Charles-Louis-Eugène Koechlin (; 27 November 186731 December 1950), commonly known as Charles Koechlin, was a French composer, teacher and

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some m ...

. He was a political radical all his life and a passionate enthusiast for such diverse things as

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

, ''

The Jungle Book ''The Jungle Book'' (1894) is a collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, w ...

'' of

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)'' The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

, film stars (especially Lilian Harvey and

Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...

), traveling, stereoscopic photography and

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes th ...

. He once said: "The artist needs an

ivory tower An ivory tower is a metaphorical place—or an atmosphere—where people are happily cut off from the rest of the world in favor of their own pursuits, usually mental and esoteric ones. From the 19th century, it has been used to designate an e ...

, not as an escape from the world, but as a place where he can view the world and be himself. This tower is for the artist like a lighthouse shining out across the world." Among his better known works is '' Les Heures persanes'', a set of piano pieces based on the novel ''Vers Ispahan'' by Pierre Loti and The Seven Stars Symphony, a 7 movement symphony where each movement is themed around a different film star (all Silent era stars) who were popular at the time of the piece's writing (1933).

Life

Charles Koechlin was born in Paris and baptized Charles-Louis-Eugène Koechlin. He was the youngest child of a large family. His mother's family came from

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

and he identified with that region; his maternal grandfather had been the noted philanthropist and textile manufacturer

Jean Dollfus Jean Dollfus (September 25, 1800 – 21 May 1887) was a French industrialist who grew a textile company, Dollfus-Mieg et Compagnie (D.M.C.), in Mulhouse. Dollfus was a leading figure in a philanthropic society which constructed a company town that ...

, and Koechlin inherited his strongly developed social conscience. His father died when he was 14. Despite an early interest in music, his family wanted him to become an engineer. He entered the

École Polytechnique École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

in 1887 but the following year was diagnosed with tuberculosis and had to spend six months recuperating in

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

. He ended up having to do his first year at the École over again and graduated with only mediocre grades. After a struggle with his family and private lessons with

Charles-Édouard Lefebvre Charles-Édouard Lefebvre (19 June 1843 – 8 September 1917) was a French composer. Lefebvre was born in Paris, the son of painter Charles Lefebvre, and studied with Charles Gounod and Ambroise Thomas at the Paris Conservatoire. In 1870, he wa ...

he entered the

Paris Conservatoire The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as 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 ...

in 1890, studying first with

Antoine Taudou Antoine-Barthélémy Taudou (24 August 1846 – 6 July 1925) was a French music educator, violinist and composer. Life Born in Perpignan, Taudou studied at the Conservatoire de Paris and won the Premier Grand Prix de Rome in 1869 with the cantata ...

for harmony. In 1892 he started studying composition with

Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are '' Manon'' (1884) and '' Werther ...

fugue In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the co ...

and

counterpoint In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tra ...

with

André Gedalge André Gedalge (27 December 1856 – 5 February 1926) was a 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, specialising in ''livres de prix' ...

, and music history with Louis Bourgault-Ducoudray. His fellow students included

George Enescu George Enescu (; – 4 May 1955), known in France as Georges Enesco, was a Romanian composer, violinist, conductor and teacher. Regarded as one of the greatest musicians in Romanian history, Enescu is featured on the Romanian five lei. Biogr ...

, Ernest Le Grand,

Reynaldo Hahn Reynaldo Hahn (; 9 August 1874 – 28 January 1947) was a Venezuelan-born French composer, conductor, music critic, and singer. He is best known for his songs – ''mélodies'' – of which he wrote more than 100. Hahn was born in Caracas b ...

Max d'Ollone Maximilien-Paul-Marie-Félix d'Ollone (13 June 1875 – 15 May 1959) was a 20th-century French composer. Life and career Born in Besançon, d'Ollone started composing very early, entering the Paris Conservatoire at 6, winning many prizes, rece ...

, Henri Rabaud and

Florent Schmitt Florent Schmitt (; 28 September 187017 August 1958) was a French composer. He was part of the group known as Les Apaches. His most famous pieces are ''La tragédie de Salome'' and ''Psaume XLVII'' (Psalm 47). He has been described as "one of th ...

. From 1896 he was a student of

Gabriel Fauré Gabriel Urbain Fauré (; 12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) 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 ...

, along with

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...

and

Jean Roger-Ducasse Jean Jules Aimable Roger-Ducasse (Bordeaux, 18 April 1873 – Le Taillan-Médoc ( Gironde), 19 July 1954) was a French composer. Biography Jean Roger-Ducasse studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Émile Pessard and André Gedalge, and was th ...

. Fauré had a great influence on Koechlin, who wrote the first Fauré biography (1927), which is still referred to. In 1898 a grateful Koechlin orchestrated the popular suite from Fauré's '' Pelléas et Mélisande'' and in 1900 assisted Fauré in producing the huge open-air drama ''Promethée''. After his graduation Koechlin became a freelance composer and teacher. He married Suzanne Pierrard in 1903. They had five children. Their son Yves later married

Paul Langevin Paul Langevin (; ; 23 January 1872 – 19 December 1946) was a French physicist who developed Langevin dynamics and the Langevin equation. He was one of the founders of the ''Comité de vigilance des intellectuels antifascistes'', an ant ...

's granddaughter Noémie. Beginning in 1921 he regularly corresponded with Catherine Murphy Urner, a former student of his who lived in California. In 1909 he began regular work as a critic for the ''Chronique des Arts'' and in 1910 was one of the founders, with Ravel, of the Société musicale indépendante, with whose activities he was intensely associated. From its inception in the early 1930s to his death he was a passionate supporter of the International Society for Contemporary Music, eventually becoming President of its French section. From 1937 he was elected President of the Fédération Musicale Populaire. At first comfortably off, he divided his time between Paris and country homes in

Villers-sur-Mer Villers-sur-Mer () is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy, northwestern France, with a population of 2,644 as of 2017. Geography The commune is located on the French coast of the English Channel, on the Côte Fleurie, between Dea ...

and the

Côte d'Azur The French Riviera (known in French as the ; oc, Còsta d'Azur ; literal translation " Azure Coast") is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend from ...

, but after the onset of World War I his circumstances were gradually reduced; he had to sell one of his houses and in 1915 began working as a lecturer and teacher. Partly because of his constant advocacy of younger composers and new styles, he was never successful in his attempts to gain a permanent teaching position for himself, though he was an examiner for many institutions (e.g. the Conservatoires of

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Rheims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

and

Marseilles Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

). His application to be professor of counterpoint and fugue at the Paris Conservatoire in 1926 was rejected 20 votes to 2 (the two being

Albert Roussel Albert Charles Paul Marie Roussel (; 5 April 1869 – 23 August 1937) 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. His ...

and

Maurice Emmanuel Marie François Maurice Emmanuel (2 May 1862 – 14 December 1938) was a French composer of European classical music, classical music and musicologist born in Bar-sur-Aube, a small town in the Champagne-Ardenne region of northeastern France. It wa ...

), but from 1935 to 1939 he was allowed to teach fugue and modal polyphony at the

Schola Cantorum de Paris The Schola Cantorum de Paris is a private conservatory in Paris. It was founded in 1894 by Charles Bordes, Alexandre Guilmant and Vincent d'Indy as a counterbalance to the Paris Conservatoire's emphasis on opera. History La Schola was founded ...

. He visited the US four times to lecture and teach: in 1918-19, 1928, 1929 and 1937. On the second and third visits he taught at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

, through arrangements made by Catherine Murphy Urner, who afterward lived with him until 1933. On the 1929 visit his symphonic poem ''La Joie païenne'' won the

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018. The Hollywood Bowl is known for its distin ...

Prize for Composition and was performed there under the baton of Eugene Goossens. Even so, Koechlin had to pay for the preparation of orchestral parts, and in the 1930s he sank most of his savings into organizing performances of some of his orchestral works. In the 1940s, however, the music department of

Belgian Radio Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

took up his cause and broadcast several premieres of important scores including the first complete performance of the ''Jungle Book'' cycle. He died aged 83 at his country home at Le Canadel, Var, and his body is buried there. Some of his papers are housed at the University of California at Berkeley Library, donated by Catherine Urmer's husband Charles Rollins Shatto. In 1940, the French government offered him the award of

Chevalier de la 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 B ...

, but he refused it.

Style and compositions

Koechlin was enormously prolific, as the worklist below (by no means exhaustive) suggests. He was highly eclectic in inspiration (nature, the mysterious orient, French folksong, Bachian chorale,

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

culture,

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

movies, etc.) and musical technique, but the expressive core of his language remained distinct from his contemporaries. At the start of his career he concentrated on songs with orchestral accompaniment, few of which were performed as intended during his lifetime. A recent (2006) recording of a selection (Hänssler Classic CD93.159) shows he was already master of an individual impressionism deriving less from

Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most infl ...

than from Berlioz and Fauré. Thereafter he concentrated on

symphonic poem A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music, usually in a single continuous movement, which illustrates or evokes the content of a poem, short story, novel, painting, landscape, or other (non-musical) source. The German term ''T ...

s, chamber and instrumental works. After World War I his continuing devotion to the symphonic poem and the large orchestra at a period when

neoclassicism Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism ...

and small ensembles were more fashionable may have discouraged performance and acceptance of his works. His compositions include the four symphonic poems and three orchestral songs making up ''Livre de la jungle'' after

; many other symphonic poems including ''Le Buisson Ardent'' after

Romain Rolland Romain Rolland (; 29 January 1866 – 30 December 1944) was a French dramatist, novelist, essayist, art historian and mystic who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1915 "as a tribute to the lofty idealism of his literary production a ...

(this is a diptych of two orchestral poems, performable separately) and ''Le Docteur Fabricius'' after a novel by his uncle Charles Dollfus; three

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinist ...

s; five symphonies including a ''Seven Stars Symphony'' inspired by

; sonatas for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, violin, viola and cello, and much other chamber music; many songs, over two hundred

opus number In musicology, the opus number is the "work number" that is assigned to a musical composition, or to a set of compositions, to indicate the chronological order of the composer's production. Opus numbers are used to distinguish among compositi ...

s in all; and a vast number of

monodies In music, monody refers to a solo vocal style distinguished by having a single melodic line and instrumental accompaniment. Although such music is found in various cultures throughout history, the term is specifically applied to Italian song of ...

, fugal studies, chorale harmonizations and other educational pieces. Many works remain unpublished, however. He wrote in several styles, sometimes strict Baroque counterpoint, as in the fugue that opens his Second Symphony, and sometimes "impressionistically", as in the tone poem ''Au Loin'', or (though in more astringent fashion) in the scherzo of his Symphony No. 2. He could go from extreme simplicity to extreme complexity of texture and harmony from work to work, or within the same work. Some of his most characteristic effects come from a very static treatment of harmony, savouring the effect of, for instance, a stacked-up series of fifths through the whole gamut of the instruments. His melodies are often long, asymmetrical and wide-ranging in

tessitura In music, tessitura (, pl. ''tessiture'', "texture"; ) is the most acceptable and comfortable vocal range for a given singer or less frequently, musical instrument, the range in which a given type of voice presents its best-sounding (or characte ...

. He was interested in the works of

Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

, some of which he quoted from memory in his treatise on orchestration. The

twelve tone technique The twelve-tone technique—also known as dodecaphony, twelve-tone serialism, and (in British usage) twelve-note composition—is a method of musical composition first devised by Austrian composer Josef Matthias Hauer, who published his "law o ...

is one of the several modern music styles parodied in the 'Jungle Book' symphonic poem ''Les Bandar-Log'', but Koechlin also wrote a few pieces in what he described as the 'style atonal-sériel'. He was fascinated by the movies and wrote many 'imaginary' film scores and works dedicated to the Anglo-German actress Lilian Harvey, with whom he was infatuated. His ''Seven Stars Symphony'' features movements inspired by

Douglas Fairbanks Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films including '' The Thi ...

, Lilian Harvey,

Greta Garbo Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress. Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses, she was known for her melancholic, somber persona, her film portrayals of tragic ch ...

Clara Bow Clara Gordon Bow (; July 29, 1905 – September 27, 1965) was an American actress who rose to stardom during the silent film era of the 1920s and successfully made the transition to " talkies" in 1929. Her appearance as a plucky shopgirl in the ...

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

Emil Jannings Emil Jannings (born Theodor Friedrich Emil Janenz, 23 July 1884 – 2 January 1950) was a Swiss born German actor, popular in the 1920s in Hollywood. He was the first recipient of the Academy Award for Best Actor for his roles in '' The La ...

and

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is conside ...

in some of their most famous film roles. He also composed an ''Epitaph for

Jean Harlow Jean Harlow (born Harlean Harlow Carpenter; March 3, 1911 – June 7, 1937) was an American actress. Known for her portrayal of "bad girl" characters, she was the leading sex symbol of the early 1930s and one of the defining figures of the ...

'' and a suite of dances for

. He was interested in using unusual instruments, notably the saxophone and the early electronic instrument the

Ondes Martenot The ondes Martenot ( ; , "Martenot waves") or ondes musicales ("musical waves") is an early electronic musical instrument. It is played with a keyboard or by moving a ring along a wire, creating "wavering" sounds similar to a theremin. A player ...

. One movement of the Second Symphony requires four of them (and has not usually been included in the few performances of the work, for that reason). He also wrote several pieces for the hunting-horn, an instrument he himself played. Koechlin orchestrated several pieces by other composers. In addition to the Fauré '' Pelléas et Mélisande'' (suite mentioned above), he orchestrated the bulk of Claude Debussy's 'legende dansée' ''Khamma'' under the composer's direction, from the piano scor

and orchestrated

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...

's ballet ''Within the Quota''; other works he transcribed include

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

's ''

Wanderer Fantasy The Fantasie in C major, Op. 15 ( D. 760), popularly known as the ''Wanderer Fantasy'', is a four-movement fantasy for solo piano composed by Franz Schubert in 1822. It is widely considered Schubert's most technically demanding composition for th ...

'' and Chabrier's ''

Bourrée fantasque "Bourrée fantasque" is a piece of music for solo piano by Emmanuel Chabrier (1841–1894), being one of his last major completed works. Background "Bourrée fantasque" is dedicated to the pianist Édouard Risler (1873–1929), who in fact di ...

''.

As educator and author

Koechlin began assisting Fauré in teaching fugue and counterpoint while he was still a student in the 1890s, but though he taught privately and was an external examiner for the Paris Conservatoire throughout his career, he never occupied a permanent salaried teaching position. Composers who studied with him included

Germaine Tailleferre Germaine Tailleferre (; born Marcelle Germaine Taillefesse; 19 April 18927 November 1983) was a French composer and the only female member of the group of composers known as '' Les Six''. Biography Marcelle Germaine Taillefesse was born at Sain ...

, Roger Désormière,

Francis Poulenc Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include mélodie, songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among th ...

and

Henri Sauguet Henri-Pierre Sauguet-Poupard (18 May 1901 – 22 June 1989) was a French composer. Born in Bordeaux, he adopted his mother's maiden name as part of his professional pseudonym. His output includes operas, ballets, four symphonies (1945, 1949 ...

studied orchestration with him in 1923–24.

Darius Milhaud Darius Milhaud (; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, 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 ...

, though never a pupil, became a close friend and considered he learned more from Koechlin than any other pedagogue. Koechlin wrote three compendious textbooks: one on

Harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. Howeve ...

(3 vols, 1923–26), one on

Music Theory Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the " rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (k ...

(1932–34) and a huge treatise on the subject of

orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...

(4 vols, 1935–43) which is a classic treatment of the subject. Koechlin’s treatise uses examples from the orchestral repertoire of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, in particular including examples form French composers, such as Saint-Saëns,

, Chabrier,

Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', which has become on ...

, Fauré,

Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...

, and Koechlin himself. Debussy chose Koechlin to complete the orchestration of his ballet '' Khamma''. Koechlin completed this in 1913. Koechlin also wrote a number of smaller didactic works, as well as the life of Fauré mentioned above.

Character

Despite his lack of worldly success, Koechlin was apparently a loved and venerated figure in French music, with his long flowing beard contributing to his patriarchal image. Following his 1888 illness, the need to build up his strength led him to become an enthusiastic mountaineer, swimmer and tennis player. He was also an amateur astronomer and an accomplished photographer. He was one of the great nature-mystics among French composers, whose personal creed was

pantheistic Pantheism is the belief that reality, the universe and the cosmos are identical with divinity and a supreme supernatural being or entity, pointing to the universe as being an immanent creator deity still expanding and creating, which has ...

rather than Christian. Though never a member of the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel ...

he subscribed to its ideals, and in the later 1930s especially was much concerned with the idea of 'Music for the People'.

Selected list of works

Symphonies

*Symphony in A major (1893–1908, abandoned) *Symphony No. 1, Op. 57bis (orchestral version, 1926, of String Quartet No. 2) *''The Seven Stars Symphony'', Op. 132 (1933) *''Symphonie d’Hymnes'' (1936) ycle of previously composed independent movements*Symphony No. 2, Op. 196 (1943–44)

Symphonic poems

*''La Forêt'', Op. 25 (1897–1906) &, Op. 29 (1896–1907) *''Nuit de Walpurgis classique'', Op. 38 (1901–1916) *''Soleil et danses dans la forêt'', Op. 43 No. 1 (1908–11) *''Vers la plage lointaine, nocturne'', Op. 43 No. 2 (1908–1916) *''Le Printemps'', Op. 47 No. 1 (1908–11) *''L'Hiver'', Op. 47 No. 2 (1908–10 orch 1916) *''Nuit de Juin'', Op. 48 No. 1 (1908–11 orch 1916) *''Midi en Août'', Op. 48 No. 2 (1908–11 orch 1916) *''La Course de printemps'', Op. 95 (1908–25) (Jungle Book Cycle) *''Vers la Voûte étoilée'', Op. 129 (1923–33) * – poème symphonique sur un chant de C.M. Urner, Op. 130 (1933) *''La Méditation de Purun Bhaghat'', Op. 159 (1936) (Jungle Book Cycle) *''La Cité nouvelle, rêve d’avenir'', Op. 170 (1938; after H.G. Wells) *''La Loi de la Jungle'', Op. 175 (1939–40) (Jungle Book Cycle) *''Les Bandar-log'', Op. 176 (1939–40) (Jungle Book Cycle) *''Le Buisson ardent'', Opp. 203 (1945) & 171 (1938) *''Le Docteur Fabricius'', Op. 202 (1941–44, orch 1946)

Other orchestral works

*''En rêve'', Op. 20 No. 1 (1896–1900) *''Au loin'', Op. 20 No. 2 (1896–1900) *''L’Automne'', symphonic suite, Op. 30 (1896–1906) *''Études Antiques'', Op. 46 (1908–10) *''Suite légendaire'', Op. 54 (1901–15) *''5 Chorals dans les modes du moyen-age'', Op. 117 bis (1931 orch. 1932) *Fugue Symphonique ‘''Saint-Georges''’, Op. 121 (1932) *''L’Andalouse dans Barcelone'', Op. 134 (1933) *''Les Eaux vives'' – music for 1937 Paris Exposition Universelle, Op. 160 (1936) *''Victoire de la vie'', Op. 167 (1938 – score for film by Henri Cartier) *''Offrande musicale sur le nom de BACH'', Op. 187 (1942–46) *''Partita'' for chamber orchestra, Op. 205 *Introduction et 4 Interludes de style atonal-sériel, Op. 214 (1947–48)

Solo instrument and orchestra

*3 Chorals for organ and orchestra, Op. 49 (1909–16) *''Ballade'' for piano and orchestra, Op. 50 (1911–19) (also for solo piano) *''Poème'' for horn and orchestra, Op. 70 bis (1927 orch of Horn Sonata) *2 Sonatas for clarinet and chamber orchestra, Opp. 85 bis & 86 bis (1946 arrs. of sonatas for clarinet and piano) *20 ''Chansons bretonnes'' for cello and orchestra, Op. 115 (1931–32) (arrs of 20 ''Chansons bretonnes'' for cello and piano) *''Silhouettes de Comédie'' for bassoon and orchestra, Op. 193 *2 Sonatines for oboe d’amore and chamber orchestra, Op. 194 (1942–43)

Wind band

*''Quelques chorals pour des fêtes populaires'', Op. 153 (1935–36)

Chamber music

*''Deux Nocturnes'' for flute, horn and piano, Op. 32bis (1897-1907) :1. Venise (Andante con moto) :2. Dans la forét (Adagio) *''Trois Pièces'' for bassoon and piano, Op. 34 *String Quartet No. 1, Op. 51 (1911–13) *Sonata, flute and piano, Op. 52 (1913) *Sonata, viola and piano, Op. 53 *''Suite en quatuor'' pour flûte, violon, alto et piano, Op. 55 (1911–1916)BNF entry describing autograph sketches of all 4 movements of the Suite en quatuor with dates from June 1911 to August 1916
/ref> *String Quartet No. 2, Op. 57 (1911–15) ee also Symphony No. 1*Sonata, oboe and piano, Op. 58 (1911–16) *Sonata, violin and piano, Op. 64 (1915–16) *''Paysages et Marines'' for chamber ensemble, Op. 63 (1915–16) lso arr. for piano solo*Sonata, cello and piano, Op. 66 (1917) *Sonata, horn and piano, Op. 70 (1918–25) *Sonata, bassoon and piano, Op. 71 (1918–1919) *String Quartet No. 3, Op. 72 (1917–21) *Sonata, 2 flutes, Op. 75 (1920) *Sonata No. 1, clarinet and piano, Op. 85 (1923) *Sonata No. 2, clarinet and piano, Op. 86 (1923) *Trio for flute, clarinet and bassoon (or violin, viola and violoncello) (1927) *Piano Quintet, Op. 80 *20 ''Chansons bretonnes'' for cello and piano, Op. 115 (1931–32) *''L’Album de Lilian'' (Book I) for soprano, flute, clarinet, piano, Op. 139 (1934) *''L’Album de Lilian'' (Book II) for flute, piano, harpsichord, Ondes Martenot, Op. 149 (1935) *''Sonatine modale'' for clarinet and flute, Op. 155 (1935-36) *Quintet No. 1 for flute, harp and string trio ''Primavera'', Op. 156 (1936) *14 ''Pièces'' for flute and piano, Op. 157b (1936) *''Épitaphe de Jean Harlow'' for flute, alto saxophone and piano, Op. 164 (1937) *Septet for wind instruments, Op. 165 (1937) *14 ''Pièces'' for clarinet and piano, Op. 178 (1942) *14 ''Pièces'' for oboe and piano, Op. 179 (1942) *15 ''Pièces'' for horn (or saxophone) and piano, Op. 180 (1942) *15 Études for saxophone and piano, Op. 188 (1942–44) *12 Monodies for Instruments, Op. 213 (1947) :First and Second for flute :Third and Fourth for oboe :Fifth and Sixth for clarinet :Seventh and Eighth for bassoon :Ninth for alto saxophone :Tenth for trombone :Eleventh for trumpet :Twelfth for horn *''Sonate à sept'' for flute, oboe, harp and string quartet, Op. 221 *''Morceau de lecture pour la flûte'', Op. 218 (1948) *Quintet No. 2 for flute, harp and string trio ''Primavera II'', Op. 223 (1949) *''Stèle funéraire'' for flute, piccolo and alto flute, Op. 224 (1950) *''Motets de style archaique'', 15 pieces for various instruments, Op. 225 (1949)

Instrumental music

*Sonate für Oboe und Klavier, Op. 58 *5 ''Sonatines'' for piano, Op. 59 (1915–16) *4 ''Sonatines Françaises'' for piano duet, Op. 60 (1919) lso version for orchestra*''Paysages et Marines'' for piano, Op. 63 (1915–16) lso arr. chamber ensemble*'' Les Heures persanes'', 16 pieces for piano, Op. 65 (1913–19) lso orchestral version*12 ''Pastorales'' for piano, Op. 77 (1916–20) *4 ''Nouvelles Sonatines françaises'' for piano, Op. 87 (1923–24) *''L’Ancienne Maison de campagne'' for piano, Op. 124 (1923–33) *''Danses pour Ginger Rogers'' for piano, Op. 163 (1937) *''Vers le soleil'' – 7 monodies for Ondes Martenot, Op. 174 (1939) *''Suite'' for cor anglais, Op. 185 (1942) *''Les Chants de Nectaire'', 96 pieces for flute solo in 3 series, Opp. 198, 199 & 200 (1944) *15 ''Préludes'' for piano, Op. 209 (1946) *''Le Repos de Tityre'' for oboe d’amore solo, Op. 216

Choral works

*''L’Abbaye'', Suite religieuse for soli, chorus and orchestra, Opp. 16 & 42 (1908) *3 ''Poèmes'' for soli, chorus and orchestra, Op. 18 (Jungle Book Cycle) *''Chant funèbre à la mémoire des jeunes femmes défuntes'' for chorus and orchestra, Op. 37 (1902–08) *''Chant pour Thaelmann'' for choir and piano or wind band, Op. 138 (1934) *''Requiem des pauvres bougres'' for chorus, orchestra, piano, organ and Ondes Martenot, Op. 161 (1936–37)

Songs

*''Rondels'', Set I, Op. 1 (1890–95) *4 ''Poèmes d’Edmond Haraucourt'', Op. 7 (1890–97) *''Rondels'', Set II, Op. 8 (1891–96) *''Poèmes d’automne'', Op. 13 (1894–99) *''Rondels'', Set III, Op. 14 (1896–1901) *3 ''Mélodies'', Op. 17 (1895–1900) *2 ''Poèmes d’André Chénier'', Op. 23 (1900–02) *6 ''Mélodies sur des poésies d’Albert Samain'', Op. 31 (1902-6) *5 ''Chansons de Bilitis'', Op. 39 (1898–1908) *5 ''Mélodies sur des poèmes de ‘Shéhérazade’ de Tristan Klingsor'' Series I, Op. 56 (1914–16) *8 ''Mélodies sur des poèmes de ‘Shéhérazade’ de Tristan Klingsor'' Series II, Op. 84 (1922–3) *7 ''Chansons pour Gladys'', Op. 151 (1935)

Biography

Robert Orledge Robert Orledge (born 5 January 1948) is a British musicologist, and a professor emeritus of the University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 ...

, ''Charles Koechlin (1867–1950): His Life and Works'', London, Psychology Press, 1989.

References

External links

Koechlin: Les Heures persanes
* Rothstein, Edward

''The New York Times'' 3 June 1984.

in French * {{DEFAULTSORT:Koechlin, Charles 1867 births 1950 deaths 19th-century classical composers 19th-century French composers 19th-century French male musicians 20th-century classical composers 20th-century French composers 20th-century French male musicians Conservatoire de Paris alumni École Polytechnique alumni French male classical composers French Romantic composers Musicians from Paris Schola Cantorum de Paris faculty Fauré scholars