Désiré-Emile Inghelbrecht
Encyclopedia
Désiré-Émile Inghelbrecht (17 September 188014 February 1965) was a French composer
, conductor
and writer
.
, the son of a viola-player. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire and made his debut as a conductor in 1908 at the Théâtre des Arts
.
Inghelbrecht entered the Conservatoire aged 7 and studied solfege, harmony and violin. At the aged of 16 he was expelled when caught playing the violin in local cafes. Around this time he was appointed second violin at the Concerts de l'Opéra; his friend Pierre Monteux
, then conductor of the Concerts Berlioz, would use him as a substitute – all of which gave him important experience.
In 1908 he conducted the first performance of Florent Schmitt
's La tragédie de Salomé which was a success and led to more engagements with leading musicians, including acting as chorus master for the first performance of Claude Debussy
's Le martyre de Saint Sébastien
. In 1913 he was appointed as director of the new Théâtre des Champs-Élysées
, inaugurated on 2 April. In 1919 Inghelbrecht conducted the first performance of André Caplet
's arrangement of Debussy's La Boite a joujoux; he also founded the Concerts Pleyel devoted to music of the 16th to 18th centuries. In 1921 he conducted the premiere of Les mariés de la tour Eiffel
, a ballet by five of the members of Les six
.
Inghelbrecht was music director of the Opéra-Comique
in 1924-25, where he conducted Manon
, a new production of Tristan und Isolde
, Pelléas et Mélisande
, Masques et bergamasques, and Pénélope
; he also conducted several ballets including the premiere of his own Jeux de Couleurs. From 1928 to 1932 conducted the Concerts Pasdeloup and briefly held the directorship of the Opera d’Alger in 1929.
In 1934 Inghelbrecht was asked to form a national radio orchestra – to become the Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française
(ONF). The following year he fulfilled a long-held ambition to conduct the first Paris performance of the 1874 edition of Boris Godunov
.
During the 2nd World War, the ONF was evacuated to Rennes, then Marseilles and returned to Paris in 1943. However when planning the 1,000th performance of the orchestra (and commemorating the 25th anniversary of the death of Debussy), Inghelbrecht refused to conduct a programme of the occupying forces and on 18 July 1943 received a note suspending his appointment by order of President Laval
.
From 1945 to 1950 Inghelbrecht was conductor of the Paris Opéra, and returned to the ONF in 1947. From 1958 to 1965 he devised weekly radio programmes called 'Entretiens autour d’un piano'.
Both in his conducting career and writing he championed Debussy, Ravel
, Roussel
, Chabrier
and Schmitt.
He corresponded with Debussy - a close friend - from 1911 until Debussy's death in 1918. He was a member of Les Apaches
along with Ravel, Schmitt and others.
He was married three times: to Colette Steinlen (1910, divorced in 1920), Carina Ari (1928), and Germaine Perrin. With the latter he wrote a biography of Debussy in 1953.
) of 1960 is the climax of the composer’s output with harmonies in the style of Debussy contrasting with the Bacchic frenzy of wild dances with pungently rhythmic, virile accompaniment. La Nursery for piano four-hands consists of 36 short pieces composed between 1905 and 1932 and some later orchestrated.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
and writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
.
Life and career
Inghelbrecht was born in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, the son of a viola-player. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire and made his debut as a conductor in 1908 at the Théâtre des Arts
Théâtre Hébertot
Théâtre Hébertot is a theatre at 78, boulevard des Batignolles, in the 17th arrondissement of Paris, France. The theatre, completed in 1838 and opening as the Théâtre des Batignolles, was later renamed Théâtre des Arts in 1907...
.
Inghelbrecht entered the Conservatoire aged 7 and studied solfege, harmony and violin. At the aged of 16 he was expelled when caught playing the violin in local cafes. Around this time he was appointed second violin at the Concerts de l'Opéra; his friend Pierre Monteux
Pierre Monteux
Pierre Monteux was an orchestra conductor. Born in Paris, France, Monteux later became an American citizen.-Life and career:Monteux was born in Paris in 1875. His family was descended from Sephardi Jews who came to France in the wake of the Spanish Inquisition. He studied violin from an early age,...
, then conductor of the Concerts Berlioz, would use him as a substitute – all of which gave him important experience.
In 1908 he conducted the first performance of Florent Schmitt
Florent Schmitt
Florent Schmitt was a French composer.-Early life:A Lorrainer, born in Meurthe-et-Moselle, Schmitt originally took music lessons in Nancy with the local composer Gustave Sandré. Subsequently he entered the Paris Conservatoire. There he studied with Gabriel Fauré, Jules Massenet, Théodore Dubois,...
's La tragédie de Salomé which was a success and led to more engagements with leading musicians, including acting as chorus master for the first performance of Claude Debussy
Claude Debussy
Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
's Le martyre de Saint Sébastien
Le martyre de Saint Sébastien
Le martyre de Saint Sébastien, L 124 is a musical work by the French composer Claude Debussy.Written in 1911, the work—a five-act musical mystery play on the subject of Saint Sebastian -- was produced in collaboration with Gabriele d'Annunzio and designed as a vehicle for Ida Rubinstein...
. In 1913 he was appointed as director of the new Théâtre des Champs-Élysées
Théâtre des Champs-Élysées
The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées is a theatre at 15 avenue Montaigne. Despite its name, the theatre is not on the Champs-Élysées but nearby in another part of the 8th arrondissement of Paris....
, inaugurated on 2 April. In 1919 Inghelbrecht conducted the first performance of André Caplet
André Caplet
André Caplet was a French composer and conductor now known primarily through his orchestrations of works by Claude Debussy.-Biography:...
's arrangement of Debussy's La Boite a joujoux; he also founded the Concerts Pleyel devoted to music of the 16th to 18th centuries. In 1921 he conducted the premiere of Les mariés de la tour Eiffel
Les mariés de la tour Eiffel
Les mariés de la tour Eiffel is a ballet to a libretto by Jean Cocteau, choreography by Jean Börlin, set by Irène Lagut, costumes by Jean Hugo, and music by five members of Les six – Georges Auric, Arthur Honegger, Darius Milhaud, Francis Poulenc and Germaine Tailleferre. The score calls for two...
, a ballet by five of the members of Les six
Les Six
Les six is a name, inspired by The Five, given in 1920 by critic Henri Collet in an article titled "" to a group of six composers working in Montparnasse whose music is often seen as a reaction against the musical style of Richard Wagner and impressionist music.-Members:Formally, the Groupe des...
.
Inghelbrecht was music director of the Opéra-Comique
Opéra-Comique
The Opéra-Comique is a Parisian opera company, which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with, and for a time took the name of its chief rival the Comédie-Italienne at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, and was also called the...
in 1924-25, where he conducted Manon
Manon
Manon is an opéra comique in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel L’histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by the Abbé Prévost...
, a new production of Tristan und Isolde
Tristan und Isolde
Tristan und Isolde is an opera, or music drama, in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Straßburg. It was composed between 1857 and 1859 and premiered in Munich on 10 June 1865 with Hans von Bülow conducting...
, Pelléas et Mélisande
Pelléas et Mélisande (opera)
Pelléas et Mélisande is an opera in five acts with music by Claude Debussy. The French libretto was adapted from Maurice Maeterlinck's Symbolist play Pelléas et Mélisande...
, Masques et bergamasques, and Pénélope
Pénélope
Pénélope is an opera in three acts by the French composer Gabriel Fauré. The libretto, by René Fauchois, is based on Homer's Odyssey. It was first performed at the Salle Garnier, Monte Carlo on 4 March 1913.-Background and performance history:...
; he also conducted several ballets including the premiere of his own Jeux de Couleurs. From 1928 to 1932 conducted the Concerts Pasdeloup and briefly held the directorship of the Opera d’Alger in 1929.
In 1934 Inghelbrecht was asked to form a national radio orchestra – to become the Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française
Orchestre National de France
The Orchestre national de France is a symphony orchestra run by Radio France. It has also been known as the Orchestre national de la Radiodiffusion française and Orchestre national de l'Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française .Since 1944, the orchestra has been based in the Théâtre...
(ONF). The following year he fulfilled a long-held ambition to conduct the first Paris performance of the 1874 edition of Boris Godunov
Boris Godunov (opera)
Boris Godunov is an opera by Modest Mussorgsky . The work was composed between 1868 and 1873 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is Mussorgsky's only completed opera and is considered his masterpiece. Its subjects are the Russian ruler Boris Godunov, who reigned as Tsar during the Time of Troubles,...
.
During the 2nd World War, the ONF was evacuated to Rennes, then Marseilles and returned to Paris in 1943. However when planning the 1,000th performance of the orchestra (and commemorating the 25th anniversary of the death of Debussy), Inghelbrecht refused to conduct a programme of the occupying forces and on 18 July 1943 received a note suspending his appointment by order of President Laval
Pierre Laval
Pierre Laval was a French politician. He was four times President of the council of ministers of the Third Republic, twice consecutively. Following France's Armistice with Germany in 1940, he served twice in the Vichy Regime as head of government, signing orders permitting the deportation of...
.
From 1945 to 1950 Inghelbrecht was conductor of the Paris Opéra, and returned to the ONF in 1947. From 1958 to 1965 he devised weekly radio programmes called 'Entretiens autour d’un piano'.
Both in his conducting career and writing he championed Debussy, Ravel
Maurice Ravel
Joseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
, Roussel
Albert Roussel
Albert Charles Paul Marie Roussel was a French composer. He spent seven years as a midshipman, turned to music as an adult, and became one of the most prominent French composers of the interwar period...
, Chabrier
Emmanuel Chabrier
Emmanuel Chabrier was a French Romantic composer and pianist. Although known primarily for two of his orchestral works, España and Joyeuse marche, he left an important corpus of operas , songs, and piano music as well...
and Schmitt.
He corresponded with Debussy - a close friend - from 1911 until Debussy's death in 1918. He was a member of Les Apaches
Les Apaches
Les Apaches or was a group of French musicians, writers and artists which formed around 1900. Members of the group included:* Edouard Benedictus, painter and composer* M.D...
along with Ravel, Schmitt and others.
He was married three times: to Colette Steinlen (1910, divorced in 1920), Carina Ari (1928), and Germaine Perrin. With the latter he wrote a biography of Debussy in 1953.
Compositions
Although self-taught as a composer, Inghelbrecht left around 60 compositions. The style of his compositions is eclectic. Even when stylistically unoriginal, his polished, masterly orchestration makes his work worthy of closer attention. The operetta Leïla (or Virage sur l’aile) of 1947, is a hilarious comedy and eminently singable entertainment. The opera-ballet Le chêne et le tilleul (after La FontaineJean de La Fontaine
Jean de La Fontaine was the most famous French fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his Fables, which provided a model for subsequent fabulists across Europe and numerous alternative versions in France, and in French regional...
) of 1960 is the climax of the composer’s output with harmonies in the style of Debussy contrasting with the Bacchic frenzy of wild dances with pungently rhythmic, virile accompaniment. La Nursery for piano four-hands consists of 36 short pieces composed between 1905 and 1932 and some later orchestrated.
Stage
- La nuit vénitienne (comédie musicale, after Musset)
- Le diable dans le beffroi (ballet)
- Rayon de lune (ballet)
- Virage sur l'aile (opérette in three acts).
Orchestra
- Automne
- Pour le jour de la première neige au Japon
- Rapsodie de Printemps
- El Grèco
- Trois poèmes dansés
- La métamorphose d'Eve
- Six danses suédoises
- Sinfonia brève
- Légende de Saint Nicolas
- La valse retrouvée
- Le livre d'or
- Ibériana for violin and orchestra
- Ballade dans le Gout Irlandais for harp and orchestra.
Writings
- Comment on ne doit pas interpréter Carmen, Faust et Pelléas – 1923
- Diabolus in musica : Essais sur la musique et ses interprètes – 1933
- Mouvement contraire : souvenirs d’un musicien – 1947
- Le Chef d’orchestre et son équipe – 1949
- Le Chef d’orchestre parle au public – 1957
Discography
- Debussy : Pelléas et MélisandePelléas et Mélisande discographyThis is a discography of Pelléas et Mélisande, an opera by Claude Debussy. The premiere performance was at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 30 April 1902. The list includes all of the studio recordings and also some live performances available on audio CD and DVD....
, Le martyre de Saint Sébastien, La damoiselle élue, Marche écossaise, Prélude a l'après-midi d'un faune, La Mer, Jeux, Images - Ravel : Daphnis et Chloé, Ma Mère l'oye, Une barque sur l'océan
- Berlioz : Overture Le Carnaval Romain, excerpts from La Damnation de Faust
- Fauré : Shylock, Pelléas et Mélisande, Cantique de Jean Racine, Requiem
- Bizet : Carmen