Rhené baton

Rhené baton

Rhené-Baton , actually René-Emmanuel Baton (spelling also Bâton ) (born September 5, 1879 in Courseulles-sur-Mer , Département Calvados ; † September 23, 1940 in Le Mans ) was a French conductor and composer .

Life

Rhené-Baton studied piano and music theory with André Gedalge at the Conservatoire de Paris . In 1903 his variations for piano and orchestra were premiered by the Société nationale de Musique. From 1907 to 1908 he was choir conductor at the Paris Opéra-Comique . He then conducted the Société Sainte Cécile in Bordeaux and the Société Populaire von Angers (1910–1912). In 1910 he was invited as a conductor to the “Festival de musique française” in Munich . At the request of Sergei Djagilew , he conducted the orchestra of the Ballets Russes in London and in South America (1912–1913).

During the First World War , Rhené-Baton was head of the Royal Dutch Opera (1916–1918) and directed the summer concerts of the orchestra at the Hague residence in Scheveningen (1914–1919). Serge Sandberg made him head of the Orchester Pasdeloup in Paris in 1918 , which he held until 1932; even after that he continued to conduct the orchestra. Rhené-Baton worked to “democratize” access to music by providing seats with affordable prices and introducing works at the beginning of concerts.

Rhené-Baton has conducted numerous world premieres, for example

• Les Evocations by Albert Roussel (1912),
• Printemps by Claude Debussy (1913),
• Habanera by Louis Aubert (1919),
• l'Alborada del gracioso (1919) and the orchestral version of Le Tombeau de Couperin by Maurice Ravel (1920),
• Les Agrestides (1922) and Symphonie avec orgue by Georges Migot ,
• Requiem by Guy Ropartz (1939)

He also conducted the French premiere of the futuristic piece Eisengießerei by Alexander Mossolow .

Arthur Honegger dedicated Le Chant de Négamon (1918) and Albert Roussel his 2nd symphony (1923) to him.

plant

Rhené-Baton composed orchestral works, chamber music and songs. Despite his commitment as a conductor for contemporary composers, his style remained comparatively conservative, which is also reflected in his preference for classical forms (including the suite ). Work titles such as "Passacaille" , "Bourrée" (both for flute and piano) or "Dans le style rococo" (for piano) can be found. In addition, he orchestrated six dances by Claude Gervaise . Although he was born in Normandy , Rhené-Baton was very drawn to the landscape and music of Brittany , which is also reflected in the choice of titles for some works (including the piano works "En Bretagne" or "Vieille chapelle en Cornouaille" ). He was friends with the Breton composers Paul Le Flem , Paul Ladmirault and Louis Aubert .

literature

• D. Sourdet: Douze chefs d'orchestre. Paris, 1924

Web links

Commons : Rhené-Baton  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Biography (French) ( Memento from September 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
• Sheet music and audio files by Rhené Baton in the International Music Score Library Project