Gabriel Marie Grovlez (4 April 1879 – 20 October 1944) 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 ...

, conductor, pianist, and music critic.

Early life and education

Grovlez was born 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 No ...

in 1879. His mother – the child of one of Chopin's students – was his first piano teacher.

Alain Louvier Alain Louvier (born 13 September 1945) is a French composer of contemporary classical music. Biography Born in Paris, Louvier studied from 1953 to 1967 at the headed by Marcel Landowski, then from 1967 to 1970 at the Conservatoire de Paris wit ...

(20 January 2001). Grovlez, Gabriel (Marie). ''Grove Music Online'', Oxford University Press Grovlez attended the

Conservatoire de Paris 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 ...

, where he studied with

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 ...

Louis Diémer Louis Joseph Diémer (14 February 1843 – 21 December 1919) was a French pianist and composer. He was the founder of the Société des Instruments Anciens in the 1890s, and also gave recitals on the harpsichord. His output as a composer was exte ...

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' ...

, Descombes, Kaiser and Lavignac. At the

Schola Cantorum 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 ...

, Charles Bordes introduced him to

Gregorian Chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed mainly in western and central Europe dur ...

and the music of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

.Guy Ferchault, "Grovlez, Gabriel (Marie)", in: ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart (MGG)'', rev. ed., biographical part vol. 8 (Kassel: Bärenreiter, 2002), cc. 106.

Career

Grovlez toured Europe as an accompanist to

Henri Marteau Henri Marteau (31 March 1874 – 3 October 1934) was a French violinist and composer, who obtained Swedish citizenship in 1915. Life and career Marteau was born in Reims. He was of German and French ancestry. His father, a Frenchman, was a well k ...

, violinist, and as a solo pianist. He was professor of piano at the Schola Cantorum from 1899 to 1909, choir director and deputy conductor of the

Opéra Comique ''Opéra comique'' (; plural: ''opéras comiques'') is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged from the popular '' opéras comiques en vaudevilles'' of the Fair Theatres of St Germain and St Laurent (and to a l ...

(1905–1908), and musical director at the Théâtre des Arts (1911–1913). At the Théâtre des Arts, he gave the premieres of

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 ...

's '' Le Festin de l'araignée'' and

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 ...

's '' Ma mère l'oye'', and also revived many operas, particularly from the baroque era, including works by

Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is consider ...

, Lully,

Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau (; – ) was a French composer and music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and ...

and

Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire, he ...

. From 1914 to 1933, he was the director of the Opéra de Paris ("Societé Nationale de l'Opéra"), where among other productions, he conducted a season of Diaghilev's

Ballets Russes The Ballets Russes () was an itinerant ballet company begun in Paris that performed between 1909 and 1929 throughout Europe and on tours to North and South America. The company never performed in Russia, where the Revolution disrupted society. ...

. He had an international career as a guest conductor, and worked at opera houses in Monte Carlo, Cairo, Lisbon, New York and Chicago. From 1939, he was a professor of chamber music at the Conservatoire. During his tenure at the Opéra de Paris, Grovlez edited collections of arias from early French opera, which were influential in England. Graham Johnson, Richard Stokes.
A French Song Companion
', p. 235 (Oxford University Press; 2002) He also wrote reviews for Paris music journals including ''Excelsior'' (1916–17) and ''L'Art musical'' (1937–39). Grovlez died in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

in 1944, at the age of 65.

Compositions

His compositions were mainly for voice and for the stage, including multiple ballets. Much of his work shows strong neo-classical influences.

describes his compositions as "cultivated and finely coloured", distinctive but with influences from Fauré. His notable operas include ''Coeur de rubis'' (1906) and ''Le marquis de Carabas'' (1926).

(1 December 1992). Grovlez, Gabriel (opera) (Marie). ''Grove Music Online'', Oxford University Press He wrote around 50 songs, described by Graham Johnson and Richard Stokes as often having "an elegant and sometimes whimsical effect" in performance. Good examples of his vocal writing include ''Trois Mélodies sur des poèmes de Jacques Heugel''; ''Paroles à l'absente'', setting poems by G. Jean-Aubry (1918); and ''Guitares et mandolines'' (1913), setting a work by

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (; 9 October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano C ...

. He also wrote music for children, including the popular ''L'Almanach aux images'' for piano.

Selected works

;Stage * ''Cœur de rubis'', Légende féérique (opera) in 3 acts (1906), libretto by Gabriel Montoya * ''Maïmouna'', fantasy-ballet in 2 scenes (1916), libretto by P. André Gérard * ''La Vrai arbre de Robinson'', ballet in 1 act (1921) * ''Le Marquis de Carabas'', "conte lyrique" in 3 acts (1926), libretto by R. Coolus * ''La Princesse au jardin'', ballet in 1 act (1943), libretto by

Émile Vuillermoz Émile-Jean-Joseph Vuillermoz (23 May 1878 – 2 March 1960) was a French critic in the areas of music, film, drama and literature. He was also a composer, but abandoned this for criticism. Early life Émile Vuillermoz was born in Lyon in 1878. He ...

;Orchestra * ''Dans le jardin'' (1907), tone poem for soprano, female choir and orchestra * ''La Vengeance des fleurs'' (1910) * ''Le Reposoir des amants'' (1914) ;Chamber music * Sonata for violin and piano (1908) * Divertissement for flute and piano (1912) * Concertino for flute or clarinet and piano * ''Lamento et tarentelle'' for clarinet and piano (1923) * ''Romance et scherzo'' for flute and piano (1927) * ''Sarabande et allegro'' for oboe and piano (1929) * ''Sicilienne et allegro giocoso'' for bassoon and piano (1930) * ''Romance, scherzo et finale'' for viola and piano (1932) * Sonata for cello and piano (1936) * ''Romance et scherzo'' for flute and viola ;Piano * ''Au jardin de l'enfance'', 6 pieces after ''

L'Art d'être grand-père ''L'Art d'être grand-père'' ("The Art of Being a Grandfather") is a substantial book of poems by Victor Hugo, published in 1877. They were among the last he wrote. On 13 March 1871, Hugo's 44-year-old son Charles died of a stroke while riding ...

'' by

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

(1907). Contains: ''La Sieste''; ''Chose du soir''; ''Chanson de grand-père''; ''Chanson d'ancêtre''; ''Chanson pour faire danser en rond les petits enfants''; ''Pepita''. * ''3 Improvisations sur Londres'' (3 Impressions of London) (1910). Contains: 'Westminster Abbey''; ''The Park''; ''Soir de dimanche sur les bords de la Tamise'' * ''L'Almanach aux images'', 8 Pieces after poems of

Tristan Klingsor Tristan Klingsor, birth name (Arthur Justin) Léon Leclère (born Lachapelle-aux-Pots, Oise department, 8 August 1874; died Nogent-sur-Marne, 3 August 1966), was a French poet, musician, painter and art critic, best known for his artistic associat ...

(1911). Contains: ''Les Marionnettes''; ''Berceuse de la poupée''; ''La Sarabande''; ''Chanson du chasseur''; ''Les Ånes''; ''Le Pastour''; ''Chanson de l'escarpolette''; ''Petites litanies de Jésus''. * ''Trois Pièces'' (1913). Contains: ''Évocation''; ''Barcarolle''; ''Scherzo * ''Fancies'' (1915). Contains: ''Sérénade''; ''Nocturne''; ''Petite valse''; ''Berceuse''; ''Fileuse''; ''Rêverie''; ''Cake Walk''. * ''Trois Valses romantiques'' (1917) * ''Deux Études de difficulté transcendante'' (1919) * ''Impressions'', 2 pieces (1934) ;Vocal * ''La Chambre blanche'', 10 Songs on poems of

Henry Bataille Félix-Henri "Henry" Bataille (4 April 1872, in Nîmes – 2 March 1922, in Rueil-Malmaison) was a French dramatist and poet. His works were popular between 1900 and the start of World War I. Bataille's parents died when he was young. He atten ...

(1903) * ''La Flûte'' for voice and piano (1907); words by

José-Maria de Heredia José-Maria de Heredia (22 November 1842 – 3 October 1905) was a Cuban-born French Parnassian poet. He was the fifteenth member elected for seat 4 of the Académie française in 1894. Biography Early years Heredia was born at Fortuna ...

* ''Sagesse'', 5 Poems of

Paul Verlaine Paul-Marie Verlaine (; ; 30 March 1844 – 8 January 1896) was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement and the Decadent movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the '' fin de siècle'' in international and ...

for high voice and piano (1910) * ''Trois Mélodies sur des poèmes de

Jean Dominique Jean Léopold Dominique (31 July 1930 – 3 April 2000) was a Haitian journalist and noted activist for human rights and democracy in Haiti. His station, Radio Haiti-Inter, was the first to broadcast news, investigative reporting, and politica ...

'' for voice and piano (1912) * ''Guitares et mandolines'' for voice and piano (1913); words by

* ''Les Mélancolies passionnées'', 8 Songs on poems of Charles Guérin (1924) * ''Trois Ballades françaises'' for voice and piano on poems of

Paul Fort Jules-Jean-Paul Fort (1 February 1872 – 20 April 1960) was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement. At the age of 18, reacting against the Naturalistic theatre, Fort founded the Théâtre d'Art (1890–93). He also founded and edit ...

(1927)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grovlez, Gabriel 1879 births 1944 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century French conductors (music) 20th-century French composers 20th-century French male classical pianists French ballet composers French male classical composers French male conductors (music) French music critics French opera composers Male opera composers Neoromantic composers Schola Cantorum de Paris faculty