Vincent d'Indy

French composer and teacher

Paul Marie Theodore Vincent d'Indy (27 March 1851–2 December 1931) was a French composer and music teacher.[1] Born in Paris, he was encouraged to learn music by his uncle who had studied with César Franck. D'Indy later also studied with Franck at the Paris Conservatoire.[1] He liked the music of Lizst, Beethoven and Wagner. He went to the first performance of Wagner's Ring at Bayreuth in 1876.[1] He organized performances of works by Rameau and Monteverdi whose work had been mostly forgotten.[1] He was a very conservative in his views on music, and after his proposed changes to the Conservatoire were ignored, he set up his own music school, the Schola Cantorum in 1894.[1][2]

Vincent d'Indy, ~ 1895

Works

He wrote a large number of musical compositions including operas, overtures, symphonies, choral works, piano works, string sextets, string quartets, folk song arrangements, and a cello sonata. One of his well known works is the "Symphonie sur un Chant Montagnard Français" (1886) ("Symphony on a French Mountain Song").[2]

He also wrote books including a biography of César Franck, and a book on how to write music.

References