Léon Vallas (17 May 1879 in

Roanne Roanne (; frp, Rouana; oc, Roana) is a commune in the Loire department, central France. It is located northwest of Lyon on the river Loire. It has an important Museum, the ''Musée des Beaux-arts et d'Archéologie Joseph-Déchelette'' (Fre ...

– 9 May 1956 in Lyon) was a 20th-century French

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some m ...

Biography

Orphaned at 8 years of age, after studying at the St. Mary's Institution at St. Chamond, held by the

Marists The Society of Mary ( la, Societas Mariae) abbreviated SM, commonly known as the Marist Fathers, is a men's Roman Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right. It was founded by Jean-Claude Colin and a group of seminarians in ...

, he passed his baccalaureate and studied medicine in Lyon, which he dropped out. In 1908, he defended a thesis of musicology on ''La Musique à l'Académie de Lyon au XVIIIe'' ("Music at the Academy of Lyon in the 17th Century"). A collaborator of

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 ...

, in 1902 he became a

music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mu ...

at ''Tout Lyon'', then founded ''La Revue musicale de Lyon'' in 1903, which later became the ''Revue française de musique'' in 1912, and then the ''Nouvelle revue musicale'' in 1920. He was involved in the creation of the "Société des grands concerts" in 1905, with the composer Georges Martin Witkowski and the construction of the in 1908. A physician during the war, he received his doctorate in 1919 on ''Un Siècle de musique et de théâtre à Lyon (1688–1789)'' ("A Century of Music and Theatre in Lyon (1688–1789)") and returned to ''Le Progrès'' in Lyon where he was a music critic for 35 years. In 1925, he founded the "Conférences de musique vivante" in Paris and taught courses at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

from 1928–1930. From 1929 to 1935, he lectured worldwide for the

Alliance Française An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

, which led him to be made

Chevalier 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 B ...

in 1934. He was elected president of the Société française de musicologie in 1937, until 1943 Jean Roy, "Vallas (Léon)", in and a member of the

Academy of Sciences, Humanities and Arts of Lyon __NOTOC__ The Academy of Sciences, Humanities and Arts of Lyon (French: Académie des Sciences, Belles-Lettres et Arts de Lyon) is a French learned society founded in 1700. Its founders included: * Claude Brossette, lawyer, alderman of Lyons, and ...

in 1947. He applied twice (1924 and 1941), unsuccessfully, to the leadership of the Conservatoire de musique de Lyon. He married pianist and singer Paule de Lestang in 1936, and then resided until his death at 286 rue Vendôme, in Lyon. His biographies of Franck,

Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

and D'Indy constitute the essence of his work as a historian.

Publications

* ''La Musique à l'Académie de Lyon au dix-huitième siècle'' (Lyon: Éditions de la Revue musicale de Lyon, 1908)
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* ''Le Théâtre et la Ville: 1694–1712'' (Lyon: Cumin et Masson, 1919) * ''Debussy (1862–1918)'' (Paris: Plon, 1926) * ''Un Siècle de musique et de théâtre à Lyon (1688–1789)'' (Lyon: Masson, 1932) * ''Les Idées de Claude Debussy, musicien français'' (Paris: Éditions musicales de la Librairie de France, 1927; translated into English by Maire O'Brien, Oxford: University Press, 1929) * ''Claude Debussy et son temps'' (Paris: F. Alcan, 1932; reissued Paris:

Albin Michel Albin may refer to: Places * Albin, Wyoming, US * Albin Township, Brown County, Minnesota, US * Albin, Virginia, US People * Albin (given name), origin of the name and people with the first name "Albin" * Albin (surname) ;Mononyms * Albin of ...

, 1958; translated into German, Munich: Nymphenburger Verlags-Handlung, 1961) * ''Achille-Claude Debussy'' (Paris:

Presses universitaires de France Presses universitaires de France (PUF, English: ''University Press of France''), founded in 1921 by Paul Angoulvent (1899–1976), is the largest French university publishing house. Recent company history The financial and legal structure ...

, 1944) (rééd. 1949) * ''Vincent d'Indy'' (Paris:

, 2 vols. (1. ''La Jeunesse, 1851–1886'', 1946; 2. ''La Maturité, la vieillesse, 1886–1931'', 1949) * ''La Véritable histoire de César Franck'' (Paris:

Flammarion Flammarion may refer to: * Camille Flammarion (1842–1925), French astronomer and author * Gabrielle Renaudot Flammarion (1877–1962), French astronomer, wife of Camille Flammarion * Flammarion engraving by unknown artist; appeared in a book by C ...

, 1955)''La Véritable Histoire de César Franck'' on World Cat
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References

Bibliography

* Philippe Lebreton and Jean-Frédéric Schmitt, "Léon Vallas" in ''Centenaire de l’orchestre de Lyon 1905-2005'' *

Biography

Publications

References

Bibliography

External links