Paul Gilson (writer)

Paul Gilson (Brussels, 15 June 1865 – Brussels, 3 April 1942) was a Belgian musician and composer.

Biography

Paul Gilson was born in Brussels. In 1866, his family moved to Ruisbroek in the Belgian province of Brabant. There he studied theory with the organist and choir director Auguste Cantillon, and began writing works for orchestra and choir. His first official training came from 1887 to 1889 under François-Auguste Gevaert in composition and under Charles Duyck in harmony and counterpoint at the Brussels Conservatory, and in 1889, he was awarded the Belgian ''Prix de Rome'' for a cantata, ''Sinaï'', which was very well received. As the winner of the prize he was able to spend time in Bayreuth (1892), Paris (1893–4) and Italy (1895).

A large orchestral work, ''La mer'', which was first performed in Brussels on 20 March 1892, established Gilson as a national musical figure and also gave him success abroad, though not in Paris.

In 1899 he became professor of composition at the Brussels Conservatory; he won the same post at Antwerp in 1904 but quit both after becoming inspector of music education in 1909, a post he would keep until 1930. Although he was a very prolific composer, his output decreased after 1905, after which Gilson wrote increasingly about music, in theory, criticism, and composition.

In 1925, a group of Gilson's students who called themselves Les Synthétistes (including René Bernier, Francis de Bourguignon, Théo De Joncker, Marcel Poot, Maurice Schoemaker, Jules Strens and Robert Otlet) first formed, declaring allegiance to Gilson's ideas about music. Along with Poot and Schoemaker, he founded ''La revue belge musicale'' in 1924; he was the chief editor until it folded in 1939. He also wrote pamphlets for Belgian radio.

Gilson corresponded regularly with Russian composers César Cui and Mitrofan Belyayev. He died in his native city of Brussels.

Honours

* 1932 : commander in the Order of Leopold.

Music

Gilson was somewhat conservative in his musical outlook. Some of his work is indebted to Wagnerian harmony, and his books on harmony and instrumentation also bear this out.

''La Mer'', the score which gave him his greatest success, is a set of four impressionistic movements ("symphonic sketches") in sonata form which were originally intended to illustrate verses by a French-speaking poet, Eddy Levis. Generally considered to form a programmatic symphony depicting the sea, Gilson's score (also known as ''De Zee'') predated Claude Debussy's work of the same name by a decade. Despite being finely crafted, his later works such as the oratorio '' Francesca da Rimini'' tended to be somewhat conventional, lacking the originality displayed in the orchestration of ''La Mer''. An exception is the brilliant ''Variations symphoniques'' (originally scored for brass ensemble), which is also the composer's only major work without literary associations.

Works

For orchestra

* 1890 ''Alla Marcia'' rhapsody for string orchestra
* 1890 ''Rhapsodie à la marcia''
* 1892 ''La Mer'' 4 Symphonic sketches
*# Lever de soleil
*# Chants et danses de matelots
*# Crépuscule
*# Tempête
* 1892–1893 ''Mélodies écossaises'' for string orchestra
*# The Flowers Of The Forest
*# Sweet May Morning
*# Jig And Song
* 1900 ''Ouverture symphonique Nr. 1''
* ''Alvar''
*1902 ''Premier Concerto for Alto Saxophone''
*1902 ''Deuxième Concerto for Alto Saxophone''
* 1903 ''Variations symphoniques'' for large orchestra (adapted from the first version for brass ensemble)
* 1903 ''Ouverture symphonique Nr. 2''
* 1904 ''Ouverture symphonique No. 3''
* 1910 Inaugural Fanfare for the Coronation of Albert I
* 1929 ''Parafrazen op vlaamse volksliederen''
* ''Sailors Dance''

For wind orchestra

* 1891 ''Fantaisie canadienne'' (Published by Breitkopf & Härtel as ''Fantasie über kanadische Volksweisen'' in 1898)
* 1903 ''Variation symphonique'' for brass instruments
* 1892/1925 ''La Mer'' 4 Symphonic Sketches for wind orchestra transcribed by Arthur Prevost
*# Lever de soleil
*# Chants et danses de matelots
*# Crépuscule
*# Tempête
* 1930 ''Tornacum''
* 1930 ''Grande marche du Centenaire''
* 1948 ''Moeder'' for speaker and fanfare orchestra
* ''Binche''
* ''Brabant – marche militaire''
* ''Danse guerrière'' from the ballet ''La Captive''
* ''Deuxième rhapsodie''
* ''Deuxième valse symphonique''
* ''Encore un ! allegro''
* ''Epithalame''
* ''Gavotte Monsignore''
* ''Hommage à Weber''
* ''Interlude solennel''
* ''L'heureux voyage''
* ''Le retour au pays : Prière avant le départ''
* ''Marche commémorative''
* ''Marche cortège''
* ''Marche panégyrique''
* ''Merxem – Allegro militaire''
* ''Montréal – Allegro de concert''
* ''Ouverture »Eleusines«''
* ''Patrouille albanaise''
* ''Poème symphonique en forme d'ouverture''
* ''Polka fantaisiste''
* ''Rhapsodie laudative''
* ''Rhapsodie hawaïenne''
* ''Richard III'' Ouverture
* ''Terugkeer naar het vaderland''
* ''Triumph Marsch''
* ''Variations''
* ''Valse symphonique nr. 1''
* ''Valse symphonique nr. 2''
* ''Vestris – Danse mimique''
* ''Quarantenaire – Marche solennelle''

Stage works

* 1890 ''Le démon'' Dramatic cantata on a text by Lermontov in 2 acts for soloists, choir and orchestra
* 1892 ''Francesca da Rimini'' Dramatic oratorio based on a text by Dante for soloists, choir and orchestra
* 1895 ''Gens de mer (Zeevolk)'' Lyric drama in 2 acts
* 1896–1900 ''La captive'' Ballet in 2 acts
* 1903 ''Princesse Rayon de Soleil (Prinses Zonneschijn)'', légende féerique en quatre actes
* 1910 ''Les aventuriers (Rooversliefde)'' Musical drama in 1 act
* 1910–1921 ''Les deux bossus'', ballet-Pantomime in 1 Act
* 1940 ''Elijah'' Music for a play by Cyriel Verschaeve
* ''Daphné'' Ballett

Other works

* 1889–1890 ''Six mélodies''
* 1902 ''Petite suite rustique'' for piano
* 1934 ''Le mas d'Icare'' for a film by Carlo Queeckers for string orchestra
* 1926 ''Sonatina'' for carillon
* 1934–1936 ''Romantische werkjes''
* 1940 ''Aria di Timpani con 6 Variazioni''
* ''Suite nocturne'' for piano
* ''Six chansons écossaises'' based on a text by Leconte de Lisle

Arrangements

* ''Scheherazade'' arrangement of the symphonic suite by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov for solo piano

Books and writings

* 1913 ''Le Tutti orchestral''
* 1923 ''Traité de lecture musicale''
* 1923 ''Traité d'harmonie'' (3 Bände)
* 1926 ''Traité de musique militaire''
* ''Solfège – Cours complet de la lecture musicale en neuf volumes''
* 1942 ''Notes de musique et souvenirs'' (memoirs)
* 1955 Arthur Meulemans: ''Paul Gilson'' (1865–1942)

References

External links

*

Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel
now houses most works and manuscripts of Gilson, after the bankruptcy of CeBeDeM in 2015.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilson, Paul
1865 births
1942 deaths
19th-century classical composers
19th-century Belgian male musicians
20th-century classical composers
20th-century Belgian male musicians
Belgian classical composers
Belgian male classical composers
Composers for carillon
Concert band composers
Musicians from Brussels
Prix de Rome (Belgium) winners
Romantic composers
Royal Conservatory of Brussels alumni
Academic staff of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels