Henri Büsser
Henri Büsser (16 January 1872 – 30 December 1973) was a French classical composer, organist, and conductor.
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[edit] Biography
Paul-Henri Büsser was born in Toulouse, of partly Teutonic ancestry. He entered the Conservatoire in Paris in 1889; there he studied organ with César Franck and composition with Ernest Guiraud. Employed for a while as secretary to Charles Gounod, he received valuable advice from that composer, who helped him to obtain a job as organist at Saint-Cloud. In 1893, he won the Prix de Rome for music, and upon his return from Italy, he began a career as a conductor. At the personal request of Claude Debussy, Büsser led the fourth and numerous subsequent performances of Pelléas at Mélisande. Büsser also became a protégé of Jules Massenet, and was one of the elder composer's closest friends during the last two decades of the latter's life (Massenet died in 1912).
In 1921 Büsser began teaching at the Paris Conservatoire, and was promoted to professor of composition in 1931. Noted students include Prix de Rome winner Henri Challan and the Japanese composer Tomojiro Ikenouchi (1906–1991). The Académie Française elected him as member in 1938. He married the famous dramatic soprano Yvonne Gall (1885–1972).
While Büsser composed a wide range of compositions, his most important works were for the stage. His operas include Daphnis et Chloé, Colomba, and Les noces corinthiennes. Several stage works demonstrate his comic wit, especially Le carosse du Saint Sacrement and Roxelane, as well as the farce Diaforus 60, which is an update of Molière's Le malade imaginaire. His music exhibits a sophisticated compositional style and finely crafted orchestration, but he remained faithful to French 19th century traditions.
He also made the standard orchestration of Debussy's Petite Suite.
Henri Büsser died in Paris in 1973 at the age of 101.
[edit] Selected works
- Opera
- Hélène, before 1890, incomplete
- Les accordailles, 1890, unperformed
- Jane Grey, 1891
- Les Marivaudages, 1891, unperformed
- Daphnis et Chloé, 1897
- Le miracle de perles, 1898, unperformed
- Blanc et noir, 1900
- Colomba, 1921
- Les noces corinthiennes, 1922
- La pie borgne, 1927
- Rhapsodie arménienne, 1930
- Le carrosse du Saint-Sacrement, 1948
- Roxelane, 1948
- Diafoirus 60, 1963
- La Vénus d'ille, 1964
- Ballet
- La ronde des saisons, 1905
- Incidental music
- Appassionato, 1910
- Les trois sultanes, 1923
- Manon, 1925
- Histoire de France, 1929
- Chamber music
- Appassionato for viola and piano, Op. 34, 1910
- Morceau de Concert (Concert Piece in D) for horn and piano, Op. 39
- Catalane sur des airs populaires for viola and orchestra or piano, Op. 78, 1926
- Rhapsodie arménienne for viola and piano, Op. 81, 1930
- La Chasse de Saint Hubert for horn and piano, Op. 99, ca. 1937
[edit] Writings
- De Pelléas aux Indes galantes—De la flûte au tambour, (memoires), 1955
[edit] Sources
- Sadie, Stanley (Ed.) [1992] (1994). The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, vol. 1, A-D, chpt: "Büsser [Busser], (Paul-) Henri" by Arthur Hoérée & Richard Langham Smith, New York: MacMillan. ISBN 0-935859-92-6.
