Paul Gilson (Brussels, 15 June 1865 – Brussels, 3 April 1942) was a Belgian musician and composer.

Biography

Paul Gilson was born in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. In 1866, his family moved to Ruisbroek in the Belgian province of Brabant. There he studied theory with the organist and choir director Auguste Cantillon, and began writing works for orchestra and choir. His first official training came from 1887 to 1889 under

François-Auguste Gevaert François-Auguste Gevaert (31 July 1828 – 24 December 1908) was a Belgian musicologist and composer. Nicolas Slonimsky, ed., '' Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', 8th ed., Schirmer Books, New York Life Gevaert was born in Huise ...

in composition and under Charles Duyck in

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 ...

and

counterpoint In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. The term originates from the Latin ...

at the

Brussels Conservatory The Royal Conservatory of Brussels (, ) is a historic conservatory in Brussels, Belgium. Starting its activities in 1813, it received its official name in 1832. Providing performing music and drama courses, the institution became renowned par ...

, and in 1889, he was awarded the Belgian ''

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 ...

'' for a

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 ...

, ''Sinaï'', which was very well received. As the winner of the prize he was able to spend time in Bayreuth (1892), Paris (1893–4) and Italy (1895). A large orchestral work, ''La mer'', which was first performed in Brussels on 20 March 1892, established Gilson as a national musical figure and also gave him success abroad, though not in Paris. In 1899 he became professor of composition at the Brussels Conservatory; he won the same post at

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

in 1904 but quit both after becoming inspector of music education in 1909, a post he would keep until 1930. Although he was a very prolific composer, his output decreased after 1905, after which Gilson wrote increasingly about music, in theory, criticism, and composition. In 1925, a group of Gilson's students who called themselves Les Synthétistes (including René Bernier, Francis de Bourguignon, Théo De Joncker, Marcel Poot, Maurice Schoemaker, Jules Strens and Robert Otlet) first formed, declaring allegiance to Gilson's ideas about music. Along with Poot and Schoemaker, he founded ''La revue belge musicale'' in 1924; he was the chief editor until it folded in 1939. He also wrote pamphlets for Belgian radio. Gilson corresponded regularly with

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n composers

César Cui César Antonovich Cui (; ; ; 26 March 1918) was a Russian composer and music critic, member of the Belyayev circle and The Five – a group of composers combined by the idea of creating a specifically Russian type of music. As an officer o ...

and Mitrofan Belyayev. He died in his native city of Brussels.

Honours

* 1932 : commander in the Order of Leopold.

Music

Gilson was somewhat conservative in his musical outlook. Some of his work is indebted to

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

ian harmony, and his books on harmony and instrumentation also bear this out. ''La Mer'', the score which gave him his greatest success, is a set of four

impressionistic Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

movements ("symphonic sketches") in

sonata form The sonata form (also sonata-allegro form or first movement form) is a musical form, musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle of t ...

which were originally intended to illustrate verses by a French-speaking poet, Eddy Levis. Generally considered to form a programmatic symphony depicting the sea, Gilson's score (also known as ''De Zee'') predated Claude Debussy's work of the same name by a decade. Despite being finely crafted, his later works such as the oratorio '' Francesca da Rimini'' tended to be somewhat conventional, lacking the originality displayed in the orchestration of ''La Mer''. An exception is the brilliant ''Variations symphoniques'' (originally scored for brass ensemble), which is also the composer's only major work without literary associations.

Works

For orchestra

* 1890 ''Alla Marcia'' rhapsody for string orchestra * 1890 ''Rhapsodie à la marcia'' * 1892 ''La Mer'' 4 Symphonic sketches *# Lever de soleil *# Chants et danses de matelots *# Crépuscule *# Tempête * 1892–1893 ''Mélodies écossaises'' for string orchestra *# The Flowers Of The Forest *# Sweet May Morning *# Jig And Song * 1900 ''Ouverture symphonique Nr. 1'' * ''Alvar'' *1902 ''Premier Concerto for Alto Saxophone'' *1902 ''Deuxième Concerto for Alto Saxophone'' * 1903 ''Variations symphoniques'' for large orchestra (adapted from the first version for brass ensemble) * 1903 ''Ouverture symphonique Nr. 2'' * 1904 ''Ouverture symphonique No. 3'' * 1910 Inaugural Fanfare for the Coronation of Albert I * 1929 ''Parafrazen op vlaamse volksliederen'' * ''Sailors Dance''

For wind orchestra

* 1891 ''Fantaisie canadienne'' (Published by

Breitkopf & Härtel Breitkopf & Härtel () is a German Music publisher, music publishing house. Founded in 1719 in Leipzig by Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf, it is the world's oldest music publisher. Overview The catalogue contains over 1,000 composers, 8,000 works ...

as ''Fantasie über kanadische Volksweisen'' in 1898) * 1903 ''Variation symphonique'' for brass instruments * 1892/1925 ''La Mer'' 4 Symphonic Sketches for wind orchestra transcribed by Arthur Prevost *# Lever de soleil *# Chants et danses de matelots *# Crépuscule *# Tempête * 1930 ''Tornacum'' * 1930 ''Grande marche du Centenaire'' * 1948 ''Moeder'' for speaker and fanfare orchestra * ''Binche'' * ''Brabant – marche militaire'' * ''Danse guerrière'' from the ballet ''La Captive'' * ''Deuxième rhapsodie'' * ''Deuxième valse symphonique'' * ''Encore un ! allegro'' * ''Epithalame'' * ''Gavotte Monsignore'' * ''Hommage à Weber'' * ''Interlude solennel'' * ''L'heureux voyage'' * ''Le retour au pays : Prière avant le départ'' * ''Marche commémorative'' * ''Marche cortège'' * ''Marche panégyrique'' * ''Merxem – Allegro militaire'' * ''Montréal – Allegro de concert'' * ''Ouverture »Eleusines«'' * ''Patrouille albanaise'' * ''Poème symphonique en forme d'ouverture'' * ''Polka fantaisiste'' * ''Rhapsodie laudative'' * ''Rhapsodie hawaïenne'' * ''Richard III'' Ouverture * ''Terugkeer naar het vaderland'' * ''Triumph Marsch'' * ''Variations'' * ''Valse symphonique nr. 1'' * ''Valse symphonique nr. 2'' * ''Vestris – Danse mimique'' * ''Quarantenaire – Marche solennelle''

Stage works

* 1890 ''Le démon'' Dramatic cantata on a text by Lermontov in 2 acts for soloists, choir and orchestra * 1892 ''Francesca da Rimini'' Dramatic oratorio based on a text by

Dante Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

for soloists, choir and orchestra * 1895 ''Gens de mer (Zeevolk)'' Lyric drama in 2 acts * 1896–1900 ''La captive'' Ballet in 2 acts * 1903 ''Princesse Rayon de Soleil (Prinses Zonneschijn)'', légende féerique en quatre actes * 1910 ''Les aventuriers (Rooversliefde)'' Musical drama in 1 act * 1910–1921 ''Les deux bossus'', ballet-Pantomime in 1 Act * 1940 ''Elijah'' Music for a play by Cyriel Verschaeve * ''Daphné'' Ballett

Other works

* 1889–1890 ''Six mélodies'' * 1902 ''Petite suite rustique'' for piano * 1934 ''Le mas d'Icare'' for a film by Carlo Queeckers for string orchestra * 1926 ''Sonatina'' for

carillon A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a musical keyboard, keyboard and consists of at least 23 bells. The bells are Bellfounding, cast in Bell metal, bronze, hung in fixed suspension, and Musical tuning, tu ...

* 1934–1936 ''Romantische werkjes'' * 1940 ''Aria di Timpani con 6 Variazioni'' * ''Suite nocturne'' for piano * ''Six chansons écossaises'' based on a text by

Leconte de Lisle Charles Marie René Leconte de Lisle (; 22 October 1818 – 17 July 1894) was a French poet of the Parnassian movement. He is traditionally known by his surname only, Leconte de Lisle. Biography Leconte de Lisle was born on the French overseas i ...

Arrangements

* ''Scheherazade'' arrangement of the symphonic suite by

Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov. At the time, his name was spelled , which he romanized as Nicolas Rimsky-Korsakow; the BGN/PCGN transliteration of Russian is used for his name here; ALA-LC system: , ISO 9 system: .. (18 March 1844 – 2 ...

for solo piano

Books and writings

* 1913 ''Le Tutti orchestral'' * 1923 ''Traité de lecture musicale'' * 1923 ''Traité d'harmonie'' (3 Bände) * 1926 ''Traité de musique militaire'' * ''Solfège – Cours complet de la lecture musicale en neuf volumes'' * 1942 ''Notes de musique et souvenirs'' (memoirs) * 1955 Arthur Meulemans: ''Paul Gilson'' (1865–1942)

References

External links

*
Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel
now houses most works and manuscripts of Gilson, after the bankruptcy of CeBeDeM in 2015. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilson, Paul 1865 births 1942 deaths 19th-century Belgian classical composers 19th-century Belgian male musicians 20th-century Belgian classical composers 20th-century Belgian male musicians Belgian male classical composers Composers for carillon Concert band composers Musicians from Brussels Prix de Rome (Belgium) winners Belgian Romantic composers Royal Conservatory of Brussels alumni Academic staff of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels Composers for saxophone