Édouard Henri Devernay Jnr. (8 November 1889 – 5 July 1952) was a French musician, composer and

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

who held the position of ''organiste titulaire'' of the great organ of Notre-Dame-des-Victoires in

Trouville-sur-Mer Trouville-sur-Mer (, literally ''Trouville on Sea''), commonly referred to as Trouville, is a city of 4,603 inhabitants in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. Trouville-sur-Mer borders Deauville across the ...

Calvados Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples and/or pears. History In France Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Norman distillation was ma ...

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

Biography

Born in

Roubaix Roubaix ( , ; ; ; ) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial Communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, depar ...

, Devernay was the son of Édouard Joseph (8 April 1854 in Roubaix – 13 May 1906

ibid. Ibid. or ib. is an abbreviation for the Latin word '' ibīdem'', meaning , commonly used in an endnote, footnote, bibliography citation, or scholarly reference to refer to the source cited in the preceding note or list item. This is similar to ...

) and Hortense-Coralie Devernay (née Lefebvre; 14 November 1857 in Roubaix). He began his musical studies at the Roubaix conservatoire where he obtained the First Prizes in

solfège In music, solfège (British English or American English , ) or solfeggio (; ), also called sol-fa, solfa, solfeo, among many names, is a mnemonic used in teaching aural skills, Pitch (music), pitch and sight-reading of Western classical music, W ...

, piano, harmony and

counterpoint In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. The term originates from the Latin ...

in the class of

Julien Koszul Julien Koszul (4 December 1844 – 15 January 1927) was a French composer and pipe organist from Alsace. Biography Born in Morschwiller-le-Bas, Alsace, Koszul studied at the École Niedermeyer de Paris with Camille Saint-Saëns, together with Gab ...

. He then joined the organ class of the

Royal Conservatory of Brussels The Royal Conservatory of Brussels (, ) is a historic conservatory in Brussels, Belgium. Starting its activities in 1813, it received its official name in 1832. Providing performing music and drama courses, the institution became renowned par ...

. In 1912, the village of Trouville-sur-Mer opened auditions for the position of titular organist of the Notre-Dame-des-Victoires church; and he was appointed. He then came to settle in Normandy. Wounded at

Verdun Verdun ( , ; ; ; official name before 1970: Verdun-sur-Meuse) is a city in the Meuse (department), Meuse departments of France, department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. In 843, the Treaty of V ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he composed his first symphony for organ: ''Marche pour la Victoire'' during his convalescence. In 1931, he won the First Prize in

musical composition Musical composition can refer to an Originality, original piece or work of music, either Human voice, vocal or Musical instrument, instrumental, the musical form, structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new pie ...

of the

SACEM The Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers of Music or SACEM () is a French professional association collecting payments of artists’ rights and distributing the rights to the original songwriters, composers, and music publisher A mus ...

for a lyrical drama, ''Au temps du bon Roy Henri''. He died in Trouville on 5 July 1952. He was the uncle of Yves Devernay.

Compositions

* Organ pieces ** 2 Symphonies ** 1 suite ** Various pieces * Pieces for piano ** ''Cloches d'octobre'' ** ''Cortège rustique des Moissonneurs'' * Vocal works ** Mass for 4 voices ** Three poems by Baudelaire: ''Recueillement'', ''Paysage'', ''Brume et Pluie'' ** Mélodies on verses by

Albert Samain Albert Victor Samain (3 April 185818 August 1900) was a French poet and writer of the Symbolist school. Life and works Born in Lille, his family were Flemish and had long lived in the town or its suburbs. At the time of the poet's birth, his ...

Paul Verlaine Paul-Marie Verlaine ( ; ; 30 March 1844 – 8 January 1896) was a French poet associated with the Symbolism (movement), Symbolist movement and the Decadent movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the ''fin de siècle'' ...

Théophile Gautier Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier ( , ; 30 August 1811 – 23 October 1872) was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and art and literary critic. While an ardent defender of Romanticism, Gautier's work is difficult to classify and rema ...

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

* Opérettas: ** ''Monette et ses cousins'', Operetta in 3 acts on a libretto by Yvandré ** ''le Soleil de Bali'' * Lyrical: ** ''Au temps du bon Roy Henri'', lyrical drama in 1 act

Discography

* Yves Devernay at the grandes orgues de la Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris - CD Mitra Digital Réf: 16 214: ''Miracle de la Tempête'' (Édouard Devernay) * Édouard and Yves Devernay at Trouville - CD Phyllomène Réf.: 2010091507/1 - Nicole and Mathilde Marodon Cavaillé-Coll, Jacques Vandeville (organ, singing, oboe)

Bibliography

* Athena sur la Touques n° 97 (Sept 1988): Trouville 1914. "Cahiers" written for his family during his stay at the military hospital of Lyon in November 1916. * Athena sur la Touques n° 181 (Sept 2009) : Édouard Devernay, compositeur et organiste à Trouville (Claude Baumann)

External links

Association des Amis des Orgues de Trouville

Association des amis du Musée de Trouville et du passé régional

''Le Miracle de la Tempête'' by Édouard Devernay by Nicole Marodon Cavaillé-Coll
on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Devernay, Edouard French classical organists 20th-century French composers French male composers Royal Conservatory of Brussels alumni 1889 births People from Roubaix Musicians from Nord (French department) 1952 deaths 20th-century French organists 20th-century French male musicians French male classical organists