Raymond Loucheur (1 January 1899 – 14 September 1979) was a French composer.

Life

Very early, he left the town of

Tourcoing Tourcoing (; nl, Toerkonje ; vls, Terkoeje; pcd, Tourco) is a city in northern France on the Belgian border. It is designated municipally as a commune within the department of Nord. Located to the north-northeast of Lille, adjacent to Rouba ...

where he was born to study at

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, ver ...

with Henri Woollett who had

Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. A member of Les Six, his best known work is probably '' Antigone'', composed between 1924 and 1927 ...

among his students. Then, he entered the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as 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 ...

and worked with Henri Dallier,

Paul Fauchet Paul Robert Marcel Fauchet (27 June 1881 – 12 November 1937) was a French composer and organist. Life Born in Paris, the son of the organist of the same name, he studied at the Conservatoire de Paris with Alexandre Guilmant and Paul Vidal and ...

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher and conductor. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organist. From a ...

for

harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. Howev ...

, André Gedalge for counterpoint and

fugue In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the co ...

Max d'Ollone Maximilien-Paul-Marie-Félix d'Ollone (13 June 1875 – 15 May 1959) was a 20th-century French composer. Life and career Born in Besançon, d'Ollone started composing very early, entering the Paris Conservatoire at 6, winning many prizes, re ...

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 ...

for musical composition,

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 P ...

for conducting. At the same time, Joseph Baggers taught him the practice of

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditiona ...

. In 1928, he brilliantly won the 1st Grand

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 ...

with the cantata ''Héraklès à Delphes'' on a libretto by René Puaux and performed on 26 October 1929 by the

Concerts Lamoureux The Orchestre Lamoureux () officially known as the Société des Nouveaux-Concerts and also known as the Concerts Lamoureux) is an orchestral concert society which once gave weekly concerts by its own orchestra, founded in Paris by Charles Lamoureu ...

where it received an excellent welcome. Between 1925 and 1940, he taught in schools in the city of Paris. In 1935, he received the

Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, '' Carmen'', which has become ...

Prize. In 1942, he was principal inspector of music education in the schools of the Seine then became general inspector of public instruction (1946) and director of the Conservatoire de Paris (1956 - 1962). He received the Grand Prix national de musique in 1934. Loucheur died in

Nogent-sur-Marne Nogent-sur-Marne () is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Nogent-sur-Marne is a ''sous-préfecture'' of the Val-de-Marne ''département'', being the seat of the Arrondissement of Nogent-sur ...

at age 80.

Works

Ballet

* ''Hop-Frog'', tale by

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

with choreography by Harold Landes (1935-1948; Opéra de Paris, 17 June 1953 from which he extracted two symphonic suites, Paris 30 June 1949).

Vocal music

* ''Héraklès à Delphes'', cantata (Le Havre, 12 June 1928), * ''3 Duos pour soprano, chœur et orchestre'': ''Nostalgiques'', ''Pour Mnasidica'' from a poem by

Sappho Sappho (; el, Σαπφώ ''Sapphō'' ; Aeolic Greek ''Psápphō''; c. 630 – c. 570 BC) was an Archaic Greek poet from Eresos or Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. Sappho is known for her lyric poetry, written to be sung while accompanied ...

and the ''Chanson des Ingénieurs'' from Verlaine's

Poèmes saturniens ''Poèmes saturniens'' is the first collection of poetry by Paul Verlaine, first published in 1866. Verlaine was linked with the Parnassien movement in French poetry. He published his first poem in their journal, ''Revue du Progrès moral, litt� ...

, (1934), * ''La Ballade des petites filles qui n'ont pas de poupée'' for 4 soloists, choir and piano (1936), * ''L'apothéose de la Seine pour récitant'', mezzo-soprano, choir,

ondes Martenot The ondes Martenot ( ; , "Martenot waves") or ondes musicales ("musical waves") is an early electronic musical instrument. It is played with a keyboard or by moving a ring along a wire, creating "wavering" sounds similar to a theremin. A playe ...

and orchestra (1937; Paris, 7 July 1937 for the

Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne The ''Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne'' (International Exposition of Art and Technology in Modern Life) was held from 25 May to 25 November 1937 in Paris, France. Both the Palais de Chaillot, housing the M ...

in collaboration with

Fernand Gregh Fernand Gregh (14 October 1873, Paris, France, Paris – 5 January 1960, Paris) was a French people, French poet and literary critic. He was accepted in the Académie française in 1953. British composer Eva Ruth Spalding set some of his poems t ...

for the literary part), * 5 poems by

Rainer Maria Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), shortened to Rainer Maria Rilke (), was an Austrian poet and novelist. He has been acclaimed as an idiosyncratic and expressive poet, and is widely recog ...

for mezzo-soprano and

string quartet The term string quartet can refer 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 violinist ...

(1952-1957), * ''Mélodies: Qui est gris, la Poule jaune, Complainte de l'organiste de Notre-Dame de Nice'', etc., * ''Psaume XXXIX pour chœur et orchestre,''

Music for orchestra

* ''3 symphonies: n° 1'' (1929-1933; 1st complete performance at

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 ...

on 15 December 1936; revised in 1969) – ''n° 2 '' (1944; Paris, 15 February 1945), ''n° 3'' (1971; Paris, 17 October 1972), * ''En famille, pour orchestre de chambre ou sextuor de clarinettes'' (1932; orchestration in 1940), * ''Défilé'' inspired by a sports photograph comprising 4 parts: ''Convocation, les enfants, les jeunes filles et les jeunes gens'' (1934), * ''Pastorale'' (1939), * ''Rapsodie malgache'' for the fiftieth anniversary of Madagascar's attachment to France in 1895 is divided into four parts: ''Les musiciens'' – ''les Piroguiers'' – ''les Sorciers'' and ''les Guerriers'' (1945; Paris, 10 October 1946,

Manuel Rosenthal Manuel Rosenthal (18 June 1904 – 5 June 2003) was a French composer and conducting, conductor who held leading positions with musical organizations in France and America. He was friends with many contemporary composers, and despite a considerabl ...

conducting), * ''Divertissement'' (1951), * ''Concertino pour trompettes et orchestre ou sextuor de clarinettes'' (1954; orchestration in 1956) * ''Concerto pour violon'' (1960-1963; Paris, 28 February 1965), * ''Concertino pour percussion'' (1963; Paris, 9 January 1966), * ''Cortège Interlude et danse en hommage à Rameau pour instruments à vent, harpe et percussion'' (1964-1965), * ''Concerto pour violoncelle'' (1967-1968, Radio Luxembourg 11 July 1968), * ''Thrène pour orchestre à cordes et flûtes'' (1971), * ''Hommage à

Raoul Dufy Raoul Dufy (; 3 June 1877 – 23 March 1953) was a French Fauvist painter. He developed a colorful, decorative style that became fashionable for designs of ceramics and textile as well as decorative schemes for public buildings. He is noted ...

'' (1973; Paris, 27 October 1974). * ''Evocations pour orchestre d'harmonie'' (1974; Paris, 7 March 1976).

Chamber music

* ''En famille'' for clarinet sextet, oboe and bassoon (1947), * ''4 Pièces en quintette pour harpe, flûte, violon, alto et violoncelle'' (1953), * ''Concertino pour trompette et sextuor de clarinettes'' (1954; orchestration in 1956), * ''Sonate pour violon seul'' (1959), * ''Dialogues pour flûte et harpe'' (1965), * ''Rencontres pour hautbois et violoncelle'' (1972), * ''Divertissement sur les flûtes pour 10 flûtes'' (1975), * ''Reflets pour quintette de cuivres'' (1976). * ''Portraits pour trio d'anches (hautbois, clarinette et basson)''

Bibliography

* Adolphe Boschot: ''Héraklès à Delphe'' (''

L'Écho de Paris ''L'Écho de Paris'' was a daily newspaper in Paris from 1884 to 1944. The paper's editorial stance was initially conservative and nationalistic, but it later became close to the French Social Party. Its writers included Octave Mirbeau, Henri ...

'', 28 October 1929), *

Florent Schmitt Florent Schmitt (; 28 September 187017 August 1958) was a French composer. He was part of the group known as Les Apaches. His most famous pieces are ''La tragédie de Salome'' and ''Psaume XLVII'' ( Psalm 47). He has been described as "one of th ...

: ''Héraklès'' (''

Le Temps ''Le Temps'' (literally "The Time") is a Swiss French-language daily newspaper published in Berliner format in Geneva by Le Temps SA. It is the sole nationwide French-language non-specialised daily newspaper of Switzerland. Since 2021, it has ...

'', 2 November 1929 and ''Les envois de Rome de Monsieur loucheur'' (''Le Temps'', 28 December 1936), * Paul Dambly: ''Mélodies de Raymond Loucheur'' ('' Le Petit Journal'', 29 January 1934), * René Dumesnil: ''Deuxième symphonie de Raymond Loucheur'' (''Le Monde'', 4 and 5 March 1945), *

Alain Pâris Alain Pâris (born 22 November 1947) is a French conductor and musicologist. Biography Born in Paris, Alain Pâris was trained as a pianist and has a law degree. He studied conducting with Pierre Dervaux, Paul Paray and Georg Solti and won the ...

: ''Les Quatre-vingts ans de Raymond Loucheur'' in ''Le Courrier musical de France''.''Le Courrier musical de France''
on Bibliothèque nationale de France

References

Sources

* *

René Dumesnil René Dumesnil (19 June 1879 – 24 December 1967) was a French physician, literary critic and musicologist. Dumesnil studied literature at the Sorbonne and became a literary critic. Then he was music critic for ''Le Mercure de France'' and '' ...

, ''Histoire de la musique : tome V la première moitié du XXe''.

External links

Discography
(

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

)
Raymond Loucheur

LOUCHEUR, Raymond - Cinq poèmes de Rainer-Maria Rilke - Bruno LAPLANTE, barytone
(YouTube) {{DEFAULTSORT:Loucheur, Raymond 1899 births People from Tourcoing 1979 deaths French classical composers French male classical composers 20th-century French composers French ballet composers Conservatoire de Paris alumni Directors of the Conservatoire de Paris Prix de Rome for composition French music educators 20th-century French male musicians