Cécile Louise Stéphanie Chaminade (August 8, 1857 – April 13, 1944) was a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 composer and pianist.

Biography

Born in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, she studied at first with her mother, then with Félix Le Couppey, Marie Gabriel Augustin Savard

Marie Gabriel Augustin Savard

Marie Gabriel Augustin Savard was the father of Marie Emmanuel Augustin Savard. He was a teacher at the Paris Conservatory in tonic solfa, harmony and figured bass. Among his pupils were Jules Massenet, Cécile Chaminade, Eduard Reuss, and Edward MacDowell. Massenet describes him fondly in his...

, Martin Pierre Marsick

Martin Pierre Marsick

Martin Pierre Joseph Marsick , was a Belgian violin player and teacher.In 1854, seven-year old Marsick was admitted to the Royal Conservatory of Music in Liège, to study violin with Désiré Heynberg...

 and Benjamin Godard

Benjamin Godard

Benjamin Louis Paul Godard was a French violinist and Romantic composer.-Biography:Born in Paris, Godard was a student of Henri Vieuxtemps. He entered the Conservatoire de Paris in 1863 where he studied under Vieuxtemps and Napoléon Henri Reber and accompanied Vieuxtemps twice to Germany...

, but not officially, since her father disapproved of her musical education.

Her first experiments in composition took place in very early days, and in her eighth year she played some of her sacred music to Georges Bizet

Georges Bizet

Georges Bizet formally Alexandre César Léopold Bizet, was a French composer, mainly of operas. In a career cut short by his early death, he achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen, became one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertory.During a...

, who was much impressed with her talents. She gave her first concert when she was eighteen, and from that time on her work as a composer gained steadily in favor. She wrote mostly character pieces for piano, and salon songs, almost all of which were published.

She toured France several times in those earlier days, and in 1892 made her début in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, where her work was extremely popular. Isidor Philipp

Isidor Philipp

Isidor Philipp was a French pianist, composer, and distinguished pedagogue of Hungarian descent. He was born in Budapest and died in Paris.-Biography:...

, head of the piano department of the Paris Conservatory championed her works.

Chaminade married a music publisher from Marseilles, Louis-Mathieu Carbonel, in 1901, and on account of his advanced age the marriage was rumored to be one of convenience. He died in 1907, and Chaminade did not remarry.

In 1908 she visited the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, and was accorded a very hearty welcome from her innumerable admirers there. Her compositions were tremendous favorites with the American public, and such pieces as the Scarf dance or the Ballet No. 1 were to be found in the music libraries of many lovers of piano music

Piano Music

Piano Music is a suite of four short pieces composed by Alexina Louie in 1982 for the Alliance for Canadian New Music Projects. The four pieces are The Enchanted Bells, Changes, Distant Memories, and Once upon a time....

 of the time. She composed a Konzertstück

Concertino (composition)

A concertino is a short concerto freer in form. It normally takes the form of a one-movement musical composition for solo instrument and orchestra, though some concertinos are written in several movements played without a pause....

 for piano and orchestra, the ballet music

Ballet (music)

Ballet as a music form progressed from simply a complement to dance, to a concrete compositional form that often had as much value as the dance that went along with it. The dance form, originating in France during the 17th century, began as a theatrical dance. It was not until the 19th century that...

 to Callirhoé and other orchestral works. Her songs, such as The Silver Ring and Ritournelle, were also great favorites. Ambroise Thomas

Ambroise Thomas

Charles Louis Ambroise Thomas was a French composer, best known for his operas Mignon and Hamlet and as Director of the Conservatoire de Paris from 1871 till his death.-Biography:"There is good music, there is bad music, and then there is Ambroise Thomas."- Emmanuel Chabrier-Early life...

, the celebrated French composer and writer, once said of Chaminade: "This is not a woman who composes, but a composer who is a woman." In 1913, she was awarded the Légion d'Honneur

Légion d'honneur

The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...

, a first for a female composer. In London, 1903, she made gramophone recordings of six of her compositions for the Gramophone and Typewriter Company; these are among the most sought-after piano recordings by collectors. Before and after World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, Chaminade recorded many piano roll

Piano roll

A piano roll is a music storage medium used to operate a player piano, piano player or reproducing piano. A piano roll is a continuous roll of paper with perforations punched into it. The peforations represent note control data...

s, but as she grew older, she composed less and less, dying in Monte Carlo

Monte Carlo

Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....

 on April 13, 1944.

Chaminade was relegated to obscurity for the second half of the 20th Century, her piano pieces and songs mostly forgotten, with the Flute Concertino, composed for the 1902 Paris Conservatoire Concours

Paris Conservatory Flute Concours

In the 19th and 20th Centuries Paris was home to the World’s Cultural Elite. At this time the Paris Conservatoire was considered to be the finest institute in France for music studies. Starting from 1860, at the end of each year students played for the prizes, through the concours...

, her most popular piece today.

Her sister married Moritz Moszkowski

Moritz Moszkowski

Moritz Moszkowski was a German Jewish composer, pianist, and teacher of Polish descent. Ignacy Paderewski said, "After Chopin, Moszkowski best understands how to write for the piano"...

.

Works with opus number

• Op. 1, Etude in A-flat major
• Op. 1, 2 Mazurkas for Piano
• Op. 2, Presto for Piano
• Op. 3, Scherzo-étude
• Op. 4, Caprice-étude
• Op. 5, Menuet
• Op. 6, Berceuse
• Op. 7, Barcarolle
• Op. 8, Chaconne (1879)
• Op. 9, Two piano pieces: 1 Pièce romantique; 2 Gavotte (1879)
• Op. 10, Scherzando
• Op. 11, Piano Trio No. 1 in G minor (1881)
• Op. 12, Pastorale enfantine (1881)
• Op. 13, Les Noces d'Argent, Petite Fantaisie for Piano (1881)
• Op. 18, Capriccio for violin and piano (1881)
• Op. 19, La Sévillane, comic opera
• Op. 20, Suite for Orchestra (1881)
• Op. 20, Intermezzo in A-flat major (Extract from Suite for Orchestra) (1881)
• Op. 21, Sonata for piano in C minor (1881)
• Op. 22, Orientale
• Op. 23, Minuetto (1881)
• Op. 24, Libellules (Dragon Flies) (1881)
• Op. 25, 2 Piano Pieces
• Op. 26, Symphonie Dramatique 'Les Amazones' (first pub. 1888)
• Op. 27, Deux morceaux: 1 Duetto; 2 Zingara
• Op. 28, Étude symphonique for piano (1883)
• Op. 29, Sérénade (1884)
• Op. 30, Air de ballet (1884)
• Op. 31, 3 Morceaux for Violin and Piano (ca. 1885)
• Op. 32, guitare (1885)
• Op. 33, Valse caprice (1885)
• Op. 34, piano trio #2 (a): 1 allegro moderato; 2 lento; 3 allegro energico (1887)
• Op. 35, 6 études de concert: 1 (C) scherzo; 2 (D–)automne; 3 fileuse; 4 Appasionato 5 (F) impromptu; 6 (D) tarantelle (1886)
• Op. 36, 2 pieces: 2 pas des cymbales (1887)
• Op. 37, 5 Airs de Ballet : 1 danse oriental; 2 Pas des amphores; 3 Pas des echarpes; 4 Callirhöe;5 Danse pastorale(1888)
• Op. 38, Marine (1887)
• Op. 39, toccata (1887)
• Op. 40, Concertpiece for piano and orchestra
• Op. 41, air de ballet. pierrette (E–) (1889)
• Op. 42, Les Willis,caprice (1889)
• Op. 43, gigue (D) (1889)
• Op. 44, Les Feux de la St. Jean for Chorus, Soli and Piano
• Op. 45, Sous L'Aile Blanche des Voiles for Chorus, Soli and Piano
• Op. 46, Pardon Breton for Chorus, Soli and Piano
• Op. 47, Noce Hongroise for Chorus, Soli and Piano
• Op. 48, Noel des Marins for Chorus, Soli and Piano
• Op. 49, Les Filles d'Arles for Chorus, Soli and Piano
• Op. 50, la lisonjera (G–) (1890)
• Op. 51, La livry,air de ballet (1890?)
• Op. 52, Capriccio appassionato (1890)
• Op. 53, arlequine (F) (1890)

• Op. 54, caprice espagnole. lolita (D–) (1890)
• Op. 55, 6 pièces romantiques: 6 rigaudon (1890)
• Op. 56, Scaramouche (1890)
• Op. 57, Havanaise (1891)
• Op. 58, Mazurk-Suedoise (1891)
• Op. 59, Andante et Scherzettino de Callirhoe for 2 Pianos à 4 hands (ca. 1891)
• Op. 60, les sylvains (1892)
• Op. 61, arabesque (1892)
• Op. 62, Barcarolle for 2 Voices and Piano (1892)
• Op. 63, Les Fiancés for 2 Voices and Piano (1892)
• Op. 64, L'Angélus for 2 Voices and Piano (1892)
• Op. 65, Marthe et Marie for 2 Voices and Piano (1892)
• Op. 66, Studio (1892)
• Op. 67, caprice espagnole. la morena (1892)
• Op. 68, Duo d'Etoiles for 2 Voices and Piano
• Op. 69, A Travers Bois for 2 Voices and Piano
• Op. 70, Le Pêcheur et l'Ondine for 2 Voices and Piano
• Op. 71, Nocturne Pyrénéen for 2 Voices and Piano
• Op. 73, valse carnavalesque (1894)
• Op. 74, Pièce dans le style ancien (1893)
• Op. 75, Danse ancienne (1893)
• Op. 76, 6 romances sans paroles: 1 souvenance; 2 (E) élévation; 3 idylle; 4 eglogue; 5 chanson brétonne; 6 méditation (1894)
• Op. 77, deuxieme vals (1895)
• Op. 78, Prelude (1895)
• Op. 79, Two Pieces for Orchestra
• Op. 80, Troisieme valse brillante (1898)
• Op. 81, Terpsichore, sexieme air de ballet (1896)
• Op. 82, Chanson napolitaine (1896)
• Op. 83, Ritournelle (1896)
• Op. 84, Trois prèludes melodiques (1896)
• Op. 85, Vert-Galant (1896)
• Op. 86, romances sans paroles: 1 souvenance; 2 élévation;
• Op. 87, 6 pièces humoristiques: 2 sous bois; 3 inquiétude; 4 autrefois; 5 consolation; 6 norwegienne (1897)
• Op. 88, Rimembranza (1898)
• Op. 89, thème varié (A) (1898)
• Op. 90, Legende (1898)
• Op. 91, waltz #4 (D–) (1898)
• Op. 92, Deuxieme arabesque (1898)
• Op. 93, Valse humoristique (1906)
• Op. 94, havanaise #2 danse créole (1898)
• Op. 95, Trois dances anciennes: 1 passepied; 2 pavane; 3 courante; (1899)
• Op. 96, Chant du Nord for Violin and Piano (1899)
• Op. 97, rondeaus for violin and piano (1899)
• Op. 98, 6 feuillets d’album: 1 promenade; 2 scherzetto; 3 (D–) élégie; 4 valse arabesque 5 chanson russe; 6 rondo allegre (1900)
• Op. 99, 6 Poèmes evangéliques for Chorus and Piano (1900)
• Op. 100, Aux Dieux sylvains for Chorus (1900)
• Op. 101, l’ondine (1900)
• Op. 102, Joie d'Aimer for Mezzosoprano and Piano (1900)
• Op. 103, Moment musical (1900)
• Op. 104, tristesse (c+) (1901)
• Op. 105, divertissement (1901)
• Op. 106, Expansion (1901)
• Op. 107, Concertino for Flute & Orchestra in D major (1902)
• Op. 108, Agitato (1902)
• Op. 109, Cinquieme valse (1903)
• Op. 110, Novelette (1902)
• Op. 111, Souvenir lointains (1911)
• Op. 112, sixieme valse, valse-ballet (1904)
• Op. 113, Caprice humoristique (1904)
• Op. 114, pastorale (1904)
• Op. 115, waltz #7 valse romantique (1905)
• Op. 116, sous le masque (1905)
• Op. 117, Duo Symphonique for 2 pianos
• Op. 118, étude mélodique (G–) (1906)
• Op. 119, valse tendre (F) (1906)
• Op. 120, Variations sur un theme original (1906)
• Op. 121, Gavotte for Piano (1906)
• Op. 122, 3 contes blues: 2 (1906)
• Op. 123, album d’enfants: 2 (A–) intermezzo. pas de sylphes; 4 (F) rondeau; 5 (a) gavotte; 9 (e) orientale; 10 (a) tarantelle (1906)
• Op. 124, étude pathetique (b) (1906)
• Op. 125, sommeil d'enfant; transcription pour violoncelle avec acc. de piano (1907)
• Op. 126, album d’enfants: 1 (C) idylle; 2 (E) aubade; 3 (a) rigaudon; 4 (G) eglogue; 5 (g) ballade; 6 (D) scherzo-valse; 7 (d) élégie; 8 (F) novelette 9 (g) patrouille; 10 (A) villanelle; 11 (a) conte de fées; 12 (B-) valse mignonne (1907)
• Op. 127, 4 poèmes provençales: 2 solitude; 3 (D–) le passé; 4 pêcheurs de nuit (1908)
• Op. 128, Pastel for Piano
• Op. 129, Menuet galant for Piano
• Op. 130, passacaille (E) (1909)
• Op. 131, Marche américaine for Piano (1909)
• Op. 132, Etude romantique for Piano (1909)
• Op. 133, Ronde du Crépuscule for Chorus (1909)
• Op. 134, la retour (1909)
• Op. 135, La Barque d'Amour for Piano
• Op. 136, Capricietto for Piano
• Op. 137, romance (D) (1910)
• Op. 138, Etude humoristique for Piano (1910)
• Op. 139, étude scholastique (1910)
• Op. 140, Aubade for Piano
• Op. 141, Suédoise for Piano
• Op. 142, Serénade aux étoiles for Flute and Piano
• Op. 143, cortège (A) (1911)
• Op. 144, Gavotte for Piano
• Op. 145, Scherzo for Piano
• Op. 146, Feuilles d'Automne for Piano
• Op. 147, Les Bohémiens for Piano
• Op. 148, scherzo-valse (1913)
• Op. 149, Gavotte for Piano
• Op. 150, sérénade espagnole (G) (1925)
• Op. 151, Ecossaise for Piano
• Op. 152, Interlude for Piano
• Op. 153, Caprice Impromptu for Piano
• Op. 154, Sérènade vénitienne for Piano
• Op. 155, au pays dévasté (1919)
• Op. 156, Berceuse du Petit Soldat Blessé for Piano (1919)
• Op. 157, Chanson d'Orient for Piano (1919)
• Op. 158, danse païenne (1919)
• Op. 159, Les Elfes des Bois for Voice and Piano
• Op. 160, Les Sirènes for Chorus, Soli and Orchestra
• Op. 161, Chanson Nègre for Piano (ca. 1921)
• Op. 162, Gavotte for Piano
• Op. 163, Romanesca for Piano
• Op. 164, air à danser (1923)
• Op. 165, nocturne (1925)
• Op. 166, Berceuse arabe for Piano
• Op. 167, Messe pour deux voix égales for Voices and Organ (1927)
• Op. 168, Danse l'Aeéne for Piano
• Op. 169, Valse d'Automne for Piano
• Op. 170, Air Italien for Piano
• Op. 171, La Nef Sacrée for Organ

Works without opus number

• Les rêves (1876)
• Te souviens-tu? (1878)
• Auprès de ma mie (1888)
• Voisinage (1888)
• Nice-la-belle (1889)
• Rosemonde (1890)
• L'anneau d’argent (1891)
• Plaintes d’amour (1891)
• Viens, mon bien-aimé! (1892)
• L'Amour captif (1893)
• Ma première lettre (1893)
• Malgré nous! (1893)
• Si j’étais jardinier (1893)
• L'Été (1894)
• Mignonne (1894)
• Sombrero (1894)
• Villanelle (1894)
• Espoir (1895)
• Ronde d’amour (1895)
• Chanson triste (1898)
• Mots d’amour (1898)
• Alleluia (1901)
• Écrin! (1902)
• Bonne humeur! (1903)
• Menuet (1904)
• La lune paresseuse (1905)
• Je voudrais (1912)
• Attente. au pays de provence (1914)

Media

External links

• Arrangement by the composer of Concertstück: pour piano et orchestre, op. 40 for 2 pianos, 4 hands Paris: Enoch et Cie, 1890. From Sibley Music Library Digital Scores Collection
• Duo symphonique pour deux pianos (4 mains) op. 117 Paris: Enoch & Cie, 1905. From Sibley Music Library Digital Scores Collection
• Piano Rolls (The Reproducing Piano Roll Foundation)
• watch the performance of Villanelle,Espoir,Viens, mon bien-aime! and Malgré nous by Coco Chen.

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