Auguste Sérieyx (14 June 1865 – 19 February 1949) was a French music pedagogue, musicologist and composer.

Biography

Born in

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; , or ) is a city and Communes of France, commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme (department), Somme Departments of France, department in the region ...

, Auguste Sérieyx, musicographer and composer studied at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or 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 Jean Ja ...

with

André Gedalge André Gedalge (27 December 1856 – 5 February 1926) was a French composer and teacher. Biography André Gedalge was born at 75 rue des Saints-Pères in Paris where he first worked as a bookseller and editor, specialising in ''livres de prix' ...

and subsequently at the

Schola Cantorum de Paris The Schola Cantorum de Paris ( being ) is a private conservatory in Paris. It was founded in 1894 by Charles Bordes, Alexandre Guilmant and Vincent d'Indy as a counterbalance to the Paris Conservatoire's emphasis on opera. History The Schola ...

with Charles Bordes, Paul Dukas and

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 Pa ...

where he latter taught

music composition Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music, either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called ...

(1900–1914). As early as 1883, he wrote in his diary: "Music holds an increasingly important place in my preoccupations". In particular, he discovered Tchaïkovsky,

Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic period. With a diverse body of work spanning more than six decades, he is considered to be one of the most pro ...

and Saint-Saëns. In 1905, he married pianist Jeanne Taravant, a sought-after performer of the musicians of his time, in particular the piano music of

Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 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 ...

. It was she who contributed to the introduction of Sérieyx into the Parisian musical life of the time. In the same year, Sérieyx undertook a trip to Switzerland. He visited

Bulle Bulle (; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Gruyère (district), Gruyère in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Fribourg (canton), Fribourg in Switzerland. In January 2006 Bulle incorporated the formerly inde ...

Montreux Montreux (, ; ; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, Swiss municipality and List of towns in Switzerland, town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Swiss Alps, Alps. It belongs to the Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut (district), Riviera-Pays ...

, the Abbey of St. Maurice, Agaunum and he attended the

fête des vignerons The (; ) is a traditional festival which takes place in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been organised by the Confrérie des Vignerons ('Brotherhood of Winegrowers') in Vevey since 1797. The organising committee is free to choose how often the fe ...

in the company of

Albert Roussel Albert Charles Paul Marie Roussel (; 5 April 1869 – 23 August 1937) was a French composer. He spent seven years as a midshipman, turned to music as an adult, and became one of the most prominent French composers of the interwar period. His ...

. Installed in Montreux since 1914, Auguste Sérieyx taught at the Institut Ribaupierre. Several local musicians followed his teaching at this time, such as , , Philippe Jules Godard and Fernand Maudon. Sérieyx also held the position of maître de chapelle at the Villeneuve church. He collaborated with Vincent d'Indy on his monumental ''Cours de composition''. On 11 June 1920, his wife died, and he dedicated his ''Cours de grammaire musicale'' to her, which was published five years later. In 1931, on 26 July, Auguste Sérieyx married Marie-Louise Bouët. Like her husband, Marie-Louise has devoted her entire life to teaching musical language. Very attached to the Catholic faith, Sérieyx devoted the deepest of his inspiration to

religious music Religious music (also sacred music) is a type of music that is performed or composed for Religion, religious use or through religious influence. It may overlap with ritual music, which is music, sacred or not, performed or composed for or as a ri ...

. He signed a collection of 24

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the preeminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to the Eng ...

s on texts from ''

The Imitation of Christ ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'', masses,

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

pieces and a

mystery play Mystery plays and miracle plays (they are distinguished as two different forms although the terms are often used interchangeably) are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the represe ...

for soli, choir and orchestra. Sereyx left music of

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

and some pages 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 ...

including a

sonata In music a sonata (; pl. ''sonate'') literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cantare'', "to sing"), a piece ''sung''. The term evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms until th ...

for

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 ...

and piano. Author of several melodies for vocals and piano, he paid great attention to the choice of his lyrics. Among the writers and poets he put to music were Alexandre Duman,

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

, Édouard Guinand, and

Jean Richepin Jean Richepin (; 4 February 1849 – 12 December 1926) was a French poet, novelist and dramatist. Biography Born on 4 February 1849 at Médéa, French Algeria, Jean Richepin was the son of an army doctor. At school and at the École Normale ...

, not to mention personal translations of Latin texts. In November 1972, the Music Department of the

Cantonal and University Library of Lausanne The Cantonal and University Library of Lausanne (''Bibliothèque cantonale et universitaire de Lausanne'', BCU) was founded in the 16th century and became one of the most important public libraries in Switzerland. History The University of ...

enriched its collections of music archives with the work of composer, professor and theorist Auguste Sérieyx. Auguste Sérieyx died in Lausanne on 19 February 1949.

Selected publications

*1910: ''Les Trois états de la tonalité'', Paris *1925: ''Cours de grammaire musical'',''Cours de grammaire musical''
/ref> Paris *1946: ''Monteverdi et Franck'', Geneva

Sources

Auguste Sérieyx (1865-1949)

Biography

Selected publications

Sources

References

External links