Louis Émile Georges Gratia (17 September 1878 – 31 October 1962) was a French musician, composer,

musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

, musical editor and arranger.

Life

Gratia was born in

Lunéville Lunéville ( ; German : ''Lünstadt'' ; Lorrain: ''Leneinvile'') is a commune in the northeastern French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle. It is a subprefecture of the department and lies on the river Meurthe at its confluence with the Ve ...

, (

Meurthe-et-Moselle Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a '' département'' in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. Its prefecture and largest city is Nancy and it borders the departments of Meuse to the west, Vosges to the south, ...

). His father was the painter Charles Louis Gratia (1815–1911) who, after his return to France in 1867, settled for a time in Lunéville and remarried. Gratia specialized in

music education Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as primary education, elementary or secondary education, secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a rese ...

, making editions 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 ...

music and arrangements for effective piano pedagogy and acquisition of music theory. His work won the attention and support of important French musicians and teachers like organist

Charles-Marie Widor Charles-Marie-Jean-Albert Widor (21 February 1844 – 12 March 1937) was a French organist, composer and teacher of the late Romantic era. As a composer he is known for his ten organ symphonies, especially the toccata of his fifth organ sympho ...

and pianist

Isidor Philipp Isidor Edmond Philipp (first name sometimes spelled Isidore) (2 September 1863 – 20 February 1958) was a French pianist, composer, and pedagogue of Jewish Hungarian descent. He was born in Budapest and died in Paris. Biography Isidor Philipp ...

. He died in Clichy (

Hauts-de-Seine Hauts-de-Seine (; ) is a department in the Île-de-France region of France. It covers Paris's western inner suburbs. It is bordered by Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne to the east, Val-d'Oise to the north, Yvelines to the west and ...

), in the suburbs of Paris.

Works

Writings

* ''Étude du piano: Comment réaliser un maximum de progrès à l’aide d'un minimum de travail'' (Piano study: how to make the most progress with the least work). Preface by Charles-Marie Widor (Paris: Delagrave 1914). * ''Instruments de musique du XXe siècle: Les conséquences pédagogiques, professionnelles, sociales, artistiques'' (Musical instruments of the 20th century; pedagogical, professional, social, and artistic consequences) (Paris: Heugel, 1931). * ''Répertoire pratique du pianiste: Précedé de conseils préliminaires pour apprendre les notes et le solfège, aider au choix et à l'étude des morceaux : accompagné de 20 exemples musicaux'' (How a pianist should practice: with preliminary advice for learning the notes and music theory, to help in the choice and study of pieces, accompanied by 20 musical examples). Preface by Isidor Philipp (Paris: Delagrave, 1931).

Compositions

* ''L'Harmonium pour tous'' (23 pieces) * ''Abrégé des grands maîtres recueil'' (2 volumes with 20 pieces each) * ''Danse de la fée Dragée. Extrait simplifié du ballet de Casse-Noisette de Tschaïkowsky'' (Dance of the sugar plum fairy, simplified selection of Tchaikovsky's

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' (, ), Opus number, Op. 71, is an 1892 two-act classical ballet (conceived as a '; ) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination featuring a Nutcracker doll. Th ...

)'' (Paris: L. Philippo, 1952). * ''Valse des fleurs. Extrait simplifié du ballet de Casse-Noisette de Tschaïkowsky'' (

Waltz The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the ...

of the flowers, simplified selection from Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker) (Paris: L. Philippo, 1952).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gratia, Louis Émile 1878 births 1962 deaths 20th-century French classical composers 20th-century French musicologists French music educators