainte Cécile , op.22 (1891)
  • Chamber music
    • Concerto for violin, piano and string quartet in D major op. 21 (1889–91)
    • String Quartet in C minor, Op. 35 (1897–99, completed by Vincent d'Indy )
    • Piano quartet in A major op. 30 (1897)
    • Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 3 (1881)
    • Pièce for violoncello and piano in C major op.39 (1897)
    • Andante et Allegro for clarinet and piano (1881)
    • some piano pieces
  • Choral works
    • Chant Nuptial op. 15
    • Ballata / Canzoniere di Dante op.29
    • Joan of Arc (1880)
    • Hylas (1879-80)
  • Vocal music
    • Poème de l'amour et de la mer for voice and orchestra op.19 (1882–90, rev. 1893)
  • Songs
    • Sept Mélodies Op. 2
    • Quatre Mélodies Op. 8
    • Quatre mélodies op. 13
    • La Caravane op. 14
    • Chansons de Miarka Op. 17
    • Poème de l'amour et de la mer op.19
    • Serres Chaudes op.24
    • Trois songs op.27
    • Chansons de Shakespeare op.28
    • Pour un Arbre de Noël op.33
    • 2 Poèmes de Verlaine op.34
    • Deux Mélodies Op. 36
    • Song perpétuelle op. 37
    • Lilas (1877)
    • Deux Mélodies (1878)
    • Le Petit Sentier (1878)
    • L'Albatros (1879)
    • O Salutaris (1879)
    • Le Rideau de Ma Voisine (1879)
    • Esméralda (1880)
    • Nous Nous Aimerons (1882)
    • Le Mort Maudit (1884)
    • Le Jugement de Pâris

literature

  • Charles Oulmont: Musique de l'amour. I. Ernest Chausson et “la bande à Franck” , 1935
  • Jean Gallois: Ernest Chausson , Paris 1994

Web links

Commons : Ernest Chausson  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files