La Bande à Franck, chapter 6a
- samuelhmagill
- Aug 13
- 6 min read
Gabriel Pierné
Henri Constant Gabriel Pierné was born on August 16, 1863, in Metz, a small city with a rich 3,000-year history at the confluence of the Moselle and Seille rivers in Lorraine, in northeastern France. The son of professional musicians, seven-year-old Gabriel was forced to move to Paris with his parents after the devastating loss of Alsace and Lorraine, when a victorious German Empire soundly defeated France in the Franco-Prussian War in 1871.
Pierné has been called the most complete French musician of the late 19th and 20th centuries. He did almost everything a musician could do; he was a fine pianist, an important organist, one of the most famous conductors in France, and a creator of music in every genre. Thus, he wrote many oratorios (The Children of Bethlehem; The Childrens' Crusade; L'an Mil; Saint Francis of Assisi), including nine ballets; six operas; numerous orchestral works (incidental music to Pierre Roti's Ramuntcho); concerted pieces for piano, harp, and violin; many art songs; sonatas for violin (or flute) and cello; and a large number of chamber works, such as the Piano Quintet, op. 41; two quintets for flute, harp, and strings,; the Piano Trio, op. 45; the Sonata da camera, op. 48, for flute, cello, and piano; a quartet for saxophones; a trio for strings; and a relatively large amount of solo piano music. That he was able to maintain such an exhausting pace while serving as the musical director of the popular and influential Concerts Colonne orchestra underscores his energy and passion for his profession.
In 1871, the 8-year-old Gabriel entered the Paris Conservatoire, winning 1st prize for piano in 1876, for harmony in 1877, and for organ, counterpoint, and fugue in 1882, under the tutelage of César Franck and Jules Massenet. Pierné won the Prix de Rome in the same year with his cantata Edith. This prize enabled him to live, expense-free, at the Villa Medici in Rome for 3 years. It was intended to give the young artist the impetus to further develop their talents. In 1890, Pierné married his piano pupil, Louise Bergon, with whom he would raise three children. That same year, he was given the very high honor of succeeding his maître Franck as organiste titulaire at the Basilica of Saint-Clotilde in Paris. The church is named in honor of Saint Clotilde, the wife of King Clovis I.
Young Gabriel Pierné c. 1882
Gabriel Pierné resigned from his position as organist in 1898 because he was literally too busy. He was appointed assistant conductor of the Concerts Colonne (named after its founder, Edouard Colonne), becoming its music director in 1910, a position he held for 24 years. Always a forward-looking musician, Pierné is remembered as the conductor of the world premiere of Stravinsky's Firebird ballet for Ballet Russe in 1910. He remained a promoter of the new music by his young contemporaries until the end of his life. Among his own nine ballets, he wrote a Salome for Ida Rubinstein in 1895, thus pre-dating Richard Strauss by a full decade! His first important works appeared in 1897, including what I think is the spectacular three-movement work for orchestra and chorus, L'an mil (The Year 1,000). This 35-minute semi-oratorio is quite unique in that it portrays the western world's reaction and panic leading up to the turn of the millennium from 999 to 1,000. However, further research suggests that the apparent panic was mainly the church's attempt to pressure the peasantry to tithe as much of their limited resources as possible. But in 1897, this was unknown, and the resulting work is thoroughly enjoyable without historical justification. Here is the somber but lush 1st movement. One immediately hears the considerable influence of his teacher, Franck, with its chromatic opening motive moving up and down by half-steps, much like Franck's Symphony in D Minor. The harmonic underpinnings are constantly shape-shifting, as it were. Within a single measure, we find movement from major to minor and back again. This automatically gives the listener a sense of emotional turbulence and drama. What seems to be a departure from Franck here is the more colorful orchestration; in fact, Pierné's mastery of the orchestra is readily apparent at first hearing.
Pierné's masterpiece in the realm of choral music is undoubtedly his massive oratorio, Saint François d'Assise, published in 1912 and first performed at the Théâtre du Châtelet. Based on the life of Saint Francis, it takes about 2 hours and a quarter in performance. Its structure takes the following form:
1. Prologue
a. The Youth of St. Francis
b. Francis and the Lady Poverty
Part One
a. The Leper
b. Sister Clare
c. The Birds
Part Two
a. The Stigmata
b. The Canticle of the Sun
c. The Death of Francis
It would be an understatement to say that this magnificent work of art provides the listener with a highly charged, emotional experience! I could even imagine it as an opera, given the great heights of ecstasy that hearken back to Parsifal and Franck's masterpiece, Les Béatitudes. The orchestral interlude at the beginning of The Stigmata is a dramatic tour de force worthy of Wagner himself. I have always loved Elgar's Dream of Gerontius, but now it seems rather bland compared to Saint François; indeed, this extraordinary work should be revived and given at least one fine recording. The only one available isn't bad, but it is quite old and heavily cut.
Pierné's home at Rue de Tournon, No. 6, one block from the Luxembourg Gardens.
Among Pierné's nine ballet scores, I should discuss the flip side of his musical personality. Pierné's music up to the 1st World War is mostly in a Franckian style. But he has a significantly lighter side, too. He was a devotee of the circus and could be found there on many evenings when his work was finished for the day. He was also extremely fond of children and wrote numerous shorter pieces either for them or inspired by them. In this way, Pierné has something in common with Edward Elgar, who wrote several works based on children's songs, like his Wand of Youth Suites. Especially after the war, when societies all over the world could breathe freely once more, people needed to find enjoyment in life again. In his late ballets, Pierné expressed this sense of fun and freedom. The most obvious example is his 1927 ballet, Impressions de music-hall, op. 47, for which he composed a score of popular dance styles utilizing American Jazz. It is very witty and full of charm. His most significant ballet score is undoubtedly Cydalise et le Chèvre-pied, written in 1915 but not performed until 1923 because of the many problems arising from the Great War. This fascinating score is based on a novel by the symbolist poet and novelist Remy de Gourmont (1858-1915). The action takes place in the park of the Palace of Versailles, presumably during the late 17th or early 18th century; it features the brief love affair between a mortal woman and a satyr--they fall in love whilst dancing, thereby giving an excellent excuse for about a dozen or more graceful and witty Baroque and Rococo style dances. Some commentators would have it that Pierné's music for this ballet is derivative. Though the composer absorbed the best of his contemporaries, I would offer that the witticisms of much of the "ancient-style" dance numbers are entirely Pierné's own. Our composer was the perfect embodiment of a brilliant mind that could absorb current trends without compromising his artistic integrity. I am including some examples of this delightful and colorful work of art here. Debussy was a close friend of Pierné's —in his capacity as a conductor, the latter had an intimate knowledge of his friend's scores —so it comes as no surprise that Debussy's innovative art influenced Pierné.
I do find that this conductor takes many of these numbers too fast to be graceful as they should be. But this recording by David Shallon and the Luxembourg Philharmonic is the only modern account of the complete ballet, and the orchestra plays well. The composer did extract two suites for concert use, however, in case any conductors out there are interested! I have decided to write about the chamber music in a separate post because in many ways these works are his finest creations, and many other people are in agreement.
Until next time!
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