Joseph Boulnois

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Joseph Boulnois (born January 28, 1884 in Verneuil-en-Halatte , † October 20, 1918 in Chalaines near Commercy ) was a French composer and organist.

Live and act

Joseph Boulnois was the son of the village school teacher Sylva Boulnois , who supported the artistic endeavors of his three children. A sister of Boulnois' died in an accident shortly before starting her piano studies at the conservatory when she was twelve. His brother Lucien Boulnois (1887–1953) studied cello at the Paris Conservatory , taught at the Clermont-Ferrand Conservatory and also worked there as an organist.

In Pont-Sainte-Maxence, where he grew up, Boulnois met the later writers and musicologists Marcel Berger and Gabriel Bender . He played the compositions of César Franck on the organ in the church of Nogent-sur-Oise, five kilometers from Pont-Sainte-Maxence . At the age of 15 he completed his first full composition: Crépuscule .

In 1904 Boulnois moved to Paris. There he studied at the conservatory, harmony with Antoine Taudou , organ with Alexandre Guilmant and Louis Vierne , fugue with Charles Lenepveu , counterpoint with Georges Caussade and piano accompaniment with Paul Vidal . In 1906 he married the pianist Jane Chevalier .

In 1908 Boulnois became organist at the Suret organ in the Paris church of Sainte-Élisabeth , where Auguste Bazille and Félix Fourdrain had previously worked, and at the Cavaillé-Coll organ in the church of Saint-Louis-d'Antin , where he succeeded Clément Loret , Georges Jacob and Abbé Levergeois . Here he founded a concert series with the church's conductor, Marc de Ranse , which was widely recognized due to the selection of works and the quality of the performers.

In 1909 he became chef de chant ('director of studies') at the Opéra-Comique and in 1912 a member of the Conservatory's selection and examination committee. At the beginning of the First World War he was mobilized in Châlons-sur-Marne. There he met the cellist Gérard Hekking , for whom he composed a four-movement sonata for cello and piano in 1917. This was premiered after the war by his wife and Hekking and later played by Victor Gentil and Noël Gallon and by Paul Bazelaire and Maurice Maréchal .

Boulnois composed most of his works as a sergeant during the First World War, including a number of songs, the Suite en cinq parties pour piano et violoncelle , the Sonate pour piano and the Trio pour piano, violon et violoncelle (all in 1918). He died of the Spanish flu in Chalaines hospital . His son Michel Boulnois was also known as an organist and composer.

Works

  • Crépuscule , 1899
  • La Toussaint for piano, 1903 (orchestrated version by Édouard Mignan 1919)
  • Pastorale (based on a poem by Maurice Rollinat ), 1908
  • La mort des amants (based on a poem by Maurice Rollinat), 1908
  • La Biche (based on a poem by Maurice Rollinat), 1908
  • La Cornemuse (based on a poem by Maurice Rollinat), 1910
  • Accompagnement (based on a poem by A. Samoin), 1912
  • Angelus (based on a poem by P. Courrière), 1912
  • L'Anneau d'Isis , Opera, 1912
  • Roses de Saâdi (based on a poem by Marceline Desbordes-Valmore ), 1915
  • Nous n'irons plus au bois (based on a poem by Théodore de Banville ), 1915
  • Souvenir (based on a poem by André Chenier ), 1916
  • La Flûte (after A. Chénier), 1916
  • Recueillement (based on a poem by Charles Baudelaire ), 1916
  • Sonata pour piano et violoncelle , 1917
  • Trois Sonnets (by Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve ), 1917
  • L 'Ascension (based on a poem by Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve), 1917
  • La Basilique for piano, 1918
  • Suite en cinq parties pour piano et violoncelle , 1918
  • Sonate pour piano , 1918
  • Trio pour piano, violon et violoncelle , 1918
  • Sainte-Cécile au milieu d'un grand concert des ans for piano, 1918
  • Hymn à Bacchus for cello
  • Musette et Bidon , Suite for Cello
  • Sonata pour piano et petit orchester
  • Rhapsody for orchestra
  • Marine for orchestra
  • Symphony funèbre
  • Quatuor à cordes
  • Sonata for violon and piano
  • Noël pour violon and piano
  • Suite Hiver
  • Running out
  • Noël pour violoncello and piano
  • Jeux pour violoncelle et piano
  • Scherzino for piano
  • Gigue for piano
  • Madrigal for piano
  • Pavane for piano
  • Menuet pastoral et le Choral en fa dièse mineur for piano
  • Toccata pour piano (dedicated to Jane Chevalier)
  • Perdus dans un rêve for cello and piano

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personal data
SURNAME Boulnois, Joseph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French composer and organist
DATE OF BIRTH January 28, 1884
PLACE OF BIRTH Verneuil-en-Halatte
DATE OF DEATH October 20, 1918
Place of death Chalaines at Commercy