Joseph Michel Sylvain Dupuis (; 9 October 1856 – 28 September 1931) was a Belgian conductor, composer,

oboist An oboist (formerly hautboist) is a musician who plays the oboe or any oboe family instrument, including the oboe d'amore, cor anglais or English horn, bass oboe and piccolo oboe or oboe musette. The following is a list of notable past and pres ...

, and

music educator Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do original ...

Life

Born in Liège, Dupuis was trained at the

Royal Conservatory of Liège Royal Conservatoire of Liège The Royal Conservatoire of Liège (RCL) (French Conservatoire royal de Liège, Dutch Koninklijk Conservatorium Luik) is one of four conservatories in the French Community of Belgium that offers higher education cour ...

. After graduating in 1878, he was appointed to that school's faculty as a professor of harmony. In 1911 he succeeded Jean-Théodore Radoux as the director of the conservatory. Among his notable pupils were

Charles Houdret Charles Houdret (6 July 1905 – 1965) was a Canadian conductor, cellist, radio producer, and composer. He began his career in Belgium and was highly active as a conductor throughout Europe during the 1940s. In 1952 he immigrated to Canada where ...

and

Joseph Jongen Joseph Marie Alphonse Nicolas Jongen (14 December 1873 – 12 July 1953) was a Belgian organist, composer, and music educator. Biography Jongen was born in Liège, where his parents had moved from Flanders. On the strength of an amazing precocity ...

. Dupuis worked actively as a composer during the early part of his career, but later became more heavily involved in his work as an

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

conductor and music teacher. As a result, the majority of his works date from before 1900. In 1879 he won the Belgian Prix de Rome for his cantata ''Le Chant de la Création''. In the 1880s he composed two operas, ''Moîna'' and ''Coûr d'ognon''. His other compositions include several secular cantatas, the symphonic poem ''Macbeth'', a concertino for oboe and orchestra, a number of choral works, and music for solo organ, piano, violin and cello. In 1890 Dupuis was appointed to the conducting staff at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, and in 1900 he assumed the role of principal conductor at that house. He notably conducted that opera house's first productions of ''

Götterdämmerung ' (; ''Twilight of the Gods''), WWV 86D, is the last in Richard Wagner's cycle of four music dramas titled (''The Ring of the Nibelung'', or ''The Ring Cycle'' or ''The Ring'' for short). It received its premiere at the on 17 August 1876, as ...

'' (13 January 1891), ''

Die Entführung aus dem Serail ' () ( K. 384; ''The Abduction from the Seraglio''; also known as ') is a singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German libretto is by Gottlieb Stephanie, based on Christoph Friedrich Bretzner's ''Belmont und Constanze, oder Di ...

'' (15 February 1902), ''

Tosca ''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1887 French-language drama ...

'' (2 April 1904), '' Alceste'' (14 December 1904), ''

La damnation de Faust ''La damnation de Faust'' (English: ''The Damnation of Faust''), Op. 24 is a work for four solo voices, full seven-part chorus, large children's chorus and orchestra by the French composer Hector Berlioz. He called it a "''légende dramatique'' ...

'' (21 February 1906), '' Les Troyens'' (27 December 1906), '' Salome'' (26 March 1907), '' Fortunio'' (4 January 1908), '' Ariane et Barbe-bleue'' (2 January 1909), '' Madama Butterfly'' (29 October 1909), '' Elektra'' (26 May 1910), ''

Feuersnot ' (''Need for (or lack of) fire)'', Op. 50, is a ''Singgedicht'' (sung poem) or opera in one act by Richard Strauss. The German libretto was written by Ernst von Wolzogen, based on J. Ketel's report "Das erloschene Feuer zu Audenaerde". It was S ...

'' (16 March 1911), and '' Roma'' (15 January 1913). He also conducted numerous world premieres, including

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 ...

's '' Le roi Arthus'' (30 November 1903), Albert Dupuis's ''Martylle'' (3 March 1905), Albert Roussel's Symphony No. 1 ''Le poème de la forêt'' (22 March 1908),

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 ...

's '' Éros vainqueur'' (7 March 1910),

Cesare Galeotti Cesare Galeotti (5 June 1872, Pietrasanta - 19 February 1929, Paris) was an Italian composer, conductor, and concert pianist. He is best known for his opera ''Anton'' which he conducted at its highly lauded premiere at La Scala on 17 February 190 ...

's ''Dorisse'' (18 April 1910), and

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 ...

's ''Le chant de la cloche'' (21 November 1912). He also conducted the premiere of the third and final revision of

Isaac Albéniz Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pascual (; 29 May 1860 – 18 May 1909) was a Spanish virtuoso pianist, composer, and conductor. He is one of the foremost composers of the Post-Romantic era who also had a significant influence on his conte ...

's '' Pepita Jiménez'' on 3 January 1905. Dupuis died in

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the country by population. The area of the whole city a ...

less than two weeks before his 75th birthday.

Honours

* 1919 : Commander of the Order of Leopold. RD of 14.11.1919

References

1856 births 1931 deaths Belgian classical composers Belgian male classical composers Belgian conductors (music) Belgian male musicians Male conductors (music) Belgian music educators Belgian opera composers Male opera composers Prix de Rome (Belgium) winners Royal Conservatory of Liège alumni Musicians from Liège Rectors of universities in Belgium {{Belgium-conductor-stub