Marcel Delannoy
Encyclopedia
Marcel Delannoy was a French composer and critic. He wrote operas, ballets, orchestral works, vocal and chamber works, and film scores.
, Essonne
, France
. He initially studied painting and architecture and entered the École des Beaux-Arts
, but at age 20 he took up music. Having been mobilised during the First World War, he then worked as an artist. However, he was initially self-taught and never attended a conservatory, but he did receive some encouragement from Arthur Honegger
(whose biography he wrote in 1953) and some lessons from Alexis Roland-Manuel
and André Gedalge
. He made his name with the opera Le Poirier de misère (1927), which attracted favourable commentary from Maurice Ravel
, among others. That same year, he was one of ten composers who collaborated on a children's ballet, L'éventail de Jeanne
(contributing the 'Bourrée').
In 1932, Delannoy was one of five composers approached by the producers of the film Don Quichotte
for a series of songs to be sung by its star, the Russian bass Feodor Chaliapin
. The other composers invited were Ravel, Jacques Ibert
, Manuel de Falla
and Darius Milhaud
. Ibert's setting was chosen for the film.
He wrote criticism for Les Nouveaux temps, where he reviewed the first Paris performance of Olivier Messiaen
's Quartet for the End of Time
on 24 June 1941, in which he strongly objected to the written commentary accompanying the work.
The Association de Musique Contemporaine (AMC), of which Delannoy was a committee member, included his works in its early concerts of 1940-41. He also became a member of the Groupe Collaboration. Although showing the influence of Honegger, Delannoy carved his own separate path somewhat apart from contemporary trends.
Alice Swanson Esty commissioned and premiered his song cycle La Voix du Silence (1958).
The baroque oboist and recorder player Michel Piguet (1932-2004) studied with Delannoy.
Delannoy married the pianist Lisette Claveau. He died in Nantes
. There is now a Rue Marcel Delannoy in his birthplace of La Ferté-Alais.
The Complainte de l'homme-serpent from the operetta Philippine was recorded by Hugues Cuénod
.
Extracts from Ginèvra were recorded by the original cast of the Opéra-Comique
conducted by Roger Désormière
in June 1943.
Source:
Life and career
Delannoy was born at La Ferté-AlaisLa Ferté-Alais
La Ferté-Alais is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. It is south of Paris.Its airfield , hosts a world-famous air show for vintage World War I and WWII aircraft and a museum of such aircraft....
, Essonne
Essonne
Essonne is a French department in the region of Île-de-France. It is named after the Essonne River.It was formed on 1 January 1968 when Seine-et-Oise was split into smaller departments.- History :...
, France
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...
. He initially studied painting and architecture and entered the École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement. The school has a history spanning more than 350 years,...
, but at age 20 he took up music. Having been mobilised during the First World War, he then worked as an artist. However, he was initially self-taught and never attended a conservatory, but he did receive some encouragement from Arthur Honegger
Arthur Honegger
Arthur Honegger was a Swiss composer, who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. He was a member of Les six. His most frequently performed work is probably the orchestral work Pacific 231, which is interpreted as imitating the sound of a steam locomotive.-Biography:Born...
(whose biography he wrote in 1953) and some lessons from Alexis Roland-Manuel
Alexis Roland-Manuel
Alexis Roland-Manuel was a French composer and critic, though he is remembered mainly for his work in the latter area.-Biography:...
and André Gedalge
André Gedalge
André Gedalge , was an influential French composer and teacher.- Biography :André Gedalge was born at 75 rue des Saints-Pères, in Paris, where he first worked as a bookseller and editor specializing in livres de prix for public schools...
. He made his name with the opera Le Poirier de misère (1927), which attracted favourable commentary from Maurice Ravel
Maurice Ravel
Joseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
, among others. That same year, he was one of ten composers who collaborated on a children's ballet, L'éventail de Jeanne
L'Éventail de Jeanne
L'éventail de Jeanne is a children's ballet choreographed in 1927 by Alice Bourgat and Yvonne Franck.The music is a collaborative work by ten French composers, each of whom contributed a stylised dance in classic form:...
(contributing the 'Bourrée').
In 1932, Delannoy was one of five composers approached by the producers of the film Don Quichotte
Adventures of Don Quixote (film)
Adventures of Don Quixote is the English title of a film adaptation of the classic Miguel de Cervantes novel, directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst, starring the famous operatic bass Feodor Chaliapin. Although the film stars Chaliapin, it is not an opera; however, he does sing three songs in it. It is...
for a series of songs to be sung by its star, the Russian bass Feodor Chaliapin
Feodor Chaliapin
Feodor Ivanovich Chaliapin was a Russian opera singer. The possessor of a large and expressive bass voice, he enjoyed an important international career at major opera houses and is often credited with establishing the tradition of naturalistic acting in his chosen art form.During the first phase...
. The other composers invited were Ravel, Jacques Ibert
Jacques Ibert
Jacques François Antoine Ibert was a French composer. Having studied music from an early age, he studied at the Paris Conservatoire and won its top prize, the Prix de Rome at his first attempt, despite studies interrupted by his service in World War I.Ibert pursued a successful composing career,...
, Manuel de Falla
Manuel de Falla
Manuel de Falla y Matheu was a Spanish Andalusian composer of classical music. With Isaac Albéniz, Enrique Granados and Joaquín Turina he is one of Spain's most important musicians of the first half of the 20th century....
and Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud was a French composer and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as The Group of Six—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions are influenced by jazz and make use of polytonality...
. Ibert's setting was chosen for the film.
He wrote criticism for Les Nouveaux temps, where he reviewed the first Paris performance of Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen was a French composer, organist and ornithologist, one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex ; harmonically and melodically it is based on modes of limited transposition, which he abstracted from his early compositions and improvisations...
's Quartet for the End of Time
Quatuor pour la fin du temps
Quatuor pour la fin du temps, also known by its English title Quartet for the End of Time, is a piece of chamber music by the French composer Olivier Messiaen. It was premiered in 1941...
on 24 June 1941, in which he strongly objected to the written commentary accompanying the work.
The Association de Musique Contemporaine (AMC), of which Delannoy was a committee member, included his works in its early concerts of 1940-41. He also became a member of the Groupe Collaboration. Although showing the influence of Honegger, Delannoy carved his own separate path somewhat apart from contemporary trends.
Alice Swanson Esty commissioned and premiered his song cycle La Voix du Silence (1958).
The baroque oboist and recorder player Michel Piguet (1932-2004) studied with Delannoy.
Delannoy married the pianist Lisette Claveau. He died in Nantes
Nantes
Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....
. There is now a Rue Marcel Delannoy in his birthplace of La Ferté-Alais.
Recordings
Delannoy's Sérénade concertante for violin and orchestra (soloist Henri Merkel) and the 'Danse des Négrillons' and 'Apothéose' from La Pantoufle de vair were recorded by the Paris Conservatoire Orchestra conducted by Charles Munch in July 1941.The Complainte de l'homme-serpent from the operetta Philippine was recorded by Hugues Cuénod
Hugues Cuénod
Hugues-Adhémar Cuénod was a Swiss tenor known for his performances in opera, operetta, both traditional and musical theatre, and on the concert stage, where he was particularly known for his light, romantic and expressive interpretation of mélodie...
.
Extracts from Ginèvra were recorded by the original cast of the Opéra-Comique
Opéra-Comique
The Opéra-Comique is a Parisian opera company, which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with, and for a time took the name of its chief rival the Comédie-Italienne at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, and was also called the...
conducted by Roger Désormière
Roger Désormière
Roger Désormière was a French conductor.Désormière was born in Vichy in 1898. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, where his professors included Philippe Gaubert , Xavier Leroux and Charles Koechlin , and Vincent d'Indy...
in June 1943.
Operas
- 1927: Le Poirier de misère, opéra-comique, 3 acts; 21 February 1927
- 1937: Philippine, operetta, 2 acts
- 1942: Ginèvra, opéra-comique, 3 acts (Paris, 25 July 1942; title role created by Irène JoachimIrène JoachimIrène Joachim, born 13 March 1913 in Paris, died 20 April 2001, also in Paris, was a French soprano, and later a vocal teacher.-Early life:Daughter of Herman Joachim and Suzanne Chaigneau, and grand-daughter of the violinist Joseph Joachim, she learnt violin and piano as a child...
) - 1946: PuckPuck (opera)Puck is an opéra-féerique in three acts with music by Marcel Delannoy, premiered in 1949. The French libretto was adapted by André Boll from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night's Dream.-Background:...
, opera, 3 acts, after A Midsummer Night's DreamA Midsummer Night's DreamA Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
(1949, Strasbourg; performed in Berlin in 1951) - 1953: Maria Goretti, radiophonic opera
- 1962: La Nuit du temps, chamber opera
Ballets
- 1927: Bourée from L'éventail de JeanneL'Éventail de JeanneL'éventail de Jeanne is a children's ballet choreographed in 1927 by Alice Bourgat and Yvonne Franck.The music is a collaborative work by ten French composers, each of whom contributed a stylised dance in classic form:...
(a ballet written in collaborationClassical music written in collaborationIn classical music, it is relatively rare for a work to be written in collaboration by multiple composers. This contrasts with popular music, where it is common for more than one person to contribute to the music for a song...
with Georges AuricGeorges AuricGeorges Auric was a French composer, born in Lodève, Hérault. He was a child prodigy and at age 15 he had his first compositions published. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Georges Caussade, and under the composer Vincent d'Indy at the Schola Cantorum...
, Pierre-Octave FerroudPierre-Octave FerroudPierre-Octave Ferroud was a French composer of classical music.He was born in Chasselay, Rhône, near Lyon. He went to Lyon, to Strasbourg where he studied with Guy Ropartz, and again to Lyon where he was for a time an associate and "disciple" of Florent Schmitt, and a pupil of Georges Martin...
, Jacques IbertJacques IbertJacques François Antoine Ibert was a French composer. Having studied music from an early age, he studied at the Paris Conservatoire and won its top prize, the Prix de Rome at his first attempt, despite studies interrupted by his service in World War I.Ibert pursued a successful composing career,...
, Darius MilhaudDarius MilhaudDarius Milhaud was a French composer and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as The Group of Six—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions are influenced by jazz and make use of polytonality...
, Francis PoulencFrancis PoulencFrancis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and a member of the French group Les six. He composed solo piano music, chamber music, oratorio, choral music, opera, ballet music, and orchestral music...
, Maurice RavelMaurice RavelJoseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
, Alexis Roland-ManuelAlexis Roland-ManuelAlexis Roland-Manuel was a French composer and critic, though he is remembered mainly for his work in the latter area.-Biography:...
, Albert RousselAlbert RousselAlbert Charles Paul Marie Roussel was a French composer. He spent seven years as a midshipman, turned to music as an adult, and became one of the most prominent French composers of the interwar period...
and Florent SchmittFlorent SchmittFlorent Schmitt was a French composer.-Early life:A Lorrainer, born in Meurthe-et-Moselle, Schmitt originally took music lessons in Nancy with the local composer Gustave Sandré. Subsequently he entered the Paris Conservatoire. There he studied with Gabriel Fauré, Jules Massenet, Théodore Dubois,...
) - 1930: La Fou de la dame, chanson de geste
- 1935: La Pantoufle de vair, also known as Cendrillon, ballet after Charles PerraultCharles PerraultCharles Perrault was a French author who laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from pre-existing folk tales. The best known include Le Petit Chaperon rouge , Cendrillon , Le Chat Botté and La Barbe bleue...
- 1946: Les Noces fantastiques (Serge LifarSerge LifarSerge Lifar ; 15 December 1986) was a French ballet dancer and choreographer of Ukrainian origin, famous as one of the greatest male ballet dancers of the 20th century.-Biography:Lifar was born in Kiev, Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire...
) - 1952: Travesti
- 1966: Venise seuil des eaux
- Au Royaume de la comète, ballet-cantate
Orchestral works
- 1930: Figures sonores (chamber orchestra)
- 1933: Symphony No. 1
- 1936: Sérénade concertante, violin and orchestra
- 1940: Ballade, orchestra
- 1950: Concerto de mai, Op. 50, piano and orchestra
- 1954: Symphony No. 2, Op. 54, strings and celesta
- 1958: Ballade concertante, piano and 12 instruments
- 1958: Le Moulin de la Galette, orchestra
- Suite from Le Marchand de lunettes
- Suite from La Pantoufle de vair
- Intermezzo
- Esquisse symphonique
- L'Homme danse
- Rhapsody, piano and small ensemble
Vocal works
- 1933: Trois chansons de Don Quichotte, voice and orchestra (for the film Don QuichotteAdventures of Don Quixote (film)Adventures of Don Quixote is the English title of a film adaptation of the classic Miguel de Cervantes novel, directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst, starring the famous operatic bass Feodor Chaliapin. Although the film stars Chaliapin, it is not an opera; however, he does sing three songs in it. It is...
but not used) - 1937: Les Trois Choux de Monsieur Patacaisse, scène lyrique
- 1949: Tombeau d'amour, voice and strings
- 1949: Neige, voice and orchestra
- 1950: État de veille, Op. 48, voice and orchestra
- 1958: La Voix du Silence, song cycle
- Suite à chanter, voice and piano
Instrumental works
- String Quartet in E major
- Diner sur l'eau, piano
- Rapsodie for trumpet, alto saxophone, cello, and piano (1934)
Film scores
- La terre est ronde (1960) (TV)
- La Bande à papaLa Bande à papaLa Bande à Papa , is a French comedy film from 1956, directed by Guy Lefranc, written by Roger Pierre, starring Fernand Raynaud and Louis de Funès...
(1956) - Le guérisseur (1953)
- Malaire (1952)
- Due sorelle amano (1950)
- Le bateau à soupe (1947)
- La ferme du pendu (1945; aka Hanged Man's Farm)
- Monsieur des Lourdines (1943)
- Le marchand de notes (1942)
- Volpone (1941)
- Nuit de décembre (1941; aka Night in December)
- Tempête (1940; aka Thunder Over Paris)
- Une femme chipée (1934)
- Il était une fois (1933; aka Once Upon a Time)
- Les deux orphelines (1933; aka The Two Orphans)
Source:
Source
- Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed., 1954, Eric BlomEric BlomEric Walter Blom CBE was a Swiss-born British-naturalised music lexicographer, musicologist, music critic, music biographer and translator. He is best known as the editor of the 5th edition of Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians .-Biography:Blom was born in Berne, Switzerland...
, ed. - Operaone