|
Born: January 21, 1846 - Paris, France
Died: May 28, 1916 - Paris, France |
|
The French music scholar and composer, Albert Lavignac, studied with Antoine François Marmontel, François Benoist and Ambroise Thomas at the Conservatoire de Paris. In March 1864, at the age of 18, he conducted from the harmonium the private premiere of Gioacchino Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle.
Albert Lavignac taught later harmony at the Conservatoire de Paris. Among his pupils were Vincent d'Indy, Philipp Jarnach, Gabriel Pierné, Amédée Henri Gustave Noël Gastoué and Florent Schmitt.
Albert Lavignac is known for his essays on theory. His condensed work, La Musique et les Musiciens, an overview of musical grammar and materials, continued to be reprinted years after his death. In it he characterised the particular characteristics of instruments and of each key, somewhat in the way Berlioz had done (B major: Energetic; E major: Radiant, warm, joyous; A major: Frank, sonorous; D major: Joyful, brilliant, alert; etc.). His more popularizsd works discussed the music dramas of Richard Wagner, summarised in Le Voyage artistique à Bayreuth. He was the founder and editor of the compendious Encyclopédie de la musique et Dictionnaire du Conservatoire. |
