Joseph Guy Marie Ropartz (; 15 June 1864 – 22 November 1955) was a French composer and conductor. His compositions included five symphonies, three

violin sonata A violin sonata is a musical composition for violin, often accompanied by a keyboard instrument and in earlier periods with a bass instrument doubling the keyboard bass line. The violin sonata developed from a simple Baroque music, baroque form wi ...

cello sonata A cello sonata is piece written sonata form, often with the instrumentation of a cello taking solo role with piano accompaniment. Some of the earliest cello sonatas were composed in the 18th century by Francesco Geminiani and Antonio Vivaldi, and ...

s, six

string quartet The term string quartet refers 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 Violin, violini ...

s, a

piano trio A piano trio is a group of piano and two other instruments, usually a violin and a cello, or a piece of music written for such a group. It is one of the most common forms found in European classical music, classical chamber music. The term can also ...

and string trio (both in

A minor A minor is a minor scale based on A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative major is C major and its parallel major is A major. The A natural minor scale is: Changes needed for the melodic ...

), stage works, a number of choral works and other music, often alluding to his Breton heritage. Ropartz also published poetry.

Life

Ropartz was born in Guingamp,

Côtes-d'Armor The Côtes-d'Armor ( , ; ; , ), formerly known as Côtes-du-Nord until 1990 (, ), is a department in the north of Brittany, in northwestern France. In 2019, it had a population of 600,582.Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

. He studied initially at

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

. In 1885 he entered the

Conservatoire de Paris 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 ...

, studying under Théodore Dubois, then

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

, where he became a close friend of the young Georges Enesco. He later studied the organ under

César Franck César Auguste Jean Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in present-day Belgium. He was born in Liège (which at the time of h ...

. He was appointed director of the Nancy Conservatory (at the time a branch of the Paris Conservatory) from 1894 to 1919, where he established classes in viola in 1894, trumpet in 1895, harp and organ in 1897, then trombone in 1900. He also founded the season of symphonic concerts with the newly created orchestra of the Conservatory, ancestor of the Orchestre symphonique et lyrique de Nancy. Ropartz was associated with the Breton cultural renaissance of the era, setting to music the words of Breton writers such as Anatole Le Braz and Charles Le Goffic. He also supported Breton regional autonomy, joining the Breton Regionalist Union in 1898. He also was the Honorary President of the Association des Compositeurs Bretons that was founded in 1912. In the early stages of World War I his friend and fellow composer Albéric Magnard was killed defending his house from German invaders. His house was destroyed, along with several musical manuscripts. Ropartz reconstituted from memory the orchestration of Magnard's opera '' Guercoeur'', which had been lost in the fire. From 1919 to 1929 Ropartz was director of the

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 ...

Conservatory, which he moved into the building of the former parliament of Alsace-Lorraine. At the same time he undertook the direction of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Strasbourg, influencing young students like Charles Munch. Elected in 1949 as a member of the

Académie des Beaux-Arts The (; ) is a French learned society based in Paris. It is one of the five academies of the . The current president of the academy (2021) is Alain-Charles Perrot, a French architect. Background The academy was created in 1816 in Paris as a me ...

(5th section, musical composition), he succeeded Georges Hüe. Ropartz also served as a juror with Florence Meyer Blumenthal in awarding the Prix Blumenthal, a grant given between 1919 and 1954 to young French painters, sculptors, decorators, engravers, writers, and musicians. He retired in 1929 and withdrew to his manor in Lanloup, Brittany. He continued to compose until 1953, when he became blind. He died in Lanloup in 1955.

Style

His musical style was influenced by

Claude 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 influe ...

and

. However he self-identified as a

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

Breton, writing that he was the son of a country "where the goblins populate the moor and dance by the moony nights around the

menhir A menhir (; from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large upright stone, emplaced in the ground by humans, typically dating from the European middle Br ...

s; where the fairies and the enchanters - Viviane and Merlin - have as a field the forest of

Brocéliande Brocéliande, earlier known as Brécheliant and Brécilien, is a legendary enchanted forest that had a reputation in the medieval European imagination as a place of magic and mystery. Brocéliande is featured in several medieval texts, mostly t ...

; where the spirits of the unburied dead appear all white above the waters of the Bay of the Departed." Shortly after Ropartz died, René Dumesnil wrote in ''

Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...

'': "There is with Ropartz a science of folklore and its proper use, which one admires; but more often than the direct use of popular motifs it is an inspiration drawn from the same soil which nourishes the work, like sap in trees."''"Il y a chez Ropartz une science du folklore et de son utilisation juste qu'on admire ; mais plus souvent que l'emploi direct de motifs populaires c'est une inspiration puisée dans le terroir même qui nourrit l'œuvre, comme la sève les arbres."''

Compositions

Orchestral

* Symphonies: ** Symphony No. 1 «Sur un choral Breton» (1894/5) ** Symphony No. 2 in F minor (1900) ** Symphony No. 3 in E major for orchestra, choir and soloists (1905/6) ** Symphony No. 4 in C major (1910) ** Symphony No. 5 in G major (1945) * ''La Cloche des morts'' (1887) * ''Lamento'' for oboe and orchestra (1887) * ''Les Landes'' (1888) * ''Marche de fête'' (1888) * ''Cinq pièces brèves'' (1889) * ''Carnaval'' (1889) * ''Dimanche breton'', suite in 4 movements (1893) * Fantaisie en ré majeur (1897) * ''À Marie endormie'' (1912) * ''La Chasse du prince Arthur'' (1912) * ''Sons de cloches'' (1913) * ''Soir sur les chaumes'' (1913) * ''Rapsodie'' for cello and orchestra (1928) * ''Sérénade champêtre'' (1932) * ''Bourrées bourbonnaises'' (1939) * ''Petite symphonie en mi bémol majeur'' (1943) * ''Pastorales'' (1950)

Stage

* ''Fethlene'' (1887) * ''Pêcheur d'Islande'' (1893) * '' Le Pays'' (1912)

Chamber music

* six string quartets (1893 to 1949) * ''Andante et allegro'', for trumpet and piano (1903) * two cello sonatas (1904, 1919) * three violin sonatas (1907, 1917, 1927) * ''Pièce'' in E flat minor, for trombone and piano (1908) * ''Fantaisie brève sur le nom de Magnard'', for string quartet (1892) * Piano Trio in A minor (1918) * Two pieces for wind quintet (1924) * ''Prélude, Marine et Chansons'', for flute, violin, viola, cello and harp (1928) * Trio in A minor, for strings (1934–35) * ''Entratta et Scherzetto'', for wind trio (1936)

Sacred music

* ''Kyrie solennel'', for 4 soloists, choir and organ (1886) * ''Offertoire pascal'', for organ (1889) * ''Psaume 136: 'Super flumina Babylonis, for choir and orchestra (1897) * ''Cinq Motets'', for 4 mixed voices à cappella (1900) * ''Messe brève en l'honneur de Sainte Anne'', for three equal voices and organ (1921) * ''Messe en l'honneur de Sainte Odile'', for mixed chorus and organ (1923) * ''Messe 'Te Deum laudamus, for 3 mixed voices and organ (1926) * Requiem, for soloists, choir and orchestra (1938) * ''Salve Regina'', for mixed chorus and organ (1941) * ''Psaume 129: 'De profundis, for soloist, choir and orchestra (1942)

Vocal music

Voice and orchestra

* ''Trois Prières'' * ''La Fleur d'or'' * ''Sous bois''

Voice and piano

* ''Berceuse'' (1894) * ''4 Poèmes de l'intermezzo'' (1899) * ''Veilles de départ'' (1902) * ''Odelettes'' (1914) * ''Les Heures propices'' (1927) * ''La Mer'' * ''Amour d'hiver'' * ''Lied'' * ''Le Petit enfant'' * ''Sous bois'' * ''Rondel pour Jeanne'' * ''Rondel de miséricorde'' * ''Rondeau pour un délaissé de s'amye''

Choir

* ''Les Fileuses de Bretagne'', women's choir * ''Kyrie'' * ''Les vêpres sonnent'' (1927) * ''Nocturne'' (1926) * ''Dimanche'' (1911) * ''Le Miracle de saint Nicolas'' (1905)

Piano music

* ''Ouverture, variations et final'' (1904) * ''Choral varié'' (1904) * ''Nocturne No. 1'' (1911) * ''Dans l'ombre de la montagne'' (1913) * ''Nocturne No. 2'' (1916) * ''Nocturne No. 3'' (1916) * ''Scherzo'' (1916) * ''Musiques au jardin'' (1917) * ''Croquis d'été'' (1918) * ''Croquis d'automne'' (1929) * ''Jeunes filles'' (1929) * ''À la mémoire de Paul Dukas'' (1936)

Organ music

* ''Trois Pièces: Sur un thème Breton, Intermède, Fugue en mi mineur'' (1894) * ''Vêpres du commun des saints'' (1896) * ''6 Pièces pour grand orgue: Prélude funèbre, Prière, Sortie, Thème varié, Prière pour les trépasses, Fantasie'' (1896–1901) * ''Introduction et allegro moderato'' (1917) * ''Rapsodie sur deux Noëls populaires'' (1919) * ''Trois Méditations'' (1919) * ''Au pied de l'autel'' (100 pieces for harmonium) (1919)

Literary works

Ropartz was also a writer of literary works, notably poetry. In his youth he published three collections of verse influenced by the Symbolist movement. In 1889 he published with

Louis Tiercelin Louis Tiercelin (Rennes, 1846 - Paramé, 1915), was a French writer, poet and playwright associated with the Breton cultural renaissance of the early 20th century. He debuted at the age of 18 with two plays performed at the theatre of Rennes. He ...

''Le Parnasse Breton contemporain'', an anthology of Breton poetry of the second half of the 19th century. He also participated in ''la Revue l'Hermine'', which Tiercelin founded a short while later, in 1890.

Poems

* ''Adagiettos'' (1888) * ''Modes mineurs'' (1889) * ''Les Muances'' (1892)

References

External links

Association Guy Ropartz
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ropartz, Guy 1864 births 1955 deaths People from Guingamp Breton Regionalist Union members 19th-century French classical composers 19th-century French conductors (music) 20th-century French classical composers 20th-century French conductors (music) 20th-century French male musicians Breton musicians Conservatoire de Paris alumni French male conductors (music) French male poets French opera composers category:Poets from Brittany Impressionist composers French male opera composers French string quartet composers Members of the Académie des beaux-arts Prix Blumenthal