Louis François Marie Aubert (19 February 1877 – 9 January 1968) was a French composer.

Biography

Born in

Paramé Paramé (; ) is a former town and commune of France on the north coast of Brittany. Paramé merged with Saint-Servan to form the commune of Saint-Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo language, Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, ...

Ille-et-Vilaine Ille-et-Vilaine (; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Ill-e-Vilaenn'', ) is a departments of France, department of France, located in the regions of France, region of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in the northwest of the country. It is named a ...

, Louis Aubert was a

child prodigy A child prodigy is, technically, a child under the age of 10 who produces meaningful work in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to describe young people who are extraordinarily talented in some f ...

. His parents, recognizing their son's musical talent, sent him to Paris to receive an education at an early age. He became recognised for his voice, primarily for his renditions of the ''Pie Jesu'' from

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. ...

Requiem A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is ...

at the Église de la Madeleine. The young Aubert met Fauré at the

Paris Conservatoire 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 ...

, and he regularly attended at his composition classes, which greatly influenced his development. Aubert became an excellent pianist. In 1911, he premiered

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

's '' Valses nobles et sentimentales'', which were written for and dedicated to him. He also worked as a piano and composition teacher, both privately and on the faculty of 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 ...

. He counted among his students Henry Barraud,

Jean-Marie Beaudet Jean-Marie Beaudet (20 February 1908 – 19 March 1971) was a Canadian conducting, conductor, organist, pianist, radio producer, and music educator. He had a long career with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, serving variously as a music prod ...

Jean Berger Jean Berger (; September 27, 1909 – May 28, 2002) was a German-born American pianist, composer, and music educator. He composed extensively for choral ensemble and solo voice. Early years Berger was born Arthur Schloßberg into a Jewish famil ...

, Marinus Flipse, and Georges Savaria. He composed music for the church, several ballets,

mélodie A ''mélodie'' () is a form of French art song, arising in the mid-19th century. It is comparable to the German '' Lied''. A ''chanson'', by contrast, is a folk or popular French song. The literal meaning of the word in the French language is " ...

s, and incidental music for the stage. Although

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally **Breton people **Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Gale ...

by birth at a time of intense

Breton nationalism Breton nationalism (, ) is the nationalism of the historical province of Brittany, France. Brittany is considered to be one of the six Celtic nations (along with Cornwall, Ireland, the Isle of Man, Scotland and Wales). Breton ''nationalism'' wa ...

, he was little inspired by his home region, although he was a founding member in 1912 of the Association des Compositeurs Breton. Aubert wrote popular songs, notably for Marie Dubas. He also contributed to the magazines ''Chantecler'', ''Paris-soir'', ''Le Journal'' and ''Opéra''. Aubert wrote one

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

in three acts based on classic fairy tales by

Charles Perrault Charles Perrault ( , , ; 12 January 162816 May 1703) was a French author and member of the Académie Française. He laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from earlier folk tales, published in his ...

to a libretto by J. Chenevière, entitled ''La fôret bleue'' ("The Blue Forest"). The work was composed between 1904 and 1911, and individual acts were performed while the work was in progress. The first complete staged performance took place in

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 ...

on 7 January 1913. The enchanting characters and delightful plot enabled the work to achieve popular success in other theaters, including

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

later the same year. The work did not appear in Paris until 1924, where it was staged at the

Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique () is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular Théâtre de la foire, theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief riva ...

(Salle Favart). The opera was recorded for French radio in 1954, conducted by

Eugène Bigot Eugène Bigot (28 February 1888 – 17 July 1965) was a French composer and conductor. Life Bigot was born in Rennes, Brittany. Initially trained as a violinist and later as a violist, he entered the Conservatoire de Paris in 1905 to continue h ...

, with Raymond Malvasio, Martha Angelici, Claudine Collart, Jacqueline Brumaire,

Louis Noguéra Louis Noguéra was a French bass-baritone (born in Algiers on 12 October 1910, died in Paris on 8 March 1984Karl-Josef Kutsch, Kutsch, K. J. and Leo Riemens, Riemens, Leo (2003). ''Großes Sängerlexikon'' (fourth edition, in German). Munich: K. G ...

and Lucien Lovano in the cast.Bade, Patrick. Rarissima - rescued by the internet, '' Classical Recordings Quarterly'', autumn 2014, no. 78, p. 4. Aubert died in Paris at age 90.

Publications

* ''L'Orchestre'' (Paris: PUF, 1951) * ''Notice sur la vie et les travaux de

Gustave Charpentier Gustave Charpentier (; 25 June 1860 – 18 February 1956) was a French composer, best known for his opera ''Louise (opera), Louise''.Langham Smith R., "Gustave Charpentier", ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.'' Macmillan, London and New York, 19 ...

'' (Paris: Firmin-Didot, 1956)

Bibliography

*Richard Langham Smith: "Aubert, Louis(-François-Marie)", in: Sadie, Stanley (ed.): ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', vol. 1 (London & New York: Macmillan, 1994); . * Louis Vuillemin: ''Louis Aubert et son œuvre'' (Paris: A. Durand, 1921) * R. Bernard: "L. Aubert", in: ''La Revue musicale'', VIII (1927) * article in the monthly periodical ''La Bretagne à Paris'' (June 1956) * * H. Corbes: "Louis Aubert, compositeur malouin", in: ''Bulletin de la Société d'Histoire et d'Archéologie de

Saint-Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo language, Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany. The Fortification, walled city on the English Channel coast had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth ...

'' (1981)

References

External links

Louis Aubert (1877-1968)
(includes list of main works) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aubert, Louis 1877 births 1968 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century French male classical pianists 20th-century French classical pianists Breton musicians Conservatoire de Paris alumni French male classical composers French opera composers Male opera composers People from Saint-Malo Pupils of Gabriel Fauré Ballets Russes composers