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

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

Biography

Gabriel Pierné was born in

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

. His family moved to Paris, after Metz and part of Lorraine were annexed to Germany in 1871 following the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, gaining first prizes for

solfège In music, solfège (British English or American English , ) or solfeggio (; ), also called sol-fa, solfa, solfeo, among many names, is a mnemonic used in teaching aural skills, Pitch (music), pitch and sight-reading of Western classical music, W ...

, piano, organ,

counterpoint In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. The term originates from the Latin ...

and

fugue In classical music, a fugue (, from Latin ''fuga'', meaning "flight" or "escape""Fugue, ''n''." ''The Concise Oxford English Dictionary'', eleventh edition, revised, ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson (Oxford and New York: Oxford Universit ...

. 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, Albert Lavignac, Émile Durand,

César Franck César Auguste Jean Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in present-day Belgium. He was born in Liège (which at the time of h ...

(for the organ) and

Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are ''Manon'' (1884 ...

(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. Associated for many years with Édouard Colonne's concert series, the Concerts Colonne, from 1903, Pierné became chief conductor of this series in 1910. His most notable early performance was the world premiere of

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...

's ballet ''

The Firebird ''The Firebird'' (; ) is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1910 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company; the original choreography was by Michel Fokine, who c ...

'', at the

Ballets Russes The Ballets Russes () was an itinerant ballet company begun in Paris that performed between 1909 and 1929 throughout Europe and on tours to North and South America. The company never performed in Russia, where the Russian Revolution, Revolution ...

, 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 (, ; ) is a Departments of France, department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. Its prefecture is Quimper and its largest city is Brest, France, Brest. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090. 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 musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

''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 in 1925. He was made a Commandeur de la

Légion d'Honneur 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 1935. His tomb at

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 ...

has a headstone designed by sculptor Henri Bouchard. 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 * ''Ballet de cour'', 1901 * Two suites from the incidental music for ''Ramuntcho'', 1910 * ''Paysages franciscains'', Op. 43, 1920 * ''Divertissement sur un thème pastoral'', Op. 49, 1932 * ''Gulliver au pays de Lilliput'', 1935 * ''Viennoise'', suite, Op. 49bis, 1935

Concertante works

* ''Fantaisie-ballet'', for piano and orchestra, 1885 * Piano concerto, Op. 12, 1886 * ''Scherzo-caprice'', for piano and orchestra, 1890 * ''Concertstück'', for harp and orchestra, 1903 * ''Poème symphonique'', for piano and orchestra, 1903 * ''Fantaisie basque'', for violin and orchestra, 1927

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 dancer and a pioneer of modern dance and theatrical lighting techniques. Auguste Rodin said of her, "Lo ...

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).

References

External links

Naxos.com: Gabriel Pierné

"Of Church and circus": biography
a commercial link is here �

*
Free scores by Gabriel Pierné
on {{DEFAULTSORT:Pierne, Gabriel 1863 births 1937 deaths 19th-century French classical composers 19th-century French conductors (music) 20th-century French classical composers 20th-century French conductors (music) 20th-century French male musicians Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Knights of the Legion of Honour Composers for piano Composers for pipe organ Concert band composers French ballet composers French classical organists French male conductors (music) French opera composers French Romantic composers Impressionist composers French male opera composers Musicians from Metz Prix de Rome for composition French male classical organists