Joseph-Ermend Bonnal (1 July 1880 – 14 August 1944); also ''Ermend-Bonnal'', alias ''Guy Marylis'') was a French composer and organist. Ermend-Bonnal received initial musical instruction from his father, a violinist. He then studied piano 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 ...

under

Charles-Wilfrid de Bériot Charles-Wilfrid de Bériot (12 February 183322 October 1914) was a French pianist, teacher and composer. He was born in Paris in 1833, the son of the violinist Charles Auguste de Bériot and his then common-law wife, the famed soprano Maria Mal ...

, harmony under

Antoine Taudou Antoine-Barthélémy Taudou (24 August 1846 – 6 July 1925) was a French music educator, violinist and composer. Life Born in Perpignan, Taudou studied at the Conservatoire de Paris and won the Premier Grand Prix de Rome in 1869 with the cantata ...

, composition under Gabriel Fauré and organ under Alexandre Guilmant and

Louis Vierne Louis Victor Jules Vierne (8 October 1870 – 2 June 1937) was a French organist and composer. As the organist of Notre-Dame de Paris from 1900 until his death, he focused on organ music, including six organ symphonies and a '' Messe solennelle ...

. He also assisted

Charles-Marie Widor Charles-Marie-Jean-Albert Widor (21 February 1844 – 12 March 1937) was a French organist, composer and teacher of the mid-Romantic era, most notable for his ten organ symphonies. His Toccata from the fifth organ symphony has become one of th ...

at Saint-Sulpice, Albert Périlhou at Saint-Séverin and

Charles Tournemire Charles Arnould Tournemire (22 January 1870 – 3 or 4 November 1939) was a French composer and organist, notable partly for his improvisations, which were often rooted in the music of Gregorian chant. His compositions include eight symphoni ...

at the Basilica of St. Clotilde. In 1901, Ermend-Bonnal was appointed Organist at Saint-Médard, and subsequently at Notre Dame in

Boulogne-sur-Seine Boulogne-Billancourt (; often colloquially called simply Boulogne, until 1924 Boulogne-sur-Seine, ) is a wealthy and prestigious commune in the Parisian area, located from its centre. It is a subprefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department and ...

. In 1920, he was offered a professorship in organ at the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (french: Université de Strasbourg, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. The French university traces its history to the ea ...

. However, he decided instead to accept a position as director of the Bayonne Conservatory, which he held until 1941. His most famous student was the composer Maurice Ohana. In 1942, he succeeded his teacher Tournemire at the Cavaillé-Coll Organ at Basilica of St. Clotilde. The focus of Ermend-Bonnal's musical output is organ music (''Paysages Euskariens'', 1930; ''Media Vita'', organ symphony, 1932). However, he also wrote in all other musical genres, ranging from children's pieces for piano to symphonies. Of his chamber music, two string quartets and a string trio especially deserve mention. He also wrote

Ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott J ...

s, One Steps and Tangos under the pseudonym ''Guy Marylis''. Ermend-Bonnal had six Children. Children that are still living today are Marylis Raoul-Duval, the eldest; Mayette Bonnal, and Francoise Bonnal, the youngest. Palay, Rataboul are some of the successors today.

External links

* * Rollin Smith
Louis Vierne: Organist of Notre-Dame Cathedral
Pendragon Press, 1999, p. 184
Site of the Ermend Bonnal Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonnal, Joseph Ermend 1880 births 1944 deaths Musicians from Bordeaux Conservatoire de Paris alumni French classical organists French male organists French classical composers French male classical composers Composers for pipe organ Organ improvisers 20th-century classical composers 20th-century organists 20th-century French composers 20th-century French male musicians Male classical organists