Louis François Marie Aubert (19 February 1877 – 9 January 1968) was a French composer.

Biography

Born in

Paramé Paramé ( br, Parame) is a former town and commune of France on the north coast of Brittany. Paramé merged with Saint-Servan to form the commune of Saint-Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, ...

Ille-et-Vilaine Ille-et-Vilaine (; br, Il-ha-Gwilen) is a department of France, located in the region of Brittany in the northwest of the country. It is named after the two rivers of the Ille and the Vilaine. It had a population of 1,079,498 in 2019.

, Louis Aubert was a

child prodigy A child prodigy is defined in psychology research literature as a person under the age of ten who produces meaningful output in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to young people who are extraor ...

. His parents, recognizing their son's musical talent, sent him to Paris to receive an education at an early age. He became recognised for his voice, primarily for his renditions of the ''Pie Jesu'' from

Gabriel Fauré Gabriel Urbain Fauré (; 12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers ...

Requiem A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

at the

Église de la Madeleine , other name = , native_name = , native_name_lang = French , image = Madeleine Paris.jpg , landscape = , imagesize = , caption = , imagelink ...

. The young Aubert met Fauré at the

Paris Conservatoire 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 ...

, and he regularly attended at his composition classes, which greatly influenced his development. Aubert became an excellent pianist. In 1911, he premiered

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...

's ''

Valses nobles et sentimentales The ''Valses nobles et sentimentales'' is a suite of waltzes composed by Maurice Ravel. The piano version was published in 1911, and an orchestral version was published in 1912. The title was chosen in homage to Franz Schubert, who had release ...

'', which were written for and dedicated to him. He also worked as a piano and composition teacher, both privately and on the faculty of 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 ...

. He counted among his students Henry Barraud,

Jean-Marie Beaudet Jean-Marie Beaudet (20 February 1908 – 19 March 1971) was a Canadian conductor, organist, pianist, radio producer, and music educator. He had a long career with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, serving variously as a music producer, progr ...

Jean Berger Jean Berger (; September 27, 1909 – May 28, 2002) was a German-born American pianist, composer, and music educator. He composed extensively for choral ensemble and solo voice. Early years Berger was born Arthur Schloßberg into a Jewish famil ...

, Marinus Flipse, and Georges Savaria. He composed music for the church, several

ballets Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

mélodie A ''mélodie'' () is a form of French art song, arising in the mid-19th century. It is comparable to the German ''Lied''. A ''chanson'', by contrast, is a folk or popular French song. The literal meaning of the word in the French language is "melod ...

s, and incidental music for the stage. Although

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

by birth at a time of intense

Breton nationalism Breton nationalism (Breton language, Breton: ''roadelouriezh Brezhoneg'', French language, French: ''nationalisme Breton'') is a form of Territorial nationalism, regional nationalism associated with the region of Brittany in France. The politic ...

, he was little inspired by his home region, although he was a founding member in 1912 of the Association des Compositeurs Breton. Aubert wrote popular songs, notably for

Marie Dubas Marie Dubas (3 September 1894 – 21 February 1972) was a French music-hall singer, diseuse and comedian. Biography Born in Paris, France, Marie Dubas began her career as a stage actress but became famous as a singer. Using the great Yvette Guilb ...

. He also contributed to the magazines ''Chantecler'', ''Paris-soir'', ''Le Journal'' and ''Opéra''. Aubert wrote one

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

in three acts based on classic fairy tales by

Charles Perrault Charles Perrault ( , also , ; 12 January 1628 – 16 May 1703) was an iconic French author and member of the Académie Française. He laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from earlier folk tales ...

to a libretto by J. Chenevière entitled ''La fôret bleue'' ("The Blue Forest"). The work was composed between 1904 and 1911, and individual acts were performed while the work was in progress. The first complete staged performance took place in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

on 7 January 1913. The enchanting characters and delightful plot enabled the work to achieve popular success in other theaters, including

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

later the same year. The work did not appear in Paris until 1924, where it was staged at the

Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief rival, the Comédie-Italienne ...

(Salle Favart). The opera was recorded for French radio in 1954, conducted by

Eugène Bigot Eugène Bigot (28 February 1888 – 17 July 1965) was a French composer and conductor. Life Bigot was born in Rennes, Brittany, and taught at the Conservatoire de Paris where his notable pupils included Émilien Allard, Louis de Froment, Henri ...

, with Raymond Malvasio,

Martha Angelici Martha Angelici (22 May 1907 – 11 September 1973), was a French operatic soprano of Corsican origin, particularly associated with the French lyric repertoire. Angelici was born in Cargèse. While still very young she moved with her family ...

, Claudine Collart,

Jacqueline Brumaire Jacqueline Brumaire (born Herblay, 5 November 1921, died in Nancy 29 October 2000) was a French operatic soprano and later teacher. Life and career After training at the Conservatoire de Paris under Madeleine Mathieu, she debuted on 13 October ...

Louis Noguéra Louis Noguéra was a French bass-baritone (born in Algiers on 12 October 1910, died in Paris on 8 March 1984 Kutsch, K. J. and Riemens, Leo (2003). ''Großes Sängerlexikon'' (fourth edition, in German). Munich: K. G. Saur, . .) who enjoyed a lon ...

and Lucien Lovano in the cast.Bade, Patrick. Rarissima - rescued by the internet, ''

Classical Recordings Quarterly ''Classical Recordings Quarterly'' (formerly ''Classic Record Collector'') was a quarterly British magazine devoted to vintage recordings of classical music, across the range of instrumental recordings, chamber music, orchestral, vocal and opera. ...

'', autumn 2014, no. 78, p. 4. Aubert died in Paris at age 90.

Publications

* ''L'Orchestre'' (Paris: PUF, 1951) * ''Notice sur la vie et les travaux de

Gustave Charpentier Gustave Charpentier (; 25 June 1860 – 18 February 1956) was a French composer, best known for his opera ''Louise''.Langham Smith R., "Gustave Charpentier", ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.'' Macmillan, London and New York, 1997. Life and ca ...

'' (Paris: Firmin-Didot, 1956)

Bibliography

*Richard Langham Smith: "Aubert, Louis(-François-Marie)", in: Sadie, Stanley (ed.): ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', vol. 1 (London & New York: Macmillan, 1994); . *

Louis Vuillemin Louis Vuillemin (19 December 1879 – 2 April 1929) was a French composer and music critic who strongly identified with his Breton heritage in his music. Life Vuillemin was born in Nantes, his grandfather was the piano manufacturer M. Didion. He s ...

: ''Louis Aubert et son œuvre'' (Paris: A. Durand, 1921) * R. Bernard: "L. Aubert", in: ''La Revue musicale'', VIII (1927) * article in the monthly periodical ''La Bretagne à Paris'' (June 1956) * * H. Corbes: "Louis Aubert, compositeur malouin", in: ''Bulletin de la Société d'Histoire et d'Archéologie de

Saint-Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast. The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Alli ...

'' (1981)

References

External links

Louis Aubert (1877-1968)
(includes list of main works) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aubert, Louis 1877 births 1968 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century French male classical pianists Breton musicians Conservatoire de Paris alumni French male classical composers French opera composers Male opera composers People from Saint-Malo Pupils of Gabriel Fauré