Sylvio Lazzari (born Josef Fortunat Silvester Lazzari; 30 December 1857 – 10 June 1944) was a French composer of Austrian and italian origin.

Life

Born in

Bolzano Bolzano ( or ; german: Bozen, (formerly ); bar, Bozn; lld, Balsan or ) is the capital city of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third la ...

– then part of 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 ...

– , Lazzari came to Paris in 1882 after studying law in Austria. At the

Paris Conservatory 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 ...

, he studied under

Ernest Guiraud Ernest is a given name derived from Germanic word ''ernst'', meaning "serious". Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People *Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), son of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor * Ernest, ...

and

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 ...

. Encouraged by

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 ...

and Franck, Lazzari settled permanently in France and obtained French citizenship in 1896. He held several official positions in Paris, including president of the

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

Society (from 1894) and choirmaster at the

Opéra de Monte-Carlo The Opéra de Monte-Carlo is an opera house which is part of the Monte Carlo Casino located in the Principality of Monaco. With the lack of cultural diversions available in Monaco in the 1870s, Prince Charles III, along with the Société des ba ...

. Because of dwindling eyesight, he later focused on composition only. Lazzari's use of cyclic structures was indebted to Franck; he was also heavily influenced by Wagner (especially in his operas) and the

impressionists Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...

. His best-known opera, ''La Lépreuse'' (first performed in 1912), was highly praised for its musical content, but frequently criticised for its naturalistic libretto. Three of his operas, including ''La Lépreuse'', are inspired by Brittany, with Breton plots, also using Breton folksongs as local colour. Very few of his compositions have been performed since his death, but some of his chamber music is occasionally revived. Lazzari died in

Suresnes Suresnes () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. Located in Hauts-de-Seine, from the centre of Paris, it had a population of 49,145 as of 2016. The nearest communes are Nanterre, Puteaux, Rueil-Malmaison, Saint-Cloud an ...

, near Paris.

WorksFrom Werr (2003), see Bibliography

Orchestra

*''Marche pour une fête joyeuse'' (1903) *''Effet de Nuit'' (1904) *Concertstück, Op. 18, piano and orchestra (1887, rev. 1894) *Symphony in E-flat major (1907) *Rapsodie, for violin and orchestra (1922) *Suite in F major, Op. 23 (1922) *Faust (incidental music, after Goethe) (1925) *''Au bois de Misère'' (1925)

Salon orchestra

*''Perdu en mer'' (1926) *''Escualdune (Visions basques)'' (1927) *''Fête bretonne'' (1927) *''La Chanson du moulin'' (1928) *''Cortège nocturne'' (1929)

Chamber music

*Piano trio, Op. 13 (1889) *String Quartet, Op. 17a (1888) *Octet, Op. 20, for flute, oboe, clarinet, English horn, 2 bassoons, 2 horns (1889) *Violin Sonata, Op. 24 (1894) *Barcarolle, for cello and piano (1912) *Scherzo, for violin and piano (1931)

Piano

*''Valse brillante'', Op. 4 (1884) *''Valses caractéristiques'' (1888) *Suite, Op. 14 (1891) *3 Pièces, Op. 16 (1892) *2 Miniatures (1895) *''Petite esquisse'' (1903) *''Rapsodie hongroise'', 4 hands (1903) *''Romanzetta'' (1923) *''Cordace (Danse grecque)''(1925)

Orchestral songs

*''2 Poèmes'' (M. Dumont, P. Verlaine), Op. 30 (1901) (S. Mallarmé, 1903) *''Le Cavalier d'Olmedo'' (after L. de Vega) (1918) *''Le Nouveau Christ'' (H. Bataille) (1918), baritone *''La Fontaine de pitié'' (Bataille) (1920)

Songs

*More than 50 songs, among other: *''Vieux motif'' (L. B.) (1884) *''L'Amour d'après Ninette'' (G. Richard) (1887) *''À l'absente'' (P. Verlaine, J. Lahor, anon.), 6 songs (1892) *''L'Oiseau''; ''Au printemps''; ''La Jeune fille et la rose'' (Lazzari), 4 voices (1893) *3 Mélodies (P. Verlaine, L. Bowitsch, L. Benedite), Op. 19 (1894) *''L'Automne'' (A. de Lamartine), 3 voices, piano ad lib (1894) *3 Duos (Lazzari), Op. 21, Soprano, Baritone (1894) *2 Poèmes (M. Dumont, P. Verlaine), Op. 30 (1901) *3 Poésies d'E. Blémont d'après H. Heine (1906) *''Le Cavalier d'Olmedo'' (after L. de Vega) (1918) *''Le Nouveau Christ'' (H. Bataille) (1918) *''La Fontaine de pitié'' (Bataille) (1920)

Operas

*''Armor'' (Ernest Jaubert), 3 acts (1896), first performed Prague, 7 November 1898 *''La Lépreuse'', subt. ''tragédie légendaire'' (Henry Bataille), 3 acts (1896), first performed Paris, 7 February 1912 *''Melaenis'' (Georges Spitzmüller), 5 acts (1907), first performed Mühlhausen, 25 March 1927 *''Le Sauteriot'' (Henri Pierre Roché, Martial Périer, after E. von Keyserling), 3 acts (1915), first performed Chicago, 19 January 1918 *''La Tour de feu'' (Lazzari), 3 acts (1925), first performed Paris, 28 January 1928

References

Bibliography

Don Randel Don Michael Randel (born December 9, 1940) is an American musicologist, specializing in the music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance in Spain and France. He is currently the Chair of the Board of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a trustee ...

(ed.): ''The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music'' (Harvard, 1996), p. 489. *Sebastian Werr: "Lazzari, Sylvio", in: ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart (MGG)'', biographical part vol. 10 (Kassel: Bärenreiter & Stuttgart: Metzler, 2003), 1380–1381.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lazzari, Sylvio 1857 births 1944 deaths Conservatoire de Paris alumni French classical composers French male classical composers French male composers French people of Austrian descent Naturalized citizens of France Musicians from Bolzano