Léon Vallas (17 May 1879 in Roanne – 9 May 1956 in Lyon) was a 20th-century French

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 ...

Biography

Orphaned at 8 years of age, after studying at the St. Mary's Institution at St. Chamond, held by the Marists, he passed his baccalaureate and studied medicine in Lyon, which he dropped out. In 1908, he defended a thesis of musicology on ''La Musique à l'Académie de Lyon au XVIIIe'' ("Music at the Academy of Lyon in the 17th Century"). A collaborator of Vincent d'Indy, in 1902 he became a

music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...

at ''Tout Lyon'', then founded ''La Revue musicale de Lyon'' in 1903, which later became the ''Revue française de musique'' in 1912, and then the ''Nouvelle revue musicale'' in 1920. He was involved in the creation of the "Société des grands concerts" in 1905, with the composer Georges Martin Witkowski and the construction of the in 1908. A physician during the war, he received his doctorate in 1919 on ''Un Siècle de musique et de théâtre à Lyon (1688–1789)'' ("A Century of Music and Theatre in Lyon (1688–1789)") and returned to ''Le Progrès'' in Lyon where he was a music critic for 35 years. In 1925, he founded the "Conférences de musique vivante" in Paris and taught courses at the Sorbonne from 1928 to 1930. From 1929 to 1935, he lectured worldwide for the Alliance Française, which led him to be made Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur in 1934. He was elected president of the Société française de musicologie in 1937, until 1943 Jean Roy, "Vallas (Léon)", in and a member of the Academy of Sciences, Humanities and Arts of Lyon in 1947. He applied twice (1924 and 1941), unsuccessfully, to the leadership of the Conservatoire de musique de Lyon. He married pianist and singer Paule de Lestang in 1936, and then resided until his death at 286 rue Vendôme, in Lyon. His biographies of Franck,

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 D'Indy constitute the essence of his work as a historian.

Publications

* ''La Musique à l'Académie de Lyon au dix-huitième siècle'' (Lyon: Éditions de la Revue musicale de Lyon, 1908)
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* ''Le Théâtre et la Ville: 1694–1712'' (Lyon: Cumin et Masson, 1919) * ''Debussy (1862–1918)'' (Paris: Plon, 1926) * ''Un Siècle de musique et de théâtre à Lyon (1688–1789)'' (Lyon: Masson, 1932) * ''Les Idées de Claude Debussy, musicien français'' (Paris: Éditions musicales de la Librairie de France, 1927; translated into English by Maire O'Brien, Oxford: University Press, 1929) * ''Claude Debussy et son temps'' (Paris: F. Alcan, 1932; reissued Paris:

Albin Michel Albin may refer to: Places * Albin, Wyoming, US * Albin Township, Brown County, Minnesota, US * Albin, Virginia, US People * Albin (given name), origin of the name and people with the first name "Albin" * Albin (surname) ;Mononyms * Albin of ...

, 1958; translated into German, Munich: Nymphenburger Verlags-Handlung, 1961) * ''Achille-Claude Debussy'' (Paris:

Presses universitaires de France Presses universitaires de France (PUF; ), founded in 1921 by Paul Angoulvent (1899–1976), is a French publishing house. Recent company history The financial and legal structure of the Presses Universitaires de France was completely restruc ...

, 1944) (rééd. 1949) * ''Vincent d'Indy'' (Paris:

, 2 vols. (1. ''La Jeunesse, 1851–1886'', 1946; 2. ''La Maturité, la vieillesse, 1886–1931'', 1949) * ''La Véritable histoire de César Franck'' (Paris: Flammarion, 1955)''La Véritable Histoire de César Franck'' on World Cat
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References

Bibliography

* Philippe Lebreton and Jean-Frédéric Schmitt, "Léon Vallas" in ''Centenaire de l’orchestre de Lyon 1905-2005'' *

Biography

Publications

References

Bibliography

External links