Cécile Chaminade

Template:Short description Template:Infobox classical composer Cécile Louise Stéphanie Chaminade (8 August 1857 – 13 April 1944) was a French composer and pianist.<ref name=WomenofNote>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1913, she was awarded the Légion d'Honneur, a first for a female composer.

Biography

Born in Batignolles<ref>Paris, France, Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1555-1929</ref> (a village then outside Paris), Chaminade was raised in a musical family. She received her first piano lessons from her mother.<ref name=Britannica/> Around age 10, Chaminade was assessed by Félix Le Couppey of the Conservatoire de Paris, who recommended that she study music at the Conservatoire.<ref name="Citron 1988">Template:Cite book</ref> Her father forbade it because he believed it was improper for a girl of Chaminade's class.<ref name="Citron 1988"/> Her father did, however, allow Chaminade to study privately with teachers from the Conservatoire: piano with Le Couppey,<ref name="Citron 1988"/> violin with Martin Pierre Marsick,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and music composition with Marie Gabriel Augustin Savard<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Benjamin Godard.<ref name=Britannica>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref><ref name=NAXOS>Template:Cite web</ref>

File:Cecile Chaminade as sketched by Marguerite Martyn in St. Louis, November 1908.jpg

Chaminade as sketched in St. Louis by Marguerite Martyn, November 1908

Chaminade experimented in composition as a young child, composing pieces for her cats, dogs and dolls.<ref name="Chaminade 1911">Template:Cite journal</ref> In 1869, she performed some of her music for Georges Bizet, who was impressed with her talents.<ref name="Chaminade 1911"/><ref name="Citron 1988"/>Template:Rp In 1878, Chaminade gave a salon performance under the auspices of her professor, Le Couppey, consisting entirely of her compositions. This performance marked the beginning of her emergence as a composer and became the archetype for the concerts she gave for the rest of her career in which she only performed her own works.<ref name="Citron 1988"/>Template:Rp

During the 1870s and 1880s several of her works were programmed by the prestigious Société nationale de musique<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>. In her early years, she gave recitals throughout France, Switzerland, Belgium and Holland.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1892, she debuted in England, where her work was popular.<ref name=Britannica/> Isidor Philipp, head of the piano department at the Conservatoire de Paris, championed her works.Template:Citation needed She repeatedly returned to England in the 1890s, premiering her compositions with such singers as Blanche Marchesi and Pol Plançon.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She visited England again in 1907 and performed at the Aeolian Hall in London,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and in Bath.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Queen Victoria was known to enjoy Chaminade's music<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and in 1901 at her funeral, the Prélude for organ, Op.78, by Chaminade was played.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Chaminade married a music publisher from Marseille, Louis-Mathieu Carbonel, in 1901.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Citron 1988"/>Template:Rp Given his advanced age, it was rumored to be a convenience and Chaminade prescribed strict marriage conditions: they were to live separately (he in Marseille and she near Paris) and their marriage was to remain platonic.<ref name="Citron 1988"/>Template:Rp Carbonel died in 1907 from a lung disease.<ref name="Citron 1988"/>Template:Rp Chaminade never remarried.<ref name="New York: G.K. Hall">Template:Cite book</ref>

In 1908, she performed concerts in twelve cities in the United States.<ref name=WomenofNote /> Her compositions were tremendous favorites with the American public,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and such pieces as the Scarf Dance or the Ballet No. 1 were to be found in the music libraries of many lovers of piano music of the time. She composed a Konzertstück for piano and orchestra, the ballet music to Callirhoé and other orchestral works. Her songs, such as The Silver Ring and Ritournelle, were also great favorites.

Chaminade was the recipient of numerous honours, both in France and abroad. In 1888 and 1892, she was honoured by the Académie Française. In 1897, she was honoured by Queen Victoria and given the Jubilee Medal. She received the Laurel Wreath from the Athens Conservatory and the Order of the Chefakat by Sultan Abdul Hamid II of the Ottoman Empire.<ref name="New York: G.K. Hall"/> In 1913, she was elected a Chevalier of the National Order of the Legion of Honour (French: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), a first for a female composer.<ref name=Britannica /><ref name=NAXOS />

In London in November 1901, she made gramophone recordings of seven of her compositions for the Gramophone and Typewriter Company; these are among the most sought-after piano recordings by collectors, though they have been reissued on compact disk.<ref name=NAXOS /> Before and after World War I, Chaminade recorded many piano rolls, but as she grew older, she composed less and less, dying in Monte Carlo on 13 April 1944, where she was first buried. Chaminade is now buried in Passy Cemetery in Paris.<ref name="SOCIETE D'HISTOIRE DU VESINET">Template:Cite web</ref>

Chaminade was relegated to obscurity for the second half of the 20th century, her piano pieces and songs mostly forgotten, with the exception being the Flute Concertino in D major, Op. 107, composed for the 1902 Paris Conservatoire Concours; it is her most popular piece today.<ref name=WomenofNote />

Chaminade's sister married Moritz Moszkowski, also a well-known composer and pianist like Cécile.

Critical reception

Many of Chaminade's piano compositions received good reviews from critics, some of her other endeavors and more serious works were less favourably evaluated, perhaps on account of gender prejudices.<ref name="Britannica" />

Ambroise Thomas said in 1878, "C'est n'est pas une jeune fille qui compose, c'est un compositeur" ("This is not a young girl who composes, this is a composer").<ref name="Tardif">Template:Cite book</ref> This is also quoted as "Ce n'est pas une femme compositeur, c'est un compositeur femme."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> ("This is not a woman who composes, but a composer who is a woman."<ref name = "Etude 1910-10">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>)

Most of her compositions were published during her lifetime and were financially successful.<ref name=WomenofNote /><ref name=Britannica />

Compositional style

Chaminade affiliated herself with nationalist composers such as Camille Saint-Saëns and Charles Gounod. Her musical style was rooted in both Romantic and French tradition throughout her career and her music has been described as tuneful, highly accessible and mildly chromatic.<ref name=WomenofNote /> In describing her own style, Chaminade wrote, "I am essentially of the Romantic school, as all my work shows."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Important works

File:Lolita, Chaminade.png

Lolita (Caprice espagnol) Op. 54

Opera

• Op. 19 La Sévillane, comic opera (1882)

Orchestral

• Op. 20 Suite d'Orchestre (1881)
• Op. 26 Symphonie Dramatique Les Amazones (1884)
• Op. 37 Callirhoë, ballet symphonique (1888)
• Op. 40 Konzertstück in C-sharp minor for piano and orchestra (1888)
• Op. 107 Concertino for flute and orchestra in D major (1902)

Choral

• Op. 44 Les Feux de la Saint-Jean for soloists, women's chorus and piano (1890)
• Op. 45 Sous l'Aile Blanche des Voiles for soloists, women's chorus and piano (1890)
• Op. 46 Pardon Breton for soloists, women's chorus and piano (1890)
• Op. 47 Noce Hongroise for soloists, women's chorus and piano (1890)
• Op. 48 Noël des Marins for soloists, women's chorus and piano (1890)
• Op. 49 Les Filles d'Arles for soloists, women's chorus and piano (1890)

Piano

• Op. 21 Piano Sonata in C minor (1893)
• Op. 35 Six Études de Concert (1886)
• Op. 54 Lolita. Caprice espagnol 1890
• Op. 60 Les Sylvains (1892)
• Op. 61 Arabesque 1892
• Op. 89 Thème varié (1898)
• Op. 120 Variations sur un thème original (1906)
• Op. 117 Duo Symphonique for 2 pianos (1905)
• Op. 123 Album des enfants, première série (1906)
• Op. 126 Album des enfants, deuxième série (1907)

Piano Duets

• Op. 55 Six Pièces Romantiques, Op. 55 (1890)

Two Pianos Four Hands

• Op. 59 Andante et Scherzettino (from Callirhoë) (1889(
• Op. 73 Valse Carnavalesque (1894)
• Op. 117 Duo Symphonique (1905)
• WU 19 Marche Hongroise (1880), unpublished

Solo instrument with piano

• Op. 18 Capriccio for violin and piano (1890)
• Op. 19 Trois Morceaux for violin and piano (1885)
• Op. 97 Rondeau for violin and piano (1899)
• Op. 142 Sérénade aux étoiles for flute and piano (1911)

Chamber music

• Op. 11 Piano Trio No. 1 in G minor (1880)
• Op. 34 Piano Trio No. 2 in A minor (1886)

Songs

• "Chanson slave" (1890)
• "Les rêves" (1891)
• "Te souviens-tu?" (1878)
• "Auprès de ma mie" (1888)
• "Voisinage" (1888)
• "Nice la belle" (1889)
• "Rosemonde" (1878)
• "L'anneau d'argent" (1891)
• "Plaintes d'amour" (1891)
• "Viens, mon bien-aimé" (1892)
• "L'Amour captif" (1893)
• "Ma première lettre" (1893)
• "Malgré nous" (1893)
• "Si j'étais jardinier" (1893)
• "L'Été" (1894)
• "Mignonne" (1894)
• "Sombrero" (1894)
• "Villanelle" (1894)
• "Espoir" (1895)
• "Ronde d'amour" (1895)
• "Chanson triste" (1898)
• "Mots d'amour" (1898)
• "Alléluia" (1901)
• "Écrin" (1902)
• "Bonne humeur!" (1903)
• "Menuet" (1904)
• "La lune paresseuse" (1905)
• "Je voudrais" (1912)
• "Attente (Au pays de provence)" (1914)

External links

• Template:Webarchive
• Template:IMSLP
• Free digital scores by Cécile Chaminade in the OpenScore Lieder Corpus
• Piano Rolls (The Reproducing Piano Roll Foundation)
• Template:AllMusic
• Stanford University Piano Roll Archive SUPRA [1]
• Template:Wikisource-inline