Édouard Lalo

Background

He was born in Lille, France on January 27, 1823.

Education

After studying violin and cello at the Lille Conservatory, Lalo entered François-Antoine Habeneck's violin class at the Paris Conservatory in 1839. He studied composition privately with the pianist Julius Schulhoff and the composer Crèvecoeur.

Career

In 1855 he joined the newly founded Armingaud-Jacquard String Quartet, in which he played the viola.

His earliest compositions, which include a piano trio and a number of songs to texts by Victor Hugo and Pierre Jean de Béranger, date from about 1845; but it was not until much later that he achieved a reputation as a composer. A first violin concerto was written early in the 1870's and performed in 1874 by Pablo Sarasate, who the following year gave the first performance of the Symphonie Espagnole (1873). This latter composition is the work for which Lalo is best remembered today. It is a light and elegantly written concerto-style suite in which Spanish rhythms and melodic characteristics are introduced.

The Fantaisie Norvégienne (1880) and the Concerto Russe (1883), conceived in the same style, were less successful. Of Lalo's purely orchestral works the most successful was the Symphony in G minor (1887), which was revived by the conductor Sir Thomas Beecham. Here the heavy scoring and unusually frequent use of the brass show the influence of Richard Wagner. Wagner's influence is even more noticeable in Lalo's second opera Le Roi d'Ys (The King of Ys) produced at the Opera Comique in 1888.

Lalo's first opera Fiesque, written in 1866, was never produced in its entirety. It is the melodic charm, rhythmic piquancy, and originality, rather than the revolutionary character of his orchestration, that appear outstanding. These virtues are seen at their best in the music that he wrote for the ballet Namouna (1882), which has been used for a more recent ballet, Noir et Blanc, with choreography by Serge Lifar.

Achievements

• His work Symphonie espagnole for violin and orchestra still enjoys a prominent place in the repertoire of violinists, and every now and then Lalo's Cello Concerto in D minor is revived. His distinctive style has earned him some degree of popularity - notable for strong melodies and colourful orchestration.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Lalo: Cello Concerto; Symphony
  • Lalo: Concerto Russe - Romance

Interests

• Music & Bands

  He was highly influenced by Richard Wagner, Lalo was greatly influenced by his studies of Beethoven, Schubert, and more especially Schumann.

Connections

Julie Besnier de Maligny, a contralto from Brittany, became his bride in 1865. She aroused Lalo's early interest in opera.

Father:

Victor Antoine Édouard Lalo

Son:

Pierre (6 September 1866 – 9 June 1943)

a music critic

teacher:

Julius Schulhoff