Joseph Daussoigne-Méhul

Daussoigne-Méhul, ca.1850

Louis-Joseph Daussoigne-Méhul (born June 10, 1790 in Givet , † March 10, 1875 in Liège ) was a French composer who worked in Belgium from 1827.

Life

Louis-Joseph Daussoigne, the nephew and later adopted son of Étienne-Nicolas Méhul , was brought to Paris by his uncle at the age of seven in order to further his musical talent. At the age of 9 Joseph Daussoigne came to the Paris Conservatory, in the piano class of Louis Adam and was taught harmony by Charles-Simon Catel . Luigi Cherubini and his uncle taught him composition. In 1803 he became a tutor at the Conservatory and in 1807 he applied for the first time at the Prix ​​de Rome , where he won second prize with his cantata " Ariane à Naxos ". In 1809 he won with the cantata “ Agar dans le désert“The premier grand Prix de Rome. Associated with the prize money was an educational stay in Rome of several years, from February 1811 to the end of 1813 he spent in the Villa Medici , the seat of the Académie de France à Rome . In 1814 he became a professor of harmony for the newly founded women's class at the Paris Conservatory.

In 1820 his comic opera Aspasie et Pericles was premiered in Paris . He also completed the fragmentary opera Valentine de Milan by his uncle Étienne-Nicolas Méhul, which was received with great success, and composed the music for the originally spoken recitatives for his opera Stratonice .

At the Congress of Vienna, the Habsburg Netherlands were incorporated into the Kingdom of the Netherlands. King Wilhelm I then established four royal music schools in his country, for example in Amsterdam, The Hague, Brussels and Liège. On Cherubini's recommendation, King Daussoigne transferred the management of the Liège Royal Music School in 1827, which began work with 10 professors and 35 students. Daussoigne himself took over the subjects harmony and composition. After the Belgian Revolution and the accession of the first Belgian King Leopold I to the throne, the music school was renamed "Conservatoire Royal de Musique" in 1831.

By a resolution of August 12, 1845, he received approval to use the double name Daussoigne-Méhul in honor of his uncle. In 1846 he was accepted into the “ Académie royale de Belgique ”, for which he made numerous publications until his death. He was a corresponding member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris since 1834 . By royal decree of October 13, 1859, he was awarded the Leopold Order (Commander) for his services .

Daussoigne directed the Liège Conservatory until 1862. During this time, among others, César Franck , Adolphe Samuel , the violinists Martin Marsick and François Prume , as well as Daussoignes successor Étienne Soubre were among the students.

Works (selection)

During his time in Liège, he mainly devoted himself to teaching and shaping musical life in the city. In addition to his operas, chamber music, choir and piano works, Daussoigne composed. A particular merit in his time was the adaptation and publication of classical choral works (Mozart, Gluck, Salieri, Schubert, Méhul, Weber and others) for general choral use, with texts in French and Dutch.

• 3 string quartets
• Overture for Orchester
• Cantata: " À la mémoire de Grétry " (1828)
• Symphonie héroique " Bruxelles en 1830-1831 ", for choir and orchestra (1834)
• " Cantate sur des airs populaires " (1856)
• Cantata: " Hommage à Grétry " (1862)

literature

• The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians , 2nd edition, London 2001

Web links

• Sheet music and audio files by Joseph Daussoigne-Méhul in the International Music Score Library Project
• http://www.musimem.com/Daussoigne-Mehul.htm

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Thierry Levaux: Le Dictionnaire des Compositeurs de Belgique du Moyen-Age à nos jours , pp. 152–153, Editions: “Art in Belgium” 2006, ISBN 2-930338-37-7