Joseph Pierre Henri O'Kelly (23 June 1859 – 15 March 1938) was a Franco-Irish composer, pianist, organist and choir director, based in Paris. A minor composer in the

Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

school, as a conductor he made outstanding contributions to French church music.

Biography

Henri O'Kelly was the second child (first son) of

Joseph O'Kelly Joseph O'Kelly (29 January 1828 – 9 January 1885), composer, pianist and choral conductor, was the most prominent member of a family of Irish musicians in 19th- and early 20th-century France. He wrote nine operas, four cantatas, numerous piano ...

's (1828–1885) first marriage (1856). He was born in Paris and grew up in Rue du Faubourg Poissonnière in the 9th arrondissement. After initial piano studies with his father, he enrolled 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 ...

(1874–79) studying

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 ...

with

Albert Lavignac Alexandre Jean Albert Lavignac (21 January 1846 – 28 May 1916) was a French music scholar, known for his essays on theory, and a minor composer. Biography Lavignac was born in Paris and studied with Antoine François Marmontel, François Ben ...

(1874–76) and piano with

Georges Mathias Georges Amédée Saint-Clair Mathias (; 14 October 182614 October 1910) was a French composer, pianist and teacher. Alongside his teaching work, Georges Mathias was a very active concert pianist. Biography Mathias was born in Paris. He studied a ...

(1876–79). O'Kelly was an exceptional student, winning awards every year, always sharing them with his fellow students

Claude 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 ...

and

Gabriel Pierné Henri Constant Gabriel Pierné (16 August 1863 – 17 July 1937) was a French composer, conductor, pianist and organist. Biography Gabriel Pierné was born in Metz. His family moved to Paris, after Metz and part of Lorraine were annexed to Germ ...

. While Debussy never won a "premier prix" in piano, O'Kelly did in his final year, 1879. The somewhat unexpected birth of a son in 1881 forced him to abandon a promising pianistic career and seek financial safety as a church organist and choir master, holding such positions at

Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois The Church of Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois () is a medieval Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Paris, Roman Catholic Church (building), church in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, directly across from the Louvre Palace. It was named for Saint Germanus of Au ...

in central Paris (1881–1900) and Saint-Vincent-de-Paul in the 10th arrondissement (1900–1918). O'Kelly also taught music at the École Rocroy (10th arrondissement) from at least 1906 into the 1930s, having previously obtained the titles of "Officier d'Académie" (Silver Palm) in 1899 and "Officier de l'Instruction Publique" (Golden Palm) in 1901. Finally, from at least 1888 through the mid-1920s, O'Kelly was involved with the well-known piano manufacturer Pleyel where from c.1907, he was one of the pianists recording pianola rolls (see below). O'Kelly married the pianist Clotilde Vacher-Gras in 1881; their son Henri O'Kelly jr. (1881–1922) became a notable double bass player in the orchestras of the Opéra Comique and the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, and the editor of a volume of studies for bass clef instruments (''Polyorgane'', Paris: M. Sénart, 1920). For his services to French church music, Henri sr. became a Chevalier of the

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 1931, having been proposed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as he had always remained Irish. Later he also became a Knight of the Papal

Order of St. Gregory the Great The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great (; ) was established on 1 September 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election as Pope. The order is one of the five Papal order of knighthood, orders of knighthood of th ...

. Henri O'Kelly died, aged 78, in unclear circumstances, on 15 March 1938 at the Villa Montmorency (demolished in 1974) in

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

. He was buried on the Cimetière de Passy in Paris.

Music

Henri O'Kelly did not study composition, therefore he never made a name for himself in this respect. His few extant publications date from the 1890s and early 1900s and mainly include music for piano and harp. Technically, they are much easier than his pianistic talents would suggest. Their harmonic language reveal an attractive Impressionist approach. "Played with sensitivity, they would still be a worthwhile repertory for a pianist interested in typical turn-of-the-century French music." This is particularly true for ''Mélancolie'' (1897) for cello and piano and some of the piano music published after 1900 (see 'Selected works'). Apparently, he also wrote a number of motets and other church music, but of these only a setting of ''Tu es Petrus'' (c.1903) has survived in manuscript.

Church music director

In his 38 years as organist and choir master at prominent Paris churches, O'Kelly made a name for himself as a promoter of large-scale church music by contemporary French composers. He particularly championed music by

Adolphe Deslandres Adolphe Édouard Marie Deslandres (22 January 1840 – 30 July 1911) was a French composer and organist. Life Born in the former village of , Adolphe Deslandres was the son of Laurent Deslandres, who was for a long time the Maître de chapelle ...

(1840–1911),

Théodore Dubois Clément François Théodore Dubois (; 24 August 1837 – 11 June 1924) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, organist, and music teacher. After study at the Paris Conservatoire, Dubois won France's premier musical prize, the Prix de Ro ...

(1837–1924),

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 ...

(1845–1924), and

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (, , 9October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano ...

(1835–1921), besides several younger composers. It is for this work that he was honoured by the

in 1931.

Pianola rolls

From about 1907 until the mid-1920s, O'Kelly recorded numerous pianola rolls for the "Pleyela" brand of

player piano A player piano is a self-playing piano with a pneumatic or electromechanical mechanism that operates the piano action using perforated paper or metallic rolls. Modern versions use MIDI. The player piano gained popularity as mass-produced home ...

s by Pleyel, Wolff, Lyon & Cie. Some 50 such rolls were documented in Sitsky (1991)Larry Sitsky: ''The Classical Reproducing Piano Roll. A Catalogue Index'', vol. 2 ''Pianists'', p. 1098–1102. and Klein (2014), but this list has in the meantime grown to over 120. He has recorded European classical composers such as

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

and

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include symphonie ...

as well as French composers such as Charles Gounod and Gabriel Fauré, also including some of his contemporaries such as

Ernest Gillet Ernest Gillet (13 September 1856 – 6 May 1940) was a French composer and cellist, the brother of oboist and composer Georges Gillet. Biography A student at the École Niedermeyer de Paris then of Auguste-Joseph Franchomme at the Conservatoi ...

and

. He also recorded three works by his father

and one by himself, the ''Impressions de voyages'' (1903).

Selected works

Piano *''Douchinka''. Valse lente (1887), Paris: Richault. *''Rêverie pastorale'' (1900), Paris: A. Noël (also for harp). *''Valse berçante'' (1900), Paris: A. Noël. *''Valse rêveuse'' (1901), Paris: A. Noël. *''Impressions de voyages'' (1903), Brussels: Schott frères. Contains: ''Causerie'', ''Sous bois'', ''Eau courante''. Harp *''Rêverie pastorale'' (1900), Paris: A. Noël (also for piano). *''Prélude pour harpe chromatique'' (1900), Paris: A. Leduc. Chamber *''Mélancolie'' (1897) for violin or cello and piano. Published in ''Le Monde moderne'', 5 June 1897. *''Méditation'' (before 1904) for oboe, horn, harp, organ (unpublished) Songs *''Deux Chants patriotiques'' (1890), Paris: Mackar & Noël. Contains: ''Rendez-nous, l'Alsace et la Lorraine'' and ''À Jeanne la Lorraine''. Vocal church music *''Tu es Petrus'' (c.1903) for boy soprano, 2 tenors, 2 basses, male choir, organ *''Ave Maria'' (before 1904) *''Pie Jesu'' (before 1904) *and more motets etc.

Bibliography

*Axel Klein: ''O'Kelly. An Irish Musical Family in Nineteenth-Century France'' (Norderstedt: BoD, 2014), .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OKelly, Henri 1859 births 1938 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century French composers Knights of the Legion of Honour Composers for harp Composers for piano Conservatoire de Paris alumni French classical composers French classical organists French male classical composers French male organists French people of Irish descent Irish classical composers Irish expatriates in France Irish male classical composers Irish organists Knights of St. Gregory the Great Male classical organists Pupils of Georges Mathias