Jean Jules Aimable Roger-Ducasse (

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...

, 18 April 1873 – Le Taillan-Médoc ( Gironde), 19 July 1954) was a French composer.

Biography

Jean Roger-Ducasse 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 ...

with

Émile Pessard Émile Louis Fortuné Pessard (29 May 1843 – 10 February 1917) was a French composer. Pessard was born and died in Paris. He studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, where he won 1st prize in Harmony. In 1866 he won the Grand Prix de Rome with h ...

and André Gedalge, and was the star pupil and close friend of Gabriel Fauré. He succeeded Fauré as professor of composition, and in 1935 he succeeded

Paul Dukas Paul Abraham Dukas ( or ; 1 October 1865 – 17 May 1935) was a French composer, critic, scholar and teacher. A studious man of retiring personality, he was intensely self-critical, having abandoned and destroyed many of his compositions. His b ...

as professor of orchestration. His personal style was firmly rooted in the French school of orchestration, in an unbroken tradition from Hector Berlioz through Camille Saint-Saëns. Among his notable pupils were

Jehan Alain Jehan-Aristide Paul Alain (; 3 February 1911 – 20 June 1940) was a French organist, composer, and soldier. Born into a family of musicians, he learned the organ from his father and a host of other teachers, becoming a composer at 18, and compo ...

Claude Arrieu Louise-Marie Simon (30 November 1903 – 7 March 1990), pen name Claude Arrieu, was a prolific French composer. She wrote hundreds of works in varying formats, including stage works, concert works, and movie scores. She was also a teacher, and ...

, Sirvart Kalpakyan Karamanuk, Jean-Louis Martinet, and

Francis George Scott Francis George Scott (25 January 1880 – 6 November 1958) was a Scottish composer often associated with the Scottish Renaissance. Born at 6 Oliver Crescent, Hawick, Roxburghshire, he was the son of a supplier of mill-engineering parts. Educate ...

Compositions

Roger-Ducasse wrote music in nearly all classical forms, and was particularly known for his operatic stage works and orchestral compositions. These include: *''Au Jardin de Marguerite'', 1901–05 Based on an episode in Goethe's ''Faust'' *''Sarabande'', 1907 Symphonic poem with chorus. *''Suite française'', Concerts Calonne, Paris, 1907 *''Pastorale'' pour orgue, 1909 *''Marche française'', 1914 *''Nocturne de printemps'', 1920 *''Nocturne d'hiver'', 1921 *'' Epithalame'' for orchestra, 1923 *''Orphée'' mimodrame lyrique,

Opéra Garnier The Palais Garnier (, Garnier Palace), also known as Opéra Garnier (, Garnier Opera), is a 1,979-seatBeauvert 1996, p. 102. opera house at the Place de l'Opéra in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was built for the Paris Opera from ...

, 1912–13, staged in June 1926. Based on his own libretto, closely following the

Greek myth A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities of d ...

. The production was mounted by

Ida Rubinstein Ida Lvovna Rubinstein (russian: И́да Льво́вна Рубинште́йн; – 20 September 1960) was a Russian dancer, actress, art patron and Belle Époque figure. She performed with Diaghilev's Ballets Russes from 1909 to 1911 a ...

. *''Cantegril'', ''comédie lyrique'', Paris Opéra-Comique, 6 February 1931. His most ambitious work, with thirty-two demanding roles, was directed by Masson and Ricou with Roger Bourdin as Cantegril. *''Petite Suite'' *''Variations sur un thème grave'' ("Pleasant Variations on a serious theme") for harp and orchestra. *''Ulysse et les sirènes'' ("Odysseus and the Sirens"), 1937 His piano pieces and chamber music are also noteworthy. He composed a piano quartet, a

Romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

for cello and piano, and two string quartets; the second, his swan song, debuted 24 May 1953, at the

Château de la Brède The Château de La Brède is a feudal castle in the '' commune'' of La Brède in the ''département'' of Gironde, France. The castle was built in the Gothic style starting in 1306, on the site of an earlier castle. It is surrounded by water-fi ...

. Roger-Ducasse wrote only one work for organ, entitled ''Pastorale'', a masterpiece that has remained popular with performers in the United States, although it is rarely played in France. Written in 1909 and published by

Éditions Durand Éditions Durand are a music publishing company of French origin, among the most important in the field of classical music, which includes three previously independent publishers: * Éditions Durand — the oldest of the three companies — estab ...

, it is a challenging virtuoso showpiece. The work has been eclipsed by more recent compositional styles. A ''Romance'' for organ and string orchestra was performed by Marie Schumacher in New York City in 1947;"Organ, String Orchestra Heard in New York Concert" (PDF). The Diapason. 39 (2): 1. January 1, 1948. it's possible this is an arrangement of the piano Romance or the cello Romance. Like

and

Maurice Duruflé Maurice Gustave Duruflé (; 11 January 1902 – 16 June 1986) was a French composer, organist, musicologist, and teacher. Life and career Duruflé was born in Louviers, Eure in 1902. He became a chorister at the Rouen Cathedral Choir School fr ...

, Roger-Ducasse was severely self-critical, destroying music that did not meet his exacting standards.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roger-Ducasse, Jean 1873 births 1954 deaths Musicians from Bordeaux 19th-century classical composers 20th-century classical composers French classical composers French male classical composers French opera composers Male opera composers Prix de Rome for composition 19th-century French composers 20th-century French composers 20th-century French male musicians 19th-century French male musicians