Marie Blanche Selva (Catalan ''Blanca Selva i Henry'', 29 January 18843 December 1942) was a

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

pianist, music educator, writer and composer of

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

origin.

Biography

Blanche Selva was born in

Brive-la-Gaillarde Brive-la-Gaillarde (; Limousin dialect of ), commonly known as simply Brive, is a commune of France. It is a sub-prefecture and the largest city of the Corrèze department. It has around 46,000 inhabitants, while the population of the aggl ...

Corrèze Corrèze (; ) is a département in France, named after the river Corrèze which runs through it. Although its prefecture is Tulle, its most populated city is Brive-la-Gaillarde. Corrèze is located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, on the bo ...

. As a child she studied piano with a number of teachers, took preparatory classes with Sophie Chéné, and was admitted to 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 ...

in 1893. She studied with S. Chéné and won a medal in competition, but left the Conservatory without graduating. Her family moved to

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, and Selva began giving concerts at the age of 13 in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

. She studied with

Vincent d'Indy Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy (; 27 March 18512 December 1931) was a French composer and teacher. His influence as a teacher, in particular, was considerable. He was a co-founder of the Schola Cantorum de Paris and also taught at the Pa ...

, and became a professor at the

Schola Cantorum de Paris The Schola Cantorum de Paris ( being ) 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 The Schola ...

in December 1901, later taking positions at the Conservatoire de

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

, the École Normale de Musique in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, and the

Prague Conservatory The Prague Conservatory () is a public music school in Prague, Czech Republic, founded in 1808. Currently, the school offers four- or six-year courses, which can be compared to the level of a high school diploma in other countries. Graduates c ...

. Blanche Selva was the only French pianist of her time to specialise in Czech music, and she was consequently very popular in

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

. She continued to tour and work as a concert pianist in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. By the age of 20 she had performed all of J.S. Bach's keyboard works in 17 recitals.Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed., 1954, Vol. VII, p. 695 Between 1906 and 1909 she premiered all four books of

Isaac Albéniz Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pascual (; 29 May 1860 – 18 May 1909) was a Spanish virtuoso pianist, composer, and conductor. He is one of the foremost composers of the post-romantic era who also had a significant influence on his con ...

's piano suite ''

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''. In January 1925 Selva moved to

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, where she founded her own music school and performed in a duo with violinist

Joan Massià Joan Massià i Prats (Barcelona, 22 February 1890 – 11 June 1969) was a Catalan composer and violinist. His first wife was the pianist and student of d'Indy, Blanche Selva (1884–1942), with whom Massià recorded the Franck violin sonata and ...

. In 1930 she developed a paralysis that ended her performing career, but she continued teaching, writing and composing. In 1936 she left Barcelona because of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

and lived for a while in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, then

Moulins, Allier Moulins (, ''Molins'' in Bourbonnais oïl dialect); is a commune in central France, capital of the Allier department. It is located on the river Allier. Among its many tourist attractions are the Maison Mantin, the Anne de Beaujeu Museum, ...

, and Saint-Saturnin, Puy-de-Dôme,

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; or ) is a cultural region in central France. As of 2016 Auvergne is no longer an administrative division of France. It is generally regarded as conterminous with the land area of the historical Province of Auvergne, which was dis ...

. Suffering from cancer, she entered a hospital in Saint-Amant-Tallende, where she died in December 1942 at age 59.

Writings

Blanche Selva was active as a translator and transcriber. But her main work is a monumental 7-volumes work on piano technique: *''L'Enseignement musical de la Technique du Piano'', Paris from 1916 to 1925 This book propose a radically new approach to piano playing. Her predilection for big arm gestures and her detailed descriptions of the most unusual types of attack, combined with the constant attention to the resulting tone-color, make his book a unique contribution to the history of the piano and its literature. She also published professional articles in magazines and journals including ''Tablettes de la Schola'', ''Le Monde Musical'', ''La Revue Musicale'' and ''Le Revista Musical Catalana''. Her other writings include: *''The Sonata, Study of its historical and expressive for the interpretation and hearing'', Paris 1913 *"Sonatas para piano de Beethoven", Barcelona 1927 *

Déodat de Séverac Marie-Joseph Alexandre Déodat de Séverac (; 20 July 1872 – 24 March 1921) was a French composer. Life Séverac was born in Saint-Félix-Lauragais, Saint-Félix-de-Caraman, Haute-Garonne. He descended from a noble family, profoundly influen ...

, Paris 1930

Works

Selected compositions include:

Music for piano/organ

*''Paysage au soleil couchant'' (1904) *''Suite'' (Prélude, Allemande, Courante, Burla, Chanson, Farandole) for piano (1904) *''Cloches dans la brume'' for piano (1905) *''Cloches au soleil'' for piano (1905) *''Pièces'' for piano (1908) *''Petite pièce'' for organ (1908) *''La Vasque aux Colombes'' (1921) *''Primers Jocs'' for piano (1931) *''Le jeu du pentacorde qui vole'', exercise for piano (1940) *''Transcriptions pour piano d'œuvres de Vincent d'Indy et César Franck'' (1910–1912)

Vocal and choral music

*''Les Ancêtres du Lys'' (1905) *''Rosaire d'après Francis Jammes'' (1906) *''Venez sous la tonnelle d'après Francis Jammes'' (1908) *''Muntanya blava'' for voice and piano (1928) *''Mes de Maria'' for voice and piano (1929) *''Dix mélodies sur des poèmes catalans ''(1935) *''La Farigola'' (1926) *''El Tronc'' (1929) *''Quicumque Enim Spiritu Dei Aguntur'' (1929) *''Pensament Matinal'' (1931) *''O Fleurs des fleurs d'après Blanche Selva'' (1939)

Chamber and orchestral music

*''La Nit de la Purissima'' (1929) *''Quatre pièces pour violon et piano'' (1934) *''Poème de la Resureccio ou Oratorio pascal'' (manuscript lost, 1938)

Recordings

Selva's works have been recorded and issued on CD, including: *''Blanche Selva, une promenade musicale'' (Blanche Selva Association and the Centre International Albert Roussel) *''Malibran-Music'' (Association and Blanche Selva 2002).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Selva, Blanche 1884 births 1942 deaths 20th-century French classical composers French music educators French women classical composers 20th-century French women classical pianists 20th-century French classical pianists Pupils of Vincent d'Indy People from Brive-la-Gaillarde Conservatoire de Paris alumni Academic staff of the Schola Cantorum de Paris Academic staff of the École Normale de Musique de Paris French women music educators 20th-century French women composers