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
Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...
, his grandfather was the piano manufacturer M. Didion. He studied cello and composition at the conservatory of Nantes and continued 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 ...
, 1899–1904, with
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 ...
(composition) and
Xavier Leroux
Xavier Henry Napoleón Leroux (11 October 1863 – 2 February 1919) was a French composer and a teacher at the Paris Conservatory. He was married to the famous soprano Meyrianne Héglon (1867–1942).
Life
Born in Italy at Velletri, 30 k ...
(harmony).
He married young; his wife Lucy was a renowned singer at the time, and he collaborated with her in writing his vocal music. In 1912, he was one of the founding members of the Paris-based
Association de Compositeurs Bretons. Drafted to World War I, he was severely wounded in a gas attack which is said to have cut short his life.
[De Bellaing (1992), p. 250.]
As a music critic, Vuillemin wrote numerous reviews for ''Comœdia'', ''Musica'', ''Le Courrier musical'', ''Paris-Soir'', ''La Lanterne'', etc. He also wrote biographies of Gabriel Fauré (1914),
Louis Aubert
Louis François Marie Aubert (19 February 1877 – 9 January 1968) was a French composer.
Biography
Born in Paramé, Ille-et-Vilaine, Louis Aubert was a child prodigy. His parents, recognizing their son's musical talent, sent him to Paris to rec ...
(1921), and
Albert Roussel
Albert Charles Paul Marie Roussel (; 5 April 1869 – 23 August 1937) was a French composer. He spent seven years as a midshipman, turned to music as an adult, and became one of the most prominent French composers of the interwar period. His ...
(1924).
Music
Vuillemin wrote in many genres including two operas, orchestral and chamber music, vocal and piano music. He attracted some attention for the Breton-influenced ''Soir armoricains'' for piano, one of many examples in which he attempted to capture the spirit of his native region. ''En Kernéo'' is another example which exists in a number of instrumentations. In these, he often used elements of Breton traditional music. An admirer of
Debussy
(Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...
and
Ravel
Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...
, he set such melodies to an
Impressionistic
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
harmonic language.
Selected compositions
Stage
*''Le Double voile'' (René Fauchois), drame lyrique in 1 act (2 scenes) (1908–09)
*''Cache-cache'', operetta, 3 acts
*''Yolaine''
*''Danses de Sylla'', ballet (1912)
Orchestra
*''Quatre Danses'', Op. 16 (1924)
*''Cortège d'athlètes'' (1924)
*''Aubade'' (1925)
*''En Kernéo (En Cornouailles)'' (1925)
*''Épilogue'' (1928)
*''Les Pêcheurs en goguette'' (1931)
Chamber music
*''Deux Pièces'', for cello and piano (1900)
*''Pour se distraire'', for piano 4-hands (1908)
*''Trois Bluettes faciles'', for piano 4-hands (1908)
*''En Kernéo (En Cornouailles)'', Op. 23 (1922)
Piano
*''Soirs armoricains. Études d'après nature'', Op. 21 (1913–18)
*''Quatre Valses légères'', Op. 22 (1921)
*''En Kernéo (En Cornouailles)'', Op. 23 (1922)
*''Danse bucolique'' (1923)
*''Trois Préludes'' (published 1948)
Vocal
For voice and piano, if not otherwise mentioned.
*''Romance'' (1898)
*''Adieu''. Pastourelle (Jacques Patissou) (1900)
*''Jane'' (Charles Leconte de Lisle) (1900)
*''Rieuse'' (André d'Hormon) (1901)
*''Chanson dolente'' (André d'Hormon) (1902)
*''Chanson lasse'' (André d'Hormon), for voice and orchestra (1902)
*''Le Portrait'' (Léon Dierx) (1902)
*''Ma Cigale'' (Jean Marcel) (1902)
*''Romance'' (Edmond Haraucourt) (1902)
*''Rondels mélancoliques'' (Catulle Mendès) (1909)
*''Les Rêves'' (René Fauchois) (1910)
*''Les Petiots'', voice and orchestra (1909)
*''Nocturne'' (Léo Larguier), for vocal quartet, string quartet, piano (1912)
*''Deux Lieds'' (André Hormon): 1. ''Présents''; 2. ''Retour'' (1912)
*''Crépuscule'' (1912)
*''Pendant l'attente'' (1912)
*''Rondels mélancoliques'' (1913)
*''Rondel sur une joueuse de flûte'' (André d'Hormon) (1922)
*''La Route'' (Henry Montassier), for voice, violin or cello, piano (1929)
Bibliography
*Véfa de Bellaing (ed.): ''Dictionnaire des compositeurs de musique en Bretagne'' (Nantes: Ouest Éditions, 1992); ; p. 250–251.
*Mikael Bodlore-Penlaez & Aldo Ripoche: ''Musique classique bretonne / Sonerezh klasel Breizh'' (Spézet: Éditions Coop Breizh, 2012); ); p. 82–85.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vuillemin, Louis
1879 births
1929 deaths
20th-century French composers
Breton musicians
Conservatoire de Paris alumni
French classical composers
French male classical composers
French music critics
French opera composers
Male opera composers
Musicians from Nantes
Pupils of Gabriel Fauré
19th-century French male musicians
Writers from Nantes