Henri Constant Gabriel Pierné (16 August 1863 – 17 July 1937) was a French composer, conductor, pianist and organist.

Biography

Gabriel Pierné was born in

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...

. His family moved to Paris, after Metz and part of Lorraine were annexed to Germany in 1871 following the Franco-Prussian War. He studied at the

Paris Conservatoire 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 prizes for

solfège In music, solfège (, ) or solfeggio (; ), also called sol-fa, solfa, solfeo, among many names, is a music education method used to teach aural skills, pitch and sight-reading of Western music. Solfège is a form of solmization, though the tw ...

, piano, organ, counterpoint and fugue. He won the French

Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

in 1882, with his cantata ''Edith''. His teachers included

Antoine François Marmontel Antoine François Marmontel () (18 July 1816 – 16 January 1898) was a French pianist, composer, teacher and musicographer. He is mainly known today as an influential teacher at the Paris Conservatory, where he taught many musicians who became ...

Albert Lavignac Alexandre Jean Albert Lavignac (21 January 1846 – 28 May 1916) was a French music scholar, known for his essays on theory, and a minor composer. Biography Lavignac was born in Paris and studied with Antoine François Marmontel, François Benoi ...

, Émile Durand,

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 pa ...

(for the organ) and Jules Massenet (for composition). He succeeded

as organist at Sainte-Clotilde Basilica in Paris from 1890 to 1898. He himself was succeeded by another distinguished Franck pupil,

Charles Tournemire Charles Arnould Tournemire (22 January 1870 – 3 or 4 November 1939) was a French composer and organist, notable partly for his improvisations, which were often rooted in the music of Gregorian chant. His compositions include eight symphoni ...

. Associated for many years with Édouard Colonne's concert series, the

Concerts Colonne The Colonne Orchestra is a French symphony orchestra, founded in 1873 by the violinist and conductor Édouard Colonne. History While leader of the Opéra de Paris orchestra, Édouard Colonne was engaged by the publisher Georges Hartmann to lead ...

, from 1903, Pierné became chief conductor of this series in 1910. His most notable early performance was the world premiere of Igor Stravinsky's ballet ''

The Firebird ''The Firebird'' (french: L'Oiseau de feu, link=no; russian: Жар-птица, Zhar-ptitsa, link=no) is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1910 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev' ...

'', at the Ballets Russes, Paris, on 25 June 1910. He remained in the post until 1933 (when Paul Paray took over his duties). He made a few electrical recordings for

Odeon Records Odeon Records is a record label founded in 1903 by Max Straus and Heinrich Zuntz of the International Talking Machine Company in Berlin, Germany. The label's name and logo come from the Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe in Paris. History Straus a ...

, from 1928 to 1934, conducting the L'Orchestre Colonne, including a 1929 performance of his ''Ramuntcho'' and a 1931 performance of excerpts from his ballet ''Cydalise et le Chevre-pied''. He died in Ploujean,

Finistère Finistère (, ; br, Penn-ar-Bed ) is a department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.

Music

Pierné wrote several operas, choral and symphonic pieces as well as a good deal of chamber music. His most famous composition is probably the

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is ...

''La Croisade des enfants'' based on the book by Marcel Schwob. Also notable are such shorter works as his ''March of the Little Lead Soldiers'', which once enjoyed substantial popularity (not only in France) as an encore; the comparably popular ''Marche des petits faunes'' is from his ballet '' Cydalise et le Chèvre-pied''. His chamber work ''Introduction et variations sur une ronde populaire'' for saxophone quartet is a standard in the saxophone quartet repertoire. His discovery and promotion of the work of Ernest Fanelli in 1912 led to a controversy over the origins of impressionist music.

Honours

Pierné became a member of the

Academie des Beaux Arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

in 1925. He was made a Commandeur de la

Légion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

in 1935. His tomb at

Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (french: Cimetière du Père-Lachaise ; formerly , "East Cemetery") is the largest cemetery in Paris, France (). With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Notable figure ...

has a headstone designed by sculptor

Henri Bouchard Henri Bouchard (13 December 1875 – 30 November 1960), was a French sculptor. His work was part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the 1924 Summer Olympics. Biography The son of a carpenter, Bouchard was born in Dijon. He w ...

. Square Gabriel Pierné in Paris is named after him.

Selected compositions

Orchestral works

* Serenade for Strings * ''Trois pièces formant suite de concert'', 1883 * ''Suite No. 1'', 1883 * ''Envois de Rome'' (''Suite – Ouverture – Les Elfes''), c. 1885 * ''Fantaisie-ballet'', for piano and orchestra, 1885 * Piano concerto, Op. 12, 1886 * ''Scherzo-caprice'', for piano and orchestra, 1890 * ''Ballet de cour'', 1901 * ''Concertstück'', for harp and orchestra, 1903 * ''Poème symphonique'', for piano and orchestra, 1903 * Two suites from the incidental music for ''Ramuntcho'', 1910 * ''Paysages franciscains'', Op. 43, 1920 * ''Fantaisie basque'', for violin and orchestra, 1927 * ''Divertissement sur un thème pastoral'', Op. 49, 1932 * ''Gulliver au pays de Lilliput'', 1935 * ''Viennoise'', suite, Op. 49bis, 1935

Works for band

* ''Marche des petits soldats de plomb'' (''March of the Little Lead Soldiers''), 1887 * ''Marche solennelle'', 1899 (dedicated to Gustave Wettge) * ''Petit Gavotte et Farandole'' * ''Ramuntcho'' (also arranged for orchestra), (published 1908)

Operas

* ''La Coupe enchantée'', 1895 * ''Vendée'' (Drame lyrique), 1897 *''La Fille de Tabarin'' (opéra comique), 1901 * ''On ne badine pas avec l'amour'' (opéra comique), 1910 * ''Sophie Arnould'' (opéra comique), 1927 * ''Fragonard'', 1934

Ballets

* ''Le Collier de Saphir'', 1891 * ''Les Joyeuses commères de Paris'', 1892 * ''Izéÿl'', 1894 * ''Bouton-d'or'', 1895 * ''Salome'', 1895 (premiere starring

Loie Fuller Loie Fuller (born Marie Louise Fuller; January 15, 1862 – January 1, 1928), also known as Louie Fuller and Loïe Fuller, was an American actress and dancer who was a pioneer of both modern dance and theatrical lighting techniques. Career Bor ...

at the Comedie-Parisienne, Paris) March 4, 1895 closed 27 April. * '' Cydalise et le Chèvre-pied'', 1923 * ''Impressions de music-hall'', 1927 * ''Giration'', 1934 * ''Images'', 1935

Music for theatre

* ''Yanthis'', 1894 * ''La Princesse Lointaine'', 1895 * ''La Samaritaine'', 1897 * ''Francesca da Rimini'', 1902 * '' Ramuntcho'', 1908 * ''Les Cathédrales'', 1915

Chamber works

* ''Sonata in D minor, Op. 36'' (violin or flute and piano), 1900.Some musicians have argued that this work was the model for Proust's '' Vinteuil Sonata'' : * ''Piano Quintet, Op. 41'' (2 violins, viola, cello and piano), 1917 * ''Trio in C minor, Op. 45'' (violin, cello and piano), 1920–21 * ''Sonata in F sharp minor, Op 46'' (''Sonate en une partie'') (cello and piano), 1922 * ''Sonata da camera, Op.48'' (flute, cello and piano), 1926

Piano works

* ''Étude de concert'' in C minor, Op. 13, 1887 * ''Album pour mes petits amis'', Op. 14, (published 1887)

Solo works

* ''Serenade'', Op. 7 (violin and piano), 1881 * ''Impromptu-Caprice'', Op. 9 (harp), (published circa 1901) * ''Piece in G minor'' (oboe), 1883 * ''Solo de concert'' (bassoon and piano), 1898 * ''Canzonetta'', Op. 19 (clarinet and piano), 1888 * ''Trois pièces'' Op. 29 (organ), (published circa 1892)

Choral works

* ''L'An Mil'', (published 1898) ** no. 1. Miserere Mei ** no. 2. Fete Des Fous Et de L'ane ** no. 3. Te Deum * ''Les Cathédrales'', 1915 ** no. 1. Prélude des cathédrales ** no. 3. Chanson Picarde ** no. 7. Épisode des églises ** no. 8. Épisode des Flandres

Songs

* ''6 Ballades françaises de Paul Fort'', (circa 1920) ** No. 1, La Vie ** No. 2, La Baleines ** No. 3, Complainte des Arches de Noé ** No. 4, Le petit rentier ** No. 5, Les dernières pensées ** No. 6, La Ronde autour du monde * ''Deux mélodies'' ** Découragement ** À Saint Blaise * ''Poèmes de Jean Lorrain'' ** no. 1. Le Beau Pirate ** no. 2. Les Petites Ophélies ** no. 3. Les Petits Elfes ** no. 4. Une belle est dans la forêt ** no. 5. Ils étaient trois petits chats blancs * ''Soirs de Jadis'' ** no. 1. La princesse au bord du ruisseau ** no. 2. Ils s'aimaient ** no. 3. Ce qui frappa ses yeux d'abord ** no. 4. Le soir tombe sur la rivière * ''Trois adaptations musicales sur des vers'' ** no. 1. La marjolaine ** no. 2. Nuit divine ** no. 3. Noël

Bibliography

* Henri Busser: ''Notice sur la vie et des oeuvres de M. Gabriel Pierné'' (Paris: Académie des Beaux Arts, 1938). * Georges Masson: ''Gabriel Pierné, musicien lorrain'' (Nancy: Presses Universitaires de Nancy, 1987).