René de Boisdeffre (3 April 1838 – 25 November 1906) was a French composer. He is the author of some 60 pieces 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 ...
as well as a few pieces for piano and vocal music.
General de Boisdeffre was his cousin.
Biographical sketch
Boisdeffre was born in
Vesoul
Vesoul () is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté located in eastern France.
It is the most populated municipality of the department with inhabitants in 2014. The same year, the Communauté d'agglo ...
, Département Haute Saône, into a family of military traditions and moved with his family to Paris in 1843. His musical education began with Charles Wagner (himself a pupil of P. J. G. Zimmermann) and was continued with
Auguste Barbereau
Mathurin Auguste Balthasar Barbereau (14 November 1799 – 14 July 1879) was a French composer and music theorist.
Barberau was born in Paris. He entered the Conservatoire de Paris in 1810 and received numerous prizes. He was awarded with the Pri ...
.
Quite conservative in his style, Boisdeffre owed much to
Gounod and
Massenet
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are ''Manon'' (1884) and ''Werther'' ...
in his vocal music, while his instrumental scores were influenced by
Lalo and
Saint-Saëns.
In May 1883, Boisdeffre was awarded the Prix Chartier for his chamber music.
He died in
Vézelise, Département Lorraine, aged 68.
Works
Instrumental music
* ''Premier recueil de trois romances sans paroles'' for piano, Op. 1
* ''Deuxième recueil de trois romances sans paroles'' for piano, Op. 2
* ''Sérénade'' for violin, organ and piano, Op. 5
* ''Mélodie'' in A major for viola and piano, Op. 6
* ''Deux Pièces'' for piano, Op. 7
* ''Scherzo-sérénade'' for two pianos, Op. 9
* Piano Trio No. 1 in B-flat major, Op. 10
* Piano Quintet in D minor, Op. 11
* Sonata No. 1 in A major for violin (or clarinet) and piano, Op. 12
* Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 13
* ''Marche religieuse'' for orchestra arranged for piano four hands, Op. 14
* ''Six Pièces'' for cello and piano, Op. 15
* ''Suite poétique'' for violin and piano, Op. 19
* ''Trois Pièces'' for clarinet (or violin) and piano, Op. 20
* ''Romance et canzonetta'' for violin and orchestra, Op. 21
* ''Suite romantique'' for violin and piano, Op. 24
* Piano Quintet in D major (piano, violin, viola, cello, double bass), Op. 25
* ''Trois Pièces'' for oboe and piano, Op. 26
* ''Trois Pièces'' for flute and piano, Op. 31
* Piano Trio No. 2 in G minor, Op. 32
* ''Berceuse'' for viola and piano, Op. 34
* ''Epithalame'' for violin, cello, harp and organ, Op. 36
* ''Méditation et cantilène'' for cello and piano, Op. 37
* ''Douze Morceaux de genre'' for piano, Op. 38
* ''Trois Pièces'' for clarinet (or viola) and piano, Op. 40 (1873)
* ''Suite orientale'' for cello (or violin) and piano, Op. 42
* Sextet No. 1 in B-flat major for piano, string quartet and double bass (ad. lib.), Op. 43
* ''Pièces symphoniques'' pour piano à quatre mains, Op. 44
* Septet in B-flat major for piano, flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon and double bass ad. lib., Op. 49
* Sonata No. 2 in E minor for violin and piano, Op. 50
* ''Lamento et chant d'automne'' for cello and piano, Op. 51
* ''Trois Pièces'' for trio with piano, Op. 54
* ''Rêverie'' for
viola d'amore
The viola d'amore (; Italian for "viol of love") is a 7- or 6- stringed musical instrument with sympathetic strings used chiefly in the baroque period. It is played under the chin in the same manner as the violin.
Structure and sound
The viol ...
(or violin, or viola, or cello) and string orchestra with harp or piano, Op. 55 (1890?)
* Suite for cello and piano, Op. 56
* Sonata in F major for cello and piano, Op. 63
* ''Trois Pièces'' for piano quartet (piano, violin, viola, cello), Op. 64
* Sonata No. 3 in G major for violin and piano, Op. 67
* ''2 Idylles'' for violin and piano, Op. 75
* ''Deux Pièces'' for violin and piano, Op. 77
* Sextet No. 2 in A minor for piano, string quartet and double bass, Op. 81
* ''Suite'' in D major for piano trio, Op. 83
* ''Sérénade'' for flute, violin and piano, Op. 85
* ''Scènes villageoises'' for oboe and piano, op. 86
* ''Poème pastoral'' for violin (or oboe), cello and piano, Op. 87
* ''Chant d'église'' for violin with organ or piano accompaniment, Op. 89 (c.1898)
* Piano Quartet No. 2 in E-flat major, Op. 91
* ''Trois Pièces pittoresques'' for cello and piano, Op. 93
Vocal music
* ''Six Mélodies'' for voice and piano, Op. 3
* ''O Salutaris'' for baritone, Op. 4
* ''Deux idylles'' for voice and piano, Op. 8
* ''Le Cantique des cantiques'' (Elie Cabrol), op. 16
* ''Les Martyrs'', sacred drama in three parts (Louis Gallet, inspired by
Chateaubriand), Op. 17
* ''Moïse sauvé des eaux'' (
Paul Collin
Paul Collin (12 July 1843 – 5 February 1915) was a French poet, writer, translator and librettist.
Life and career
Collin was born in Conches-en-Ouche. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, his family produced administrative officers in the mili ...
) for soloists and choir), Op. 18
* ''Latone'' (Paul Collin), for solo voice and choir, Op. 22
* ''Printemps d'amour'' (Paul Collin), Op. 23
* ''L'Abeille'' (Chantepie), choir for female voice and tenor, Op. 27
* ''Ewa la folle'' (Paul Collin) for solo voice and choirs, Op. 28
* ''Jeanne d'Arc prisonnière'' (Paul Collin) for soprano, Op. 29
* ''Six Mélodies'' for voice, Op. 30
* ''Les Saisons'' (Paul Collin) for female choir, Op. 35(?)
* ''Ave Maria'' for two voices with organ accompaniment, Op. 35
* ''Six Mélodies'' for voice, Op. 39
* ''Dans la forêt'' (Edouard Guinand), symphonic ode for solo voice and choir, Op. 41
* ''Six Mélodies'' for voice, Op. 45
* ''Les Lendemains de la vie'' (Edouard Guinand), ode for soloists and choir, Op. 46
Orchestral music
* ''Au bord d'un ruisseau'', sérénade champêtre for orchestra, Op. 52
Discography
*2016: Acte Préalable AP0362 – René de Boisdeffre - Works for violin and piano 1
*2017: Acte Préalable AP0379 – René de Boisdeffre - Works for flute and piano
*2017: Acte Préalable AP0401 – René de Boisdeffre - Works for viola and piano 1
*2017: Acte Préalable AP0402 – René de Boisdeffre - Works for viola and piano 2
*2018: Acte Préalable AP0414 – René de Boisdeffre - Choral Works
*2018: Acte Préalable AP0418 – René de Boisdeffre - Works for cello and piano
*2019: Acte Préalable AP0445 – René de Boisdeffre - Works for oboe and piano
*2019: Acte Préalable AP0446 – René de Boisdeffre - Works for piano trio
*2020: Acte Préalable AP0464 – René de Boisdeffre - Works for clarinet or cello and piano
*2020: Acte Préalable AP0478 – René de Boisdeffre - Works for violin, cello and piano
*2020: Acte Préalable AP0481 – René de Boisdeffre - Songs 1
*2021: Acte Préalable AP0482 – René de Boisdeffre - Songs 2
*2021: Acte Préalable AP0483 – René de Boisdeffre - Songs 3
*2021: Acte Préalable AP0513 – René de Boisdeffre - Works for violin and piano 2
*2021: Acte Préalable AP0515 – René de Boisdeffre - Piano Sextets
*2021: Acte Préalable AP0519 – René de Boisdeffre - Works for violin and piano 3
Bibliography
* François de Boisdeffre: ''Les Le Mouton'' (Paris, 2007).
* François Joseph Fétis: ''Biographie universelle des musiciens'' (Paris, 1867), vol. 8, p. 404.
* Hugues Imbert: ''Nouveaux profils de musiciens'' (Paris, 1892), pp. 3–42.
* Frédéric Robert: "Boisdeffre, René le Mouton de", in Ludwig Finscher (ed.): ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', biographical part vol. 3 (Kassel: Bärenreiter, 2000), col. 275–276.
References
External links
René de Boisdeffre sur ''Musica et memoria''*
Partitions de René de Boisdeffreon
Gallica
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boisdeffre, Rene
1838 births
1906 deaths
19th-century classical composers
French male classical composers
French Romantic composers
People from Vesoul
19th-century French male musicians
20th-century French male musicians