Portrait de Marie-Léontine Bordes-Pène, par Jacques-Émile Blanche

Marie-Léontine Bordes-Pène (Léontine-Marie Pène) was a notable French pianist, who premiered major works by

César Franck César-Auguste Jean-Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in modern-day Belgium. He was born in Liège (which at the time of his birth was p ...

Vincent d'Indy Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy (; 27 March 18512 December 1931) was a French composer and teacher. His influence as a teacher, in particular, was considerable. He was a co-founder of the Schola Cantorum de Paris and also taught at the P ...

and others. She married a brother of the composer

Charles Bordes Anne-Marie Charles Bordes-Bonjean (12 May 1863 – 8 November 1909) was a French music teacher and composer. Timeline Bordes was born in La Roche-Corbon, Indre-et-Loire. He studied pianoforte with Antoine François Marmontel and composition wit ...

, and was known by the surname Bordes-Pène thereafter. Eric Blom, ed., ''

Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the History of music, ...

,'' 5th ed. (1954), Vol. I, p. 814Musicologie.org
/ref> In 1889-91, the painter

Jacques Émile Blanche Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over ...

painted her portrait.

Biography

Marie-Léontine Pène was born in

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

on 25 November 1858. She studied 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 ...

, gaining first prize in playing the piano in 1872. Her teachers included

Félix Le Couppey Félix Le Couppey, Lithography by Marie-Alexandre Alophe ">Marie-Alexandre_Alophe.html" ;"title="Lithography by Marie-Alexandre Alophe">Lithography by Marie-Alexandre Alophe Félix Le Couppey (14 April 1811 – 4 July 1887) was a French music te ...

. On 16 December 1886, in Brussels, Bordes-Pène was the co-performer, along with the dedicatee

Eugène Ysaÿe Eugène-Auguste Ysaÿe (; 16 July 185812 May 1931) was a Belgian virtuoso violinist, composer, and conductor. He was regarded as "The King of the Violin", or, as Nathan Milstein put it, the "tsar". Legend of the Ysaÿe violin Eugène Ysaÿe ...

, in the premiere public performance of

's Violin Sonata in A major, which began early evening, being the finale to a long program that started at 3 pm. However, the gallery in which the performance took place permitted no artificial lighting for fear of damaging the paintings. Hence, the artists played most of the sonata in the dark and from memory. Also in 1886, in Paris, she was the soloist at the first performance of

's ''

Symphony on a French Mountain Air The Symphony on a French Mountain Air (french: Symphonie sur un chant montagnard français ), Op. 25, is written in 1886 by Vincent d'Indy. As indicated by the title, d'Indy took the principal theme from a folk song he heard at Périer overlooki ...

,'' which was dedicated to her. In 1888,

Pierre de Bréville Pierre Eugène Onfroy de Bréville (21 February 1861 – 24 September 1949) was a French composer. Biography Pierre de Bréville was born in Bar-le-Duc, Meuse (department), Meuse. Following the wishes of his parents, he studied law with the goal ...

dedicated his ''Fantasie'' to her. Franck also dedicated his ''Prelude, aria et finale'' to her, which she premiered on 12 May 1888. She championed other new French piano music, by composers such as

Emmanuel Chabrier Alexis-Emmanuel Chabrier (; 18 January 184113 September 1894) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and pianist. His Bourgeoisie, bourgeois family did not approve of a musical career for him, and he studied law in Paris and then worked ...

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 ...

, Henri Duparc,

Ernest Chausson Amédée-Ernest Chausson (; 20 January 1855 – 10 June 1899) was a French Romantic composer who died just as his career was beginning to flourish. Life Born in Paris into an affluent bourgeois family, Chausson was the sole surviving child of a ...

, her brother-in-law

and others. In 1890, a stroke left her paralysed,PianoWomen
/ref> and she retired to teach in

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

where she died on 24 January 1924, aged 65.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bordespene, Marieleontine 1858 births 1924 deaths 19th-century French women classical pianists French music educators Piano pedagogues Musicians from Lorient Women music educators