Henri Maréchal (22 January 1842 – 12 May 1924) was a French composer.

Life

Born in Paris, Maréchal studied music theory with Émile Chevé and

Édouard Batiste Édouard Batiste (28 March 1820 – 9 November 1876) was a French composer and organist. Career Batiste was born in Paris and studied at the Conservatory as a teenager, winning prizes in solfège, harmony In music, harmony is the process ...

and piano with Louis Chollet. On the advice of

Alexis de Castillon Marie-Alexis de Castillon de Saint-Victor (13 December 1838 – 5 March 1873) was a French composer. Life and career Born in Chartres into an old aristocratic family from Languedoc, his parents initially intended him to pursue a military caree ...

, he entered the composition class of

Victor Massé Victor Massé (born ''Félix-Marie Massé''; 7 March 1822 – 5 July 1884) was a French composer. Biography Massé was born in Lorient (Morbihan) and studied at the Paris Conservatoire, winning the Prix de Rome in 1844 for his cantata ''Le Rén� ...

at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

, where he also studied

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

with

François Benoist François Benoist (10 September 1794 – 6 May 1878) was a French organist, composer, and pedagogue. Benoist was born in Nantes. He took his first music lessons under Georges Scheuermann. Benoist studied music at the Conservatoire de Paris and ...

and

counterpoint In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...

with

Charles-Alexis Chauvet Charles-Alexis Chauvet (7 June 1837 – 29 January 1871) was a French organist and composer. Biography Born in Marines, Charles-Alexis Chauvet made his debut at the organ of St. Remi church in Marines, only 11 years old. He entered the Conse ...

. In 1870 he won the Premier Grand Prix de Rome with the

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of ...

''Le Jugement de Dieu'' . After the stay in the

villa Medici The Villa Medici () is a Mannerist villa and an architectural complex with a garden contiguous with the larger Borghese gardens, on the Pincian Hill next to Trinità dei Monti in Rome, Italy. The Villa Medici, founded by Ferdinando I de' Medici, ...

in Rome associated with the prize, he made his debut as a composer in Paris with the "poème sacré" ''La Nativité'' (1875). He then composed several operas, ballets and dramatic music, another "drame sacré", choral and orchestral works, songs,

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

pieces and

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Margar ...

s. His first opera ''Les Amoureux de Catherine'' was performed for the hundredth time in 1889 and was given until 1920. Maréchal's compositional style is often characterized by chromaticism, his musical expression simple, but dramatic and effective. He also wrote music-critical articles for ''

Le Figaro ''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French newspapers of reco ...

'' and published several volumes of Memories and in 1910 the ''Monographie universelle de l'Orphéon''.Henri Maréchal
on Musimen He corresponded with the composer Marguerite Olagnier. Maréchal died in Paris.

Selected works

*''La Nativité'', poème sacré, 1875 *''Les Amoureux de Catherine'', Opera, 1876 *''La Taverne des Trabans'', Opera, 1876 *''L'Ami Fritz'', theatrical music, 1876 *''L'Etoile'', Opera, 1881 *''Les Rantzau'', theatrical music, 1882 *''Les vivants et les mortes'' for four voices and orchestra, 1886 *''Le Miracle de Naïm'', drame sacré, 1887 *''Déidamie'', Opera, 1893 *''Calendal'', Opera, 1894 *''Esquisses vénitiennes'', "Suite symphonique" for Orchestra, 1894 *''Pin-Sin'', Opera, 1895 *''Daphnis et Chloé'', Opera, 1899 *''Le Lac des Aulnes'', Opera, 1907 *''Crime et châtiment'', theatrical music *''Rapsodie'' for violin and piano *''Elégie'' for viola and piano, *''Chansons du Midi'' for Choir *''Provence'' for Choir *''Le Voyage'' for Choir *''Agnus Dei'' three-part motet *''Kyrie'', three-part motet *''Ave verum'', motet for solo baritone *''O Salutaris'', motet

Writings

*''Rome: Souvenirs d'un musicien'' (1904) *''Paris: Souvenirs d'un musicien'' (1907) *''Monographie universelle de l'Orphéon'' (1910) *''Lettres et Souvenirs, 1871–1874'' (1920)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marechal, Henri 1842 births 1924 deaths 19th-century French male musicians 20th-century French male musicians Conservatoire de Paris alumni French ballet composers French male classical composers French opera composers French Romantic composers Musicians from Paris Prix de Rome for composition