François Victor Antoine Magnien (21 November 1802 – 8 June 1885) was a French violinist, guitarist, conductor, teacher and composer.Philip J. Bone: ''The Guitar and Mandolin. Biographies of Celebrated Players and Composers'' (London: Schott & Co., 1914; second edition, 1954), pp. 216–218. Not born in 1804 as indicated in some sources; see BnF Data in Authority control. Bone is the main source for Magnien; other guitar-related reference works copied their information from Bone, including Josef Zuth: ''Handbuch der Laute und Gitarre'' (Vienna: Verlag der Zeitschrift für Gitarre, 1926), p. 184, and Józef Powroźniak: ''Gitarren-Lexikon'' (Berlin: Verlag Neue Musik, 1979, 3rd ed., 1986), p. 130.
Life
Magnien was born in
Épinal
Épinal (; german: Spinal) is a commune in northeastern France and the prefecture of the Vosges department.
Geography
The commune has a land area of . It is situated on the river Moselle, south of Nancy. Épinal station has rail connecti ...
, in the French department of
Vosges
The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...
. According to Bone (1914/54), Magnien's father was an administrator of the province of
Haute-Marne
Haute-Marne (; English: Upper Marne) is a department in the Grand Est region of Northeastern France. Named after the river Marne, its prefecture is Chaumont. In 2019, it had a population of 172,512.Bourbon Restoration. From 1817, he studied for two years in Paris: violin with
Rodolphe Kreutzer
Rodolphe Kreutzer (15 November 1766 – 6 January 1831) was a French violinist, teacher, conductor, and composer of forty French operas, including '' La mort d'Abel'' (1810).
He is probably best known as the dedicatee of Beethoven's Violin S ...
and guitar with Ferdinando Carulli. In 1820, his family moved to Colmar where "he commenced a career as clerk in the municipal offices",Bone (1914/1954, p. 217) but his father's association with Colonel Augustin Joseph Caron who was executed for conspiracy in 1822 again led to him losing his job and throwing the family into financial difficulties. This caused the young musician to teach violin and guitar in order to support his family, soon gaining the benevolence of influential families in Colmar.
After a few years he continued teaching in
Mulhouse
Mulhouse (; Alsatian: or , ; ; meaning '' mill house'') is a city of the Haut-Rhin department, in the Grand Est region, eastern France, close to the Swiss and German borders. It is the largest city in Haut-Rhin and second largest in Alsace a ...
. From there, he spent three months a year in Paris to continue his own studies in Paris: violin now with Pierre Baillot and
Charles Philippe Lafont
Charles Philippe Lafont (1 December 178123 August 1839) was a French violinist and composer. He has been characterized as one of the most eminent violinists of the French school.See Family Tree, under External links
Biography
Born in Paris, he rec ...
, the guitar again with Carulli, and composition with
François-Joseph Fétis
François-Joseph Fétis (; 25 March 1784 – 26 March 1871) was a Belgian musicologist, composer, teacher, and one of the most influential music critics of the 19th century. His enormous compilation of biographical data in the ''Biographie univer ...
. His first compositions were duos for violin and guitar, published from 1827 in Paris with Richault who remained his publisher throughout his career.
During the
July Revolution
The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (french: révolution de Juillet), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after the first in 1789. It led to the overthrow of King ...
of 1830, Magnien concertized in Germany. In 1833, he was appointed conductor of the Société Philharmonique de Beauvais (today the Orchestre Philharmonique de l'Oise), an orchestra he conducted for 13 years. In 1846, he became the director of the
Conservatoire de Lille
The Conservatoire de Lille is a music school in Lille, France. Founded in 1803, it was originally set out as a music conservatory, later branching out into theatre and dance in the second half of the 20th century.
The conservatory took the place ...
where he, besides administrative duties, still taught violin and guitar. The date of his retirement is not known. But when he became Chevalier of the
Légion d'honneur
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
on 14 August 1869, confirmed in a second document of 29 January 1872, he was still director of the conservatory.
Magnien died in
Lille
Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the N ...
, aged 82.
Music
The majority of compositions by Victor Magnien is written for the two instruments he initially studied, the violin and the guitar, including several duets for both instruments (opus 1, 5 and 6). He published at least 11 works for guitar solo, including several multi-movement works or albums of several pieces, as well as at least two guitar duos (opus 10 and 35). His violin music includes several duos for violin and piano, a ''Fantaisie'', Op. 14 for two violins, and one work for violin solo (Op. 41).
His music is eminently suited for his chosen instruments. It includes technically ambitious and melodically attractive works in the contemporary Romantic style. After long neglect, some guitar works have been revived and recorded in recent years.
Selected works
Unfortunately, in the case of Richault, the publisher's plate numbers do not give an indication of the dates of publication, nor does the online catalogue of the Bibliothèque nationale de France give many dates. Bone indicates 1827 to 1831, but this period must in fact have been much longer.
Guitar music
* ''Variations sur l'air russe "Schöne Minka" et sur un thème de Préciosa'', Op. 7
* ''Six Andante à plusieurs parties'', Op. 8
* ''Nocturne concertant'', Op. 10, for two guitars
* ''Deux Quadrilles de contredanses'', Op. 13
* ''Variations, précédées d'une introduction sur un thème suisse favori'', Op. 15
* ''Six Menuets'', Op. 16
* ''Six Andante'', Op. 17
* ''Bataille, fantaisie imitative'', Op. 18
* ''Premier mélange sur des airs favoris de l'opéra "Il Crociato" de Meyerbeer'', Op. 20
* ''Grandes variations sur un thème de l'opéra de "Sémiramis" de Rossini'', Op. 22
* ''Douze Galopes'', Op. 23
* ''Thème original varié'', Op. 28
* ''Deux Duos'', Op. 35, for two guitars
Violin music
* ''Duos concertantes'', Op. 1, for violin and guitar
* ''Thème de "Preciosa" (de Weber), varié'', for violin and string quartet or piano, Op. 2
* ''Duo concertant'', Op. 5, for violin and guitar
* ''Duo concertant'', Op. 6, for violin and guitar
* ''Fantaisie et variations concertantes sur un thème suisse favori'', Op. 14, for two violins
* ''Étude pour le violon'', Op. 41 (1842)
* ''4 Mélodies dans les 3 premières positions'', Op. 48, for violin and piano (1859)
* ''Fantaisie-Caprice'', Op. 49, for violin and piano (1853)
* ''2ème Divertissement: Boléro'', Op. 52, for violin and piano (1858)
Piano solo
* ''Le Soir au bord d'un lac suisse'', Op. 51 (1854)
* ''Deux Morceaux élégants'' (London, 1854); 1. Jeanne Hachette, 2. Souvenir de Beauvais
* ''Morceau de salon'', Op. 53 (1861)
* ''Frère et soeur. Deux Romances sans paroles'', Op. 54 (1863) online at Gallica.
Writings
* ''Théorie musicale'' tc.(Paris: Richault, 1837)
* ''Notice biographique sur Charles-Marie, baron de Weber'' (Beauvais: Moisand, 1847)
Recordings
* ''Duos concertants'', Opp. 5 and 6, performed by Gilles Colliard (violin) and Agustin Maruri (guitar) (EMEC Records E 041, 2012).
* Guitar works Opp. 8, 16, 17, 28, performed by Pascal Valois (Centaur CRC 3469, CD 2016).Reviewe here retrieved 14 January 2021
* ''Andante'', Op. 17 No. 1, performed by David Jacques (ATMA Classique ACD2 2806, CD 2020).