Marie-Léontine Bordes-Pène
Encyclopedia
Marie-Léontine Bordes-Pène (25 November 185824 January 1924) was notable French pianist, who premiered major works by César Franck
, Vincent d'Indy
and others.
Marie-Léontine Pène (or Léontine-Marie Pène) was born in Lorient
in 1858. She studied at the Conservatoire de Paris
, gaining first prize in piano in 1872. Her teachers included Félix Le Couppey.
She married a brother of the composer Charles Bordes
, and was known by the surname Bordes-Pène thereafter.
On 16 December 1886, in Brussels, Bordes-Pène was the co-performer, along with the dedicatee Eugène Ysaÿe
, in the premiere public performance of César Franck
's Violin Sonata in A major
. It was the finale to a long program that started at 3pm, and when it came time for the sonata it was early evening. However, the gallery in which the performance took place permitted no artificial lighting for fear of damaging the paintings. Hence, the artists played most of the sonata in the dark and from memory.
Also in 1886, in Paris, she was the soloist at the first performance of Vincent d'Indy
's Symphony on a French Mountain Air, which was dedicated to her.
In 1888, Pierre de Bréville
dedicated his Fantasie to her. Franck also dedicated his Prelude, aria et finale to her, which she premiered on 12 May 1888.
Marie-Léontine Bordes-Pène championed much other new French piano music, by composers such as Emmanuel Chabrier
, Gabriel Fauré
, Henri Duparc, Ernest Chausson
, her brother-in-law Charles Bordes
and others.
In 1889-91 the painter Jacques Émile Blanche
painted her portrait.
In 1890 a stroke left her paralysed, and she retired to teach in Rouen
where she died in 1924, aged 65.
César Franck
César-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck was a composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher who worked in Paris during his adult life....
, Vincent d'Indy
Vincent d'Indy
Vincent d'Indy was a French composer and teacher.-Life:Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy was born in Paris into an aristocratic family of royalist and Catholic persuasion. He had piano lessons from an early age from his paternal grandmother, who passed him on to Antoine François Marmontel and...
and others.
Marie-Léontine Pène (or Léontine-Marie Pène) was born in Lorient
Lorient
Lorient, or L'Orient, is a commune and a seaport in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France.-History:At the beginning of the 17th century, merchants who were trading with India had established warehouses in Port-Louis...
in 1858. She studied at the Conservatoire de Paris
Conservatoire de Paris
The Conservatoire de Paris is a college of music and dance founded in 1795, now situated in the avenue Jean Jaurès in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, France...
, gaining first prize in piano in 1872. Her teachers included Félix Le Couppey.
She married a brother of the composer Charles Bordes
Charles Bordes
Charles Bordes was a French music teacher and composer.-Timeline:Bordes studied pianoforte with Antoine François Marmontel and composition with César Franck. He was organist and maître de chapelle at Nogent-sur-Marne from 1887 to 1890...
, and was known by the surname Bordes-Pène thereafter.
On 16 December 1886, in Brussels, Bordes-Pène was the co-performer, along with the dedicatee Eugène Ysaÿe
Eugène Ysaÿe
Eugène Ysaÿe was a Belgian violinist, composer and conductor born in Liège. He was regarded as "The King of the Violin", or, as Nathan Milstein put it, the "tzar"...
, in the premiere public performance of César Franck
César Franck
César-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck was a composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher who worked in Paris during his adult life....
's Violin Sonata in A major
Violin Sonata (Franck)
The Sonata in A major for Violin and Piano by César Franck is one of his best known compositions, and considered one of the finest sonatas for violin and piano ever written...
. It was the finale to a long program that started at 3pm, and when it came time for the sonata it was early evening. However, the gallery in which the performance took place permitted no artificial lighting for fear of damaging the paintings. Hence, the artists played most of the sonata in the dark and from memory.
Also in 1886, in Paris, she was the soloist at the first performance of Vincent d'Indy
Vincent d'Indy
Vincent d'Indy was a French composer and teacher.-Life:Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy was born in Paris into an aristocratic family of royalist and Catholic persuasion. He had piano lessons from an early age from his paternal grandmother, who passed him on to Antoine François Marmontel and...
's Symphony on a French Mountain Air, which was dedicated to her.
In 1888, Pierre de Bréville
Pierre de Bréville
Pierre Onfroy de Bréville was a French composer.-Biography:Pierre de Bréville was born was born in Bar-le-Duc, Meuse. Following the wishes of his parents, he studied law with the goal of becoming a diplomat. However, he abandoned his plans after a few years and entered the Conservatoire de Paris...
dedicated his Fantasie to her. Franck also dedicated his Prelude, aria et finale to her, which she premiered on 12 May 1888.
Marie-Léontine Bordes-Pène championed much other new French piano music, by composers such as Emmanuel Chabrier
Emmanuel Chabrier
Emmanuel Chabrier was a French Romantic composer and pianist. Although known primarily for two of his orchestral works, España and Joyeuse marche, he left an important corpus of operas , songs, and piano music as well...
, Gabriel Fauré
Gabriel Fauré
Gabriel Urbain Fauré was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th century composers...
, Henri Duparc, Ernest Chausson
Ernest Chausson
Amédée-Ernest Chausson was a French romantic composer who died just as his career was beginning to flourish.-Life:Ernest Chausson was born in Paris into a prosperous bourgeois family...
, her brother-in-law Charles Bordes
Charles Bordes
Charles Bordes was a French music teacher and composer.-Timeline:Bordes studied pianoforte with Antoine François Marmontel and composition with César Franck. He was organist and maître de chapelle at Nogent-sur-Marne from 1887 to 1890...
and others.
In 1889-91 the painter Jacques Émile Blanche
Jacques Émile Blanche
Jacques-Émile Blanche was a French painter born in Paris. His father was a successful psychiatrist who ran a fashionable clinic, and Blanche was brought up in the rich Parisian neighborhood of Passy in a house that had belonged to the Princesse de Lamballe.Although he received some instruction in...
painted her portrait.
In 1890 a stroke left her paralysed, and she retired to teach in Rouen
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
where she died in 1924, aged 65.