Maurice Franck (22 April 1897 – 21 March 1983) was a French

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

, composer and music educator.

Life

Born in the

9th arrondissement of Paris The 9th arrondissement of Paris (''IXe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, it is referred to as (; "ninth"). The arrondissement, called Opéra, is located on the right bank of th ...

, Franck was one of the sons of Jules Franck, harp soloist at the

Paris Opera The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...

, and Clémence Braun, a good amateur pianist. He married Marcelle Horvilleur, also a musician. Among his cousins were Geneviève Zadoc-Kahn,

stage manager Stage management is a broad field that is generally defined as the practice of organization and coordination of an event or theatrical production. Stage management may encompass a variety of activities including overseeing of the rehearsal proce ...

of the concerts, and Suzanne Braun, ophthalmologist and wife of politician

Louis Vallon Louis Vallon (12 August 1901 – 1 March 1981) was a French politician. Initially a member of the SFIO and the French Socialist Party before World War II, he later became a left-wing Gaullist, a founding member of the Rally of the French People ( ...

.Family genealogical sources Franck studied at 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 ...

with Marcel Samuel-Rousseau and

Paul Vidal Paul Antonin Vidal (16 June 1863 – 9 April 1931) was a French composer, conductor and music teacher mainly active in Paris.Charlton D. Paul Vidal. In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.'' Macmillan, London and New York, 1997. Life and caree ...

. He participated five times in the

Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

, where he won the first Second Grand Prix with his

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...

''L’autre Mère''. From 1937 onwards, he directed a

harmony In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...

class at the Conservatoire de Paris. Later, he became president of the Conservatoire's alumni association. At the same time, he taught at Studios Pleyel, Lycée la Fontaine and at the Beethoven Institute founded by Hélène Amiot, alongside other pedagogues such as

Noël Gallon Noël Jean-Charles André Gallon (; 11 September 1891 – 26 December 1966) was a French composer and music educator. His compositional output includes several choral works and vocal art songs, 10 preludes, a ''Toccata'' for piano, a ''Sona ...

Maurice Hewitt Maurice Hewitt (6 October 1884 – 7 November 1971) was a French violinist and conductor, as well as a member of the French Resistance during World War II. Life Born in Asnières-sur-Seine, Hewitt studied the violin at the Conservatoire de Paris ...

, Georges Jouatte, André-Lévy, René Maillard, René Leroy, Auguste Le Guennant and René Saorgin. At the beginning of the war, Maurice Franck was taken prisoner and sent to an

Oflag An Oflag (from ) was a type of prisoner of war camp for Officer (armed forces), officers which the German Army (Wehrmacht), German Army established in World War I in accordance with the requirements of the Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907), 1899 ...

. He was released on 14 August 1941, but on his return to Paris, he was again arrested on 12 December 1941 in Paris, during the "roundup of Jewish intellectuals" and interned at

Royallieu-Compiègne internment camp The Royallieu-Compiègne was an internment and deportation camp located in the north of France in the city of Compiègne, open from June 1941 to August 1944. French resistance fighters and Jews were among some of the prisoners held in this camp. ...

. There, he conducted a small amateur choir. He was quickly released, thanks to the action of his second wife, Marcelle Horvilleur, also a musician (whom he had recently married on 6 September 1941 in Paris), and with the help of certain artistic circles. including

Henri Rabaud Henri Benjamin Rabaud (10 November 187311 September 1949) was a French conductor, composer and teacher, who held important posts in the French musical establishment and upheld mainly conservative trends in French music in the first half of the t ...

, who showed his voluntary commitment during the First World War, and his decorations for the War Cross and the

Légion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

.Jean Gribenski, ''L'exclusion des Juifs du Conservatoire'' in ''La vie musicale sous Vichy'' sous la dir. de Myriam Chimènes, Éditions Complexes, 2001, From 1946, he was conductor at the

. As a composer, he is best known for his works of

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

, and has also written some works of musical pedagogy. Franck died in the

18th arrondissement of Paris The 18th arrondissement of Paris (''XVIIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements, or administrative districts, of Paris, the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as '' ...

in 1983.

Works

* Music for the film ''La merveilleuse tragédie de Lourdes'' by Henri Fabert, 1933 * ''Trio d’anches'' for oboe, clarinet and bassoon, 1937 * ''Psaume XXVIII'', premiered in 1945 by the

Concerts Colonne The Colonne Orchestra is a French symphony orchestra, founded in 1873 by the violinist and conductor Édouard Colonne. History While leader of the Opéra de Paris orchestra, Édouard Colonne was engaged by the publisher Georges Hartmann to lead ...

* ''Trois mélodies pour chant et piano'', 1951 * Music for the film ''Que serais-je sans elle'', 1951 * Music for the film ''Dolorès et le joli cœur'' by Georges Chaperot, 1951 * ''Quatre mélodies'', premiered in 1957 by Suzanne Juyol * ''Psaume XXVI'' for four mixed voices ''

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

'', 1955 * ''Thème et variations'' for viola and orchestra, 1957 * ''Fanfare'', Andante and Allegro for trombone and piano, 1958 * ''Suite'' for harp, 1959 * ''Deuxième Trio d’anches'' for oboe, clarinet and bassoon, 1960 * ''Grambrinus'',

Opéra bouffe ''Opéra bouffe'' (, plural: ''opéras bouffes'') is a genre of mid- to late 19th-century French operetta, closely associated with Jacques Offenbach, who produced many of them at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens, inspiring the genre's name. It ...

in 2 acts and 6 tableaux, 1961 * ''Suite'' for viola and orchestra, 1965 * ''Prélude, arioso et rondo'' for

saxhorn The saxhorn is a family of valved brass instruments that have conical bores and deep cup-shaped mouthpieces. The saxhorn family was developed by Adolphe Sax, who is also known for creating the saxophone family. The sound of the saxhorn has a ...

bass trombone The bass trombone (, ) is the bass instrument in the trombone family of brass instruments. Modern instruments are pitched in the same B♭ as the tenor trombone but with a larger bore, bell and mouthpiece to facilitate low register playing, and u ...

or tuba and piano, 1969 * ''Prière'' for oboe and piano, 1984 * ''Atalante'', opéra bouffe

Musical teaching publications

* ''Vingt-huit leçons de solfège'', 1951 * ''Quinze leçons de solfège à sept clés'', 1964

References

External links

Maurice Franck
on Musicalics {{DEFAULTSORT:Franck, Maurice French classical composers French male classical composers French male conductors (music) 20th-century French composers Conservatoire de Paris alumni Prix de Rome for composition French music educators 1897 births 1983 deaths Musicians from Paris Recipients of the Legion of Honour 20th-century French conductors (music) 20th-century French male musicians