Lucien Durosoir (1878 – 5 December 1955) was a French

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and violinist whose works were rediscovered thanks to manuscripts found by his son Luc. Durosoir studied the violin with Joseph Joachim and Hugo Heermann in Germany before his first tour as a young

virtuoso A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'' or , "virtuous", Late Latin ''virtuosus'', Latin ''virtus'', "virtue", "excellence" or "skill") is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as ...

in 1899. In addition to giving the first performances of French music in Austria-Hungary and Germany ( Saint-Saëns, Fauré, Lalo, Widor, Bruneau), he also gave the French premiere of the Strauss violin

concerto A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The typi ...

in 1901. His career as a violinist was cut short by World War I. Durosoir served in the Fifth Division, which took part in some of the bloodiest battles of the war ( Douaumont, the Chemin des Dames, and Eparges). At the encouragement of General Mangin, Durosoir formed a

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...

with his fellow soldiers Henri Lemoine (second violin), André Caplet ( viola), and

Maurice Maréchal Maurice Maréchal (3 October 1892 – 19 April 1964) was a French classical cellist. Maurice Maréchal was born in Dijon at the home of his parents, Jules Jacques Maréchal, an employee for Posts and Telegraphs, and Martha Justine Morier. Afte ...

( cello). After his demobilization in February, 1919, he began to compose at his home in southwest France. For the next thirty years he composed a host of works, including three string quartets, (1920, 1922 and 1933–34) a large piano sonata (Le Lys, 1921), a

piano quintet In classical music, a piano quintet is a work of chamber music written for piano and four other instruments, most commonly a string quartet (i.e., two violins, viola, and cello). The term also refers to the group of musicians that plays a pian ...

(1925), an orchestral suite (Funérailles, 1930), and about twenty-five works of

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 ...

for various instrumental combinations. Isolated from Parisian musical trends, Durosoir forged a very personal style in the Romantic tradition, but with unusual features such as polyrhythms. In 1922 André Caplet wrote, "I will talk with enthusiasm to all my friends about your quartet, which I find a thousand times more interesting than anything with which the noisy group of newcomers overwhelms us." From 1950 onwards illness prevented him from continuing to compose and he died in December 1955.

Concert violinist

At the age of 14, Lucien Durosoir enrolled in

Conservatoire Supérieur 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 studied with

Henri Berthelier Henri Berthelier (real name Jean-Baptiste, 27 December 1856 – 1918) was a French classical violinist and pedagogue. Biography Born in Limoges, Berthelier graduated from the Conservatoire de Paris, where he was a pupil of Jean-Pierre Mauri ...

; however, after several months he was expelled for insolence toward its director, Ambroise Thomas. Durosoir continued his violin studies privately with Berthelier while at the same time learning composition with Charles Tournemire. In 1898, Edouard Colonne engaged him as first chair violinist for his Orchestra of the Concerts Colonne. He went to Germany, where he perfected his technique and interpretive skill under the violinists Joseph Joachim and Hugo Heermann. Starting in 1900, he undertook concert tours extending to central Europe, Russia, Germany, and the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

. There he played, for the first time, the violin repertory of contemporary French composers such as Saint-Saëns, Lalo, Widor and Bruneau, and in Vienna in 1910, he premiered the Sonata in A Major for Violin and Piano by

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 ...

. While on tour in France he premiered modern German and Danish masterpieces: * Niels Gade's Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 56 at the Salle Pleyel in 1899 *

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...

's Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op.8 His performances were all met with favorable reviews: *"captivates the public by the loftiness and spirit of his playing" (Neue Freie Press, 11 January 1910) *"all of these pieces were performed with the same nobility and beauty of execution"' (Wiener Mittags-Zeitung, 28 January 1910) *"He displayed, in the concerto of Max Bruch, the rarest qualities of sonority and musicality, and in the Dvořák concerto an astonishing style and virtuosity... Monsieur Lucien Durosoir, in this lovely performance, ranks among the foremost virtuosos of his time." (Le Figaro, 19 May 1904) eference: ''Les Archives biographiques contemporaines'' (Paris, sd. [vers 1911, p. 219-220. Posters and concert programs from the Durosoir family archives, Bélus, France]

Military service in World War I

When World War I broke out, Durosoir was 36. After a year fighting in the trenches, he became a stretcher-bearer and awaited nightfall before venturing out to collect the wounded. Durosoir came to the attention of General Mangin, a great music lover, who recruited him, along with the composer André Caplet and the young cellist

, to form a chamber music ensemble. The trio played for funeral services, for guests (such as visiting English officers and, more rarely, civilians) in the general's quarters, and in the barracks for the soldiers’ entertainment. Their concerts featured all kinds of arrangements of orchestral works for piano and solo instruments. During this time the duties of Durosoir and Caplet also included caring for the

carrier pigeons The homing pigeon, also called the mail pigeon or messenger pigeon, is a variety of domestic pigeons (''Columba livia domestica'') derived from the wild rock dove, selective breeding, selectively bred for its ability to find its way home over e ...

. The three spent these terrible years together, and their friendship was sealed in the trenches as well as in their music-making. The inspiration to compose increasingly seized Durosoir's imagination. He acquired scores and studied the style of Brahms, Beethoven, Haydn, and others. In 1915 Emma Debussy sent him

Claude 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 ...

Études Études is French for "studies". It is used as a name for several music or dance works, including: * ''Études'' (Chopin), three sets of studies for the piano by Frédéric Chopin, composed between 1829 and 1839 * ''Études'' (Debussy), a set of 1 ...

. Durosoir and Caplet were examining these when six bombs fell around their building. Thinking ahead to the end of the war, Durosoir wrote on 12 September 1916, "I begin to compose so as to become accustomed to managing the freer forms, and my efforts, I am convinced, will be fruitful." During the periods of repose from his duties in the trenches, he continued his study of

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 ...

and

fugue In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...

with exercises "corrected" by André Caplet. eference: ''Deux musiciens dans la Grande Guerre'' (Paris, Tallandier-Radio France, 2005; Mangin (Général), Lettres de guerre, 1914-1918 (Paris, Fayard, 1950)

Composer

Durosoir returned to civilian life in February 1919. In 1921, the

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...

offered him the position of first chair violin. He accepted, and was on the point of leaving when an accident prevented his departure, and he had to give up his career as a violinist. From then until his death, he lived in retirement far from Paris and its artistic circles. On the basis of his academic work, reinforced by his personal study of scores and compositional exercises, he began composing, and crafted an individual and bold musical style independent from the mainstream. His works display neither perceptible influences nor overtly stated references. Nearly all of his works are headed by a quotation of contemporary poetry, or by a prose quotation of a philosophical nature. André Caplet wrote to him in 1922: "I will speak with enthusiasm to all my associates of your quartet, which find many times more interesting than all the products with which the group of flashy newcomers overwhelm us." Lucien Durosoir composed around forty unpublished works, including pieces for varied ensembles, symphonic works and chamber music: string quartets, sonatas, trios, short piano works, numerous pieces for piano and solo instruments. After 1950, illness prevented him from composing, and he died in December 1955.

Works

Thanks to his son Luc Durosoir and Luc's wife Georgie, a renowned

musicology Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

professor at the Sorbonne, Durosoir's works have been published and the MEGEP chamber music competition was founded to encourage the revival of the genre. A book of Durosoir's letters has been published to much acclaim in France, and interest in the music is increasing amongst musicologists, performers and pedagogues. As a result of his intentional isolation from the Parisian musical trends of the time, Durosoir's compositions have a unique character. While not outwardly programmatic, they are often preceded by some verses of poetry which serve as a threshold into his highly personal world of expression. His style is a lean and spare one that is marked by solid construction, sudden contrasts and avoidance of gratuitous ornament. Tonal with a harmonic palette enriched by non-chord tones and altered scales, the music shows a strong need for resolution that occasionally veers off toward regions of atonality. Similarly, the constraints imposed by regular meter are cast off by means of frequent metric changes and tempo alterations. Durosoir shows great imagination in the area of musical texture and the use of extended performance techniques ( con sordino, sul ponticello, col legno, ricochet, harmonics), and consequently expressive indications are encountered in each melodic line. In short, the music of Lucien Durosoir avoids categorization with many of the "ism" labels (i.e.: impressionism,

neoclassicism Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism was ...

) that are commonly applied to music of the early twentieth century.

Orchestral works

* Poème for violin and viola with orchestra, 1920 * Déjanira, symphonic étude based on a fragment from Trakhiniennes by Sophocles, 1923 * Le balcon, poème symphonique for bass solo, chorus, and strings, 1924 * Funérailles, suite for orchestra, 1930 * Suite for flute and chamber orchestra, 1931

Chamber works

* Cinq aquarelles for violin and piano (Bretagne, Vision, Ronde *, Berceuse *, Intermède), 1920; these two movements are also transcribed for violoncello and piano * Poème transcribed for violin solo, viola solo, and piano * String Quartet No. 1 in F Minor, 1920 * Caprice for violoncello and harp, 1921 * Jouvence, fantasy for principal violin and string octet, 1921 ; this work is also transcribed for violin and piano * Le Lys, sonata in A Minor for violin and piano, 1921 * String Quartet No. 2 in D Minor, 1922 * Rêve for violin and piano, 1925 * Quintet in F Major for piano and string quartet, 1925 * Idylle for wind quartet : flute, clarinet, horn in F, bassoon, 1925 * Oisillon bleu, brief poème for violin and piano, 1927 * Trio en Si mineur for violin, violoncello, and piano, 1927 * Divertissement, Maiade et Improvisation, 3 pieces for violoncello and piano, 1931 * String Quartet No. 3 in B Minor 933-1934* Vitrail, piece for viola and piano, 1934 * Berceuse for flute and piano, 1934 * Au vent des Landes for flute and piano, 1935 * Fantaisie for horn, harp and piano, 1937 * Incantation bouddhique for English horn and piano, 1946 * Prière à Marie for violin and piano, 1949 * Chant élégiaque in memory of Ginette Neveu, for violin and piano, 1950 * Improvisation sur la gamme d’ut for melodic instrument and piano, 1950

Vocal

* Sonnet à un enfant for voice and piano, 1930 * A ma mère, for voice and piano (unfinished), 1950

Piano

* Légende, 1923 * Aube, Sonate d’été, 1926 * Nocturne pour piano, 1950

Two pianos

* Prélude, Interlude Fantaisie pour deux pianos, 1932

Harmonium and organ

* Trois préludes (two harmonium, one for organ), 1945

References

The MEGEP (Musiciens entre Guerre et Paix) Chamber Music Competition in ParisDurosoir: Music for Violin & Piano - Geneviève Laurenceau, violin Stradivarius de 1682; Lorène de Ratuld. piano Steinway 1982
*''Deux musiciens dans la Grande Guerre''. Paris, Tallandier-Radio France, 2005 (358 pp.).

External links

*http://personal.utulsa.edu/~john-powell/Lucien_Durosoir_Musique_pour_violon_et_piano/Track_1.mp3, Audio clip - Le Lys, sonata in A Minor for violin and piano. *http://personal.utulsa.edu/~john-powell/Lucien_Durosoir_Musique_pour_violon_et_piano/Mvt1.htm - Music score. {{DEFAULTSORT:Durosoir, Lucien 1878 births 1955 deaths Musicians from Boulogne-Billancourt French composers French male composers 20th-century French violinists 20th-century male musicians French male classical violinists French military personnel of World War I