Better Know a Composer - Chabrier

Emmanuel Chabrier (Jan. 18, 1841 - Sept. 13 1894)

  Chabrier was a French Romantic composer and pianist who can only be described as a "hidden gem" in classical music. Probably not too many people have heard of him, and even the ones that have might only know him for his most famous orchestral works, España and Joyeuse marche. Besides these he also wrote an important group of operas and some piano works too. The reason he is truly a "hidden gem" is because he did not composer too many works, but the works he did were of the highest quality. He was even respected by some of the biggest names of his time: R. Strauss, Ravel, Stravinsky, and many more. Stravinsky even alluded to España in his opera, Petrushka.

  Chabrier was born in Ambert, which is a town in the central region of France. His father was an attorney and he also had a nanny through his childhood, but they stayed close throughout his life. When Chabrier was six he started taking piano lessons from a Spanish refugee, Saporta.

  At age 10, he attended the Lycée Impérial at Clermont Ferrand. He continued his keyboard studies and started to take look at composition. After persuasion from his father he put music back for awhile to further pursue law. After two years in Paris at the Lycée Louis le Grand, he began to study law. Thankfully, he continued to take piano lessons and study various aspects of composition through this time. When he received his law degree, in 1862, Chabrier went to work for the French Ministry of Interior, even though his passion was still music. During this time he had a chance to meet many great artists and musicians, and Chabrier also managed to write some minor piano works, among other things.

  There were many descriptions of Chabrier's piano skills from this time. They range from almost as a graceful as Liszt, all the way to "pounding" and "punching" the keyboard until the strings broke. This probably sounds strange, but once you hear some of his pieces you'll understanding how his mixture of melodies and comic wit combine these elements to make music gold.

  During the 1870s he began many of his stage works. The first one completed, L'étoile, was very successful. It managed to get 48 shows and was a great example of his style of composing, and alluded to what was still to come from him later in life.

  In 1879, Chabrier witnessed Wagner's Tristan and Isolde. Being an admirer of Wagner and having studied his works before, seeing this masterpiece fueled Chabrier's ambition to compose. This lead to him quitting his job at the ministry, in 1880, and become a full-time composer. In this same year Chabrier finished a piano cycle, Pièces pittoresques.

  That kind of drive is what could describe Chabrier, now that he had quit his day job. Before quitting he had only produced two remarkable works, which were  L'étoile and Une Éducation manquée. Now that he was free to compose he produced many, high quality, works in succession. A few examples are: España (1883), Gwendoline (1886), and Le roi malgré lui (1887); which he completed the score of, six months after starting. The last two operas both met unfortunate ends. Gwendoline closed after two shows because of bankruptcy, and Le roi malgré lui had the opera house burn to the ground after its third performance.

  In Chabrier's final years, his health was starting to get the better of him, there was financial strain because of the collapse of the bankers, and he was feeling depression after the occurrences of his last two operas. He became obsessed with Briséïs, which was going to be an opera with hints of Wagner's textures, but he was only able to complete the first act. At the Paris premiere of Gwendoline, it met great applause, but Chabrier was in such poor health he couldn't understand the applause was for him. At age 53 he was struck with paralysis, and past away in Paris.

  Another great reason horn players should consider him a "hidden gem" is that he wrote a solo for horn and orchestra. His Larghetto for Horn and Orchestra isn't one of our most well known pieces but does offer a refreshing change from our fast-paced literature. It was composed in 1865, only a short while after he had gotten his job at the French Ministry of Interior. This piece is nice because it shows off the sound of the horn, while not being too simple either. It's a wonderful piece because it offers the same elements of Chabrier's musical wit using his "interesting" melodies.