Jean Roger-Ducasse
Encyclopedia
Jean Jules Amable Roger-Ducasse (Bordeaux
, 18 April 1873 — Le Taillan-Médoc
(Gironde
), 19 July 1954) was a French
composer
.
and André Gedalge
, and was the star pupil and close friend of Gabriel Fauré
. He succeeded Fauré as professor of composition, and in 1935 he succeeded Paul Dukas
as professor of orchestration. His personal style was firmly rooted in the French school of orchestration, in an unbroken tradition from Hector Berlioz
through Camille Saint-Saëns
. Among his notable pupils are Jehan Alain
, Claude Arrieu
, Sirvart Kalpakyan Karamanuk, Jean-Louis Martinet
, and Francis George Scott
.
His piano pieces and chamber music are also noteworthy. He composed a piano quartet, a Romance
for cello and piano, and two string quartets; the second, his swan song, debuted 24 May 1953, at the Château de la Brède
.
Roger-Ducasse wrote only one work for organ, entitled Pastorale, a masterpiece rarely played in France. Written in 1909 and published by Éditions Durand, it is a challenging virtuoso showpiece. The work has been eclipsed by more recent compositional styles, nevertheless it has remained popular with performers in the United States.
Like Paul Dukas
, Roger-Ducasse was severely self-critical, destroying music that did not meet his exacting standards.
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
, 18 April 1873 — Le Taillan-Médoc
Le Taillan-Médoc
Le Taillan-Médoc is a commune in the Gironde department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.-Population:-References:*...
(Gironde
Gironde
For the Revolutionary party, see Girondists.Gironde is a common name for the Gironde estuary, where the mouths of the Garonne and Dordogne rivers merge, and for a department in the Aquitaine region situated in southwest France.-History:...
), 19 July 1954) was a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
composer
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...
.
Biography
Jean Roger-Ducasse studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Emile PessardEmile Pessard
Émile Louis Fortuné Pessard was a French composer.He studied at the Paris Conservatoire where he won 1st prize in Harmony. In 1866 he won the Grand Prix de Rome with his cantata Dalila which was performed at the Paris Opera on February 21, 1867...
and André Gedalge
André Gedalge
André Gedalge , was an influential French composer and teacher.- Biography :André Gedalge was born at 75 rue des Saints-Pères, in Paris, where he first worked as a bookseller and editor specializing in livres de prix for public schools...
, and was the star pupil and close friend of Gabriel Fauré
Gabriel Fauré
Gabriel Urbain Fauré was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th century composers...
. He succeeded Fauré as professor of composition, and in 1935 he succeeded Paul Dukas
Paul Dukas
Paul Abraham Dukas was a French composer, critic, scholar and teacher. A studious man, of retiring personality, he was intensely self-critical, and he abandoned and destroyed many of his compositions...
as professor of orchestration. His personal style was firmly rooted in the French school of orchestration, in an unbroken tradition from Hector Berlioz
Hector Berlioz
Hector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts . Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works; as a...
through Camille Saint-Saëns
Camille Saint-Saëns
Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns was a French Late-Romantic composer, organist, conductor, and pianist. He is known especially for The Carnival of the Animals, Danse macabre, Samson and Delilah, Piano Concerto No. 2, Cello Concerto No. 1, Havanaise, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, and his Symphony...
. Among his notable pupils are Jehan Alain
Jehan Alain
Jehan Ariste Alain was a French organist and composer.-Biography:Alain was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye in the western suburbs of Paris, into a family of musicians. His father, Albert Alain was an enthusiastic organist, composer and organ-builder who had studied with Alexandre Guilmant and Louis...
, Claude Arrieu
Claude Arrieu
Claude Arrieu was a prolific French composer.-Biography:Claude Arrieu was a classically trained musician from an early age. She became particularly interested in works by Bach and Mozart, and later, Igor Stravinsky...
, Sirvart Kalpakyan Karamanuk, Jean-Louis Martinet
Jean-Louis Martinet
Jean-Louis Martinet is a French composer. He studied at the Schola Cantorum with Charles Koechlin and at the Conservatoire de Paris with Jean Roger-Ducasse and Olivier Messiaen. He also studied privately with René Leibowitz...
, and Francis George Scott
Francis George Scott
Francis George Scott was a Scottish composer.Born in Hawick, Roxburghshire, he was the son of a supplier of mill-engineering parts. Educated at Hawick, and at the universities of Edinburgh and Durham, he studied composition under Jean Roger-Ducasse...
.
Compositions
Roger-Ducasse wrote music in nearly all classical forms, and was particularly known for his operatic stage works and orchestral compositions. These include:- Au Jardin de Marguerite, 1901-1905 Based on an episode in Goethe's FaustGoethe's FaustJohann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust is a tragic play in two parts: and . Although written as a closet drama, it is the play with the largest audience numbers on German-language stages...
- Sarabande, 1907 Symphonic poem with chorus.
- Suite française, Concerts Calonne, Paris, 1907
- Marche française, 1914
- Nocturne de printemps, 1920
- Nocturne d’hiver, 1921
- EpithalameEpithalamiumEpithalamium refers to a form of poem that is written specifically for the bride on the way to her marital chamber...
for orchestra, 1923 - Orphée mimodrame lyrique, Opéra Garnier, June 1936 Based on his own libretto, closely following the Greek mythOrpheusOrpheus was a legendary musician, poet, and prophet in ancient Greek religion and myth. The major stories about him are centered on his ability to charm all living things and even stones with his music; his attempt to retrieve his wife from the underworld; and his death at the hands of those who...
. The production was mounted by Ida RubinsteinIda RubinsteinIda Lvovna Rubinstein was a Russian ballerina, actress, patron and Belle Époque figure.- Early life :Born in Kharkov, or possibly St. Petersburg,p408 into a wealthy Jewish family, Rubinstein was orphaned at an early age. She had, by the standard of Russian ballet, little formal training. Tutored...
. - Cantegril, comédie lyrique, Paris Opéra-Comique, 6 February 1931. His most ambitious work, with thirty-two demanding roles, was directed by Masson and Ricou with Roger Bourdin as Cantegril.
- Petite Suite
- Variations sur un thème grave ("Pleasant Variations on a serious theme") for harp and orchestra.
- Ulysse et les sirènes ("Odysseus and the Sirens"), 1937
His piano pieces and chamber music are also noteworthy. He composed a piano quartet, a Romance
Romance (music)
The term romance has a centuries-long history. Applied to narrative ballads in Spain, it came to be used by the 18th century for simple lyrical pieces not only for voice, but also for instruments alone. During the 18th and 19th centuries Russian composers developed the French variety of the...
for cello and piano, and two string quartets; the second, his swan song, debuted 24 May 1953, at the Château de la Brède
Château de la Brède
The Château de la Brède is a feudal castle in the commune of La Brède in the département of Gironde, France.The castle was built in the Gothic style starting in 1306, on the site of an earlier castle. It is surrounded by water-filled moats and an English garden, in the centre of a Bordelais vineyard...
.
Roger-Ducasse wrote only one work for organ, entitled Pastorale, a masterpiece rarely played in France. Written in 1909 and published by Éditions Durand, it is a challenging virtuoso showpiece. The work has been eclipsed by more recent compositional styles, nevertheless it has remained popular with performers in the United States.
Like Paul Dukas
Paul Dukas
Paul Abraham Dukas was a French composer, critic, scholar and teacher. A studious man, of retiring personality, he was intensely self-critical, and he abandoned and destroyed many of his compositions...
, Roger-Ducasse was severely self-critical, destroying music that did not meet his exacting standards.