Édouard Lalo
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Édouard-Victoire-Antoine Lalo (27 January 182322 April 1892) was a French
composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...
, violist, violinist, and academic teacher. His most celebrated piece is the '' Symphonie Espagnole'', a five-movement concerto for violin and orchestra that remains a popular work in the standard repertoire.


Biography

Lalo was born in
Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...
, in the northernmost part of France. He attended the conservatoire in that city in his youth. Beginning at age 16, he studied at the Paris conservatoire under François Antoine Habeneck. Habeneck conducted student concerts at the conservatoire from 1806 and became the founding conductor of the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire in 1828. For several years, Lalo worked as a string player and teacher in Paris. In 1848, he joined with friends to found the Armingaud Quartet, in which he played the
viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...
and later, second
violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...
. His earliest surviving compositions are songs and chamber works. Two early symphonies were destroyed. In 1865, Lalo married Julie Besnier de Maligny, a
contralto A contralto () is a classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range is the lowest of their voice type, voice types. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare, similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to ...
from
Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...
. She encouraged Lalo's early interest in opera and led him to compose works for the stage, most notably the opera, '' Le Roi d'Ys''. Despite their originality, these works were never really popular and incurred criticism for being "too progressive" and " Wagnerian". This reception led Lalo to dedicate most of his career to the composition of
chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...
, which was gradually coming into vogue in France, as well as to composing works for orchestra. Lalo's distinctive style has earned him a degree of popularity. '' Symphonie Espagnole'' for violin and orchestra still enjoys a prominent place in the repertoire of violinists. Cello Concerto in D minor is revived occasionally. His Symphony in G minor was a favourite of Sir Thomas Beecham and has occasionally been championed by later conductors. His music is notable for its strong melodies and colourful
orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...
, with a Germanic solidity that distinguishes him from other French composers of his era. Such works as the ''Scherzo in D minor'', one of his most colourful pieces, embody his distinctive style and strong expressive bent. ''Le Roi d'Ys'', an
opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
based on the Breton legend of Ys, is Lalo's most complex and ambitious creation. (This same legend inspired
Claude Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 â€“ 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...
's '' La cathédrale engloutie''.) Lalo became a member of the
Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
in 1873. ''Le Roi d'Ys'' was not initially considered performable and was not staged until 1888, when Lalo was 65 years old. Lalo died in Paris in 1892, leaving several unfinished works, including his opera, '' La Jacquerie'', that was completed by Arthur Coquard. He was interred at the
Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (, , formerly , ) is the largest cemetery in Paris, France, at . With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Buried at Père Lachaise are many famous figures in the ...
. Lalo's son Pierre (6 September 18669 June 1943) was a music critic who wrote for ''
Le Temps ' (, ) is a Swiss French-language daily newspaper published in Berliner format in Geneva by Le Temps SA. The paper was launched in 1998, formed out of the merger of two other newspapers, and (the former being a merger of two other papers), ...
'' and other French periodicals from 1898 until his death.


Compositions


References in modern culture

In 1962, composer Maurice Jarre used a theme from Lalo's ''Piano Concerto'' for the exotic score to '' Lawrence of Arabia''. English progressive rock group The Nice used a melody from Lalo's Symphonie espagnole for its recording ''Diary of an Empty Day'' that is found on its third album ''Nice''. Most of the lyrics are concerned with the inability of the writer to "find words for this music". Part of Lalo's Cello Concerto in D minor was used in the second season of Mozart in the Jungle.


References

* * Macdonald, Hugh (1998), "Lalo, Edouard-Victoire-Antoine", in
Stanley Sadie Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was a British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was published as the first edition ...
, (Ed.), ''
The New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volumes. The dictionary was first published in 1992 by Macmillan Reference, L ...
'', Vol. Two. London: Macmillan Publishers, Inc.


External links


Lalo Piano Trio Nos. 1-3 sound-bites and discussion of works
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lalo, Edouard 1823 births 1892 deaths 19th-century French classical composers 19th-century French violinists 19th-century French male musicians French male classical violinists Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Knights of the Legion of Honour Conservatoire de Paris alumni French ballet composers French classical violists French opera composers French people of Spanish descent French Romantic composers French male opera composers Musicians from Lille