Camille Léo Ernest Decreus (sometimes spelt as "Camille DeCreus" or "Camille de Creus") (23 September 1876 – 26 September 1939) was a French

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

Biography

Decreus was born in Paris and studied with

Raoul Pugno Stéphane Raoul Pugno (23 June 1852 – ) was a French composer, teacher, organist, and pianist known for his playing of Mozart's works. Biography Raoul Pugno was born in Paris and was of Italian origin. He made his debut at the age of six, and w ...

at the

Paris Conservatory The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

. He married the talented violinist Renée Chemet on 20 May 1906. This year also marked his solo debut. Since then, he was mainly known as a piano accompanist for other musicians in Europe and America, including his wife and the violinist

Eugène Ysaÿe Eugène-Auguste Ysaÿe (; 16 July 185812 May 1931) was a Belgian virtuoso violinist, composer, and conductor. He was regarded as "The King of the Violin", or, as Nathan Milstein put it, the "tsar". Early years Born in Liège, Ysaÿe began ...

. Decreus became Director of the

American Conservatory in Fontainebleau The Fontainebleau Schools were founded in 1921, and consist of two schools: ''The American Conservatory'', and the ''School of Fine Arts at Fontainebleau''. History When the American Expeditionary Forces entered the First World War, the command ...

in or before 1924. During the years at the American Conservatory, many musicians have benefitted from his teaching, including Jane Pickens Hoving, Jane Hobson,

Ulvi Cemal Erkin Ulvi Cemal Erkin () (March 14, 1906 – September 15, 1972) was a member of the pioneer group of symphonic composers in Turkey, born in the period 1904–1910, who later came to be called The Turkish Five. These composers set out the direction o ...

, Humberto Viscarra Monje, Evangeline Marie Lehman and others.

Musical works

As a composer, Decreus is today forgotten. Only about ten short vocal pieces with piano accompaniment or piano solo pieces are attributed as Decreus's compositions. No recordings for any of Decreus's work exist, although information about live performance of his work can be found. A number of composers dedicated works to Decreus, including: * Godowsky's concert transcription of Chopin's Waltz Op. 69 No. 1, * ''Le Moustique'', Op. 66 by Mel Boniscover image of .

References

External links

* 1876 births 1939 deaths 19th-century French classical composers 19th-century French people 19th-century French male musicians 20th-century French male musicians 20th-century French composers Composers for piano French male classical composers French music educators French Romantic composers Academic staff of the American Conservatory {{composer-stub