Charles Edmond Henri de Coussemaker (19 April 1805 – 10 January 1876) was a 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 ...

and

ethnologist Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). Scien ...

focusing mainly on the cultural heritage of

French Flanders French Flanders ( ; ; ) is a part of the historical County of Flanders, where Flemish—a Low Franconian dialect cluster of Dutch—was (and to some extent, still is) traditionally spoken. The region lies in the modern-day northern French regi ...

. He was a defender of the Dutch language in France.

Biography

Jurist and musician

He was born in Belle,

Hauts-de-France Hauts-de-France (; ; ), also referred to in English as Upper France, is the northernmost region of France, created by the territorial reform of French regions in 2014, from a merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. Its prefecture is Lille. ...

, into a family of jurists on 19 April 1805. At the Dowaai grammar school, he studied violin with Joseph Baudouin and singing and harmony with Moreau, who was an organist at Saint Peter’s Church. In 1825, his father sent him to Paris to study law. At the same time, de Coussemaker started studying musical composition with Antonin Reicha and vocal arts with Felice Pellegrini, who performed

Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano p ...

’s operas in Paris at that time. De Coussemaker visited the salons of the Countesses Merlin, Méroni and de Sparre. After having obtained his certificate in December 1830, de Coussemaker became a trainee in Dowaai, where in 1832 he took up the thread of his studies in counterpoint with Victor Lefebvre. He wanted to improve his religious music; de Coussemaker later wrote ''

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

'': ''

Kyrie ', a transliteration of Greek , vocative case of ('' Kyrios''), is a common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, also called the ( ; ). In the Bible The prayer, , "Lord, have mercy" derives from a Biblical phrase. Greek , ...

'', ''Sanctus'', ''O Salutaris'' and ''

Agnus dei is the Latin name under which the "Lamb of God" is honoured within Christian liturgies descending from the historic Latin liturgical tradition, including those of Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism and Anglicanism. It is the name given to a spec ...

'', in imitation of

Alexandre-Étienne Choron Alexandre-Étienne Choron (21 October 1771 – 29 June 1834) was a French musicologist. For a short time he directed the Paris Opera. He made a distinction between sacred and secular music and was one of the originators of French interest in mu ...

. In the summer of 1832, Coussemaker set up a ''Société d’émulation musicale'' () to play his own pieces of music and those of Victor Lefebvre, Henri Brovellio, Charles Choulet and Amédée Thomassin. From 1840 to 1843, he invited several people, such as violinist

Henri Vieuxtemps Henri François Joseph Vieuxtemps (; 17 February 18206 June 1881) was a Belgian composer and violinist. He occupies an important place in the history of the violin as a prominent exponent of the Franco-Belgian violin school during the mid-19th c ...

and oboist player

Stanislas Verroust Louis Stanislas Xavier Verroust (10 May 1814 – 9 or 11 April 1863) was a French composer and oboist. Biographical sketch Verroust was born in Hazebrouck. He received a second prize in Gustave Vogt's class in oboe in 1833,Sint-Winoksbergen in 1843, after which he was appointed to the Court of

Hazebrouck Hazebrouck (, , , ) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France. It was a small market town in Flanders until it became an important railway junction in the 1860s. West Flemish was the usual language until 1880, when French was taught ...

in 1845. Eventually, he became a judge in Rijsel in 1858. In 1874, he was elected mayor and ''maire'' of

Bourbourg Bourbourg (; ) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is situated in the maritime plain of northern France, in the middle of a triangle formed by Dunkirk, Calais, and Saint-Omer. Population In 1945 Bourbourg absorbed the f ...

, his last residence. He was a member of the

Académie royale de Belgique The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium (RASAB) is a non-governmental association that promotes and organises science and the arts in Belgium by coordinating the national and international activities of its constituent academies su ...

and a correspondent for the ''

Institut de France The ; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the . It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institute manages approximately ...

'' and the Académie des Inscriptions et des Belles-Lettres. His library included 1600 books and musical instruments, part of which came into the possession of the

Royal Library of Belgium The Royal Library of Belgium ( ; ; , abbreviated ''KBR'' and sometimes nicknamed in French or in Dutch) is the national library of Belgium. The library has a history that goes back to the age of the Duke of Burgundy, Dukes of Burgundy. In ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

(''Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België'').

Flemish Committee of France

Based on a report by

Hippolyte Fortoul Hippolyte Nicolas Honoré Fortoul (4 August 1811 – 4 July 1856) was a French journalist, historian and politician. Early years Hippolyte Fortoul was born on 4 August 1811 in Digne, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France as the son of an attorney who ...

, Minister of Education and Religion,

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

signed a decree on 13 September 1852 ordering a compilation of popular French poetry to be published. Inspired by ''Barzaz Breiz: Chants populaires de la Bretagne'', published by

Théodore Hersart de La Villemarqué Théodore is the French version of the masculine given name Theodore. Given name * Théodore Caruelle d'Aligny (1798–1871), French landscape painter and engraver * Théodore Anne (1892–1917), French playwright, librettist, and novelist * Théo ...

from 1839 onwards, de Coussemaker—as a correspondent for the Committee of Language, History and the Arts of France—collected the songs of his region. De Coussemaker founded the Flemish Committee of France in 1853, which was tasked with preserving the

West Flemish West Flemish (''West-Vlams'' or ''West-Vloams'' or ''Vlaemsch'' (in French Flanders), , ) is a collection of Low Franconian varieties spoken in western Belgium and the neighbouring areas of France and the Netherlands. West Flemish is spoken by ...

dialect of the

Dutch language Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language and is the List of languages by total number of speak ...

, as spoken in

. With the priest Jules Auguste Lemire, he tried the education in Catholic schools. Coussemaker

Defending the idea of a

constitutional monarchy Constitutional monarchy, also known as limited monarchy, parliamentary monarchy or democratic monarchy, is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in making decisions. ...

, he rose to the position of General Counsellor of the ''Nord'' (now the French region

Nord-Pas-de-Calais Nord-Pas-de-Calais (; ; West Flemish: ''Nôord-Nauw van Kales'') was a former regions of France, administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new Regions of France, region Hauts-de-France. It consisted of the ...

). Volume IV of his ''Scriptores de musica medii aevi'' was about to be issued, but, as his daughter Lilia wrote the day he died in

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

on 10 January 1876, it was exhausted by his affairs. De Coussemaker died in

. Most of his archives and manuscripts disappeared after the town hall of Belle burned down in 1918.

Musicology

His musical style was oriented towards

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

in the

troubadour style Taking its name from medieval troubadours, the Troubadour Style () is a rather derisive term, in English usually applied to French historical painting of the early 19th century with idealised depictions of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. In ...

. He was interested in

medieval music Medieval music encompasses the sacred music, sacred and secular music of Western Europe during the Middle Ages, from approximately the 6th to 15th centuries. It is the Dates of classical music eras, first and longest major era of Western class ...

after reading the Belgian musicologist

François-Joseph Fétis François-Joseph Fétis (; 25 March 1784 – 26 March 1871) was a Belgian musicologist, critic, teacher and composer. He was among the most influential music intellectuals in continental Europe. His enormous compilation of biographical data in the ...

’s ''Revue Musicale'' (musical revue). The first musicological work by de Coussemaker dates back to 1835. His compilations, ''Scriptorum de Musica Medii aevi'', 1864–1876, continued the works of

Martin Gerbert Martin Gerbert (11 August 1720 – 3 May 1793), was a German theologian, historian and writer on music, belonged to the noble family of Gerbert von Hornau, and was born at Horb am Neckar, Württemberg, on 12 (or 11 or 13) August 1720. Life He ...

. His publications focused on subjects such as the

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek language, Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed main ...

, neumatic and measured notation, medieval instruments and the theory and

polyphony Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice ( monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chord ...

he called ''harmony''. From the original musical sources he had collected, he drew up descriptions based on attentive observation, resulting in his being criticised. He proved the scientific value of

facsimile A facsimile (from Latin ''fac simile'', "to make alike") is a copy or reproduction of an old book, manuscript, map, art print, or other item of historical value that is as true to the original source as possible. It differs from other forms of r ...

s of manuscripts, but he also made his own transcriptions into modern notation. He established several critical editions of ancient music, including liturgical dramas from the Middle Ages and works by

Adam de la Halle Adam de la Halle (1245–50 – 1285–8/after 1306) was a French poet-composer '' trouvère''. Among the few medieval composers to write both monophonic and polyphonic music, in this respect he has been considered both a conservative and pro ...

Publications

*''Hucbald moine de St. Armand et ses traités de musique'' (1839–1841) *''Histoire de l'harmonie au Moyen Âge'' (1852) *''Chants populaires des Flamands de France'' (1856) *''Les harmonistes des XII et XIII siècles'' (1864) *''Œuvres complètes du trouvère Adam de la Halle'' (1872) *''Scriptores de musica medii aevi'' (4 vols.) (1864–1876)

Recordings

* Edmond de Coussemaker, ''Romances et chansons''. With Maryse Collache (soprano), Damien Top (ténor) and Eric Hénon (piano). Symphonic Productions SyPr 041 2005.

Bibliography

* Abbé Dehaisnes, "Notice sur la vie et les travaux de M. de Coussemaker", in ''Bulletin de la Commission historique du Nord'' (1876). * Guy Gosselin, ''L'âge d'or de la vie musicale à Douai 1800-1850'' (

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

: Mardaga, 1994). * Damien Top, "Een verloren perel: la musique d'Edmond de Coussemaker", in ''Annales du Comité flamand de France'' (2005).

Notes and references

Notes

References

External links

*
Musical repertoire
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coussemaker, Edmond De 1805 births 1876 deaths 19th-century French classical composers 19th-century French musicologists 19th-century French writers 19th-century French male musicians 19th-century French male writers Flemish composers Flemish writers French folklorists French male classical composers French male writers French Romantic composers Knights of St. Gregory the Great Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres People from Nord (French department)