Chailley, Jacques

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Chailley, Jacques

Chailley, Jacques, eminent French musicologist and composer; b. Paris, March 24, 1910; d. Montpellier, Jan. 21, 1999. He studied composition with Boulanger, Delvincourt, and Busser, musicology with Pirro, Rokseth, and Smijers, and conducting with Mengelberg and Monteux; he also took courses in medieval French literature at the Sorbonne in Paris (1932–36; Ph.D., 1952, with two dissertations: L’École musicale de Saint-Martial de Limoges jusqu’à la fin du XI^esiècle [publ, in Paris, 1960] and Chansons de Gautier du Coinci [publ, as Les Chansons à la Vierge de Gautier de Coinci in Monuments de la musique ancienne, XV, 1959]). He was general secretary (1937–47), vice-principal (1947–51), and prof, of the choral class (1951–53) at the Paris Cons.; from 1952 to 1979 he was director of the Inst. of Musicology at the Univ. of Paris; also taught at the Paris Lycée La Fontaine (1951–69); from 1962 to 1981 he was director of the Schola Can-torum. He wrote authoritatively on many subjects, including medieval music, the music of ancient Greece, music history, and the music of Bach, Mozart, Wagner, and others.

Works

DRAMATIC: Les perses, incidental music for Ondes Martenot and Percussion, after Aeschylus (1936); Pan et la Syrinx, opera (1946); Thyl de Flandre, opera (1949–53; Brussels, Oct. 1, 1957); La Dame à la licorne, ballet (1953). orch.: 2 syms.: No. 1 (1942–45; 1^st complete perf., Toulouse, March 4, 1948) and No. 2 (1980–84). chamber: String Quartet (1936); Viola Sonata (1939–41); Chant funèbre for Cello and Piano (1945); Suite sans prétention pour Monsieur de Molière for 3 Ondes Martenot and Wind Quintet (1955); Prélude et allegro for Viola and Cello (1976). keyboard: piano: Sonata breve (1960). vocal:Cantique de soleil for Contralto, Ondes Martenot, and Orch. (1934); Symphonies mariales, oratorio (1965); Messe française for 2 Soloists and Congregational Men’s Chorus (1976); Casa Dei, oratorio (1991).

Writings

(all publ, in Paris unless otherwise given): Petite Histoire de la chanson populaire française (1942); with H. Challan, Théorie complète de la musique (1949); Histoire musicale du Moyen Age (1950; 3^rd éd., 1984); Les Notations musicales nouvelles (1950); La Musique médiévale (1951); Traité historique d’analyse musicale (1951; 2^nd éd., 1977, as Traité historique harmonique); Formation et transformations du langage musical (1954); Chronologie musicale: I, années 300 à 1599 (1955); éd. Précis de musicologie (1958; 2^nd éd., rev., 1984); L’Imbroglio des modes (1960); 40, 000 ans de musique: L’Homme à la découverte de sa musique (1961; Eng. tr., 1964, as 40, 000 Years of Music: Man in Search of Music); Les Passions de J.S. Bach (1963; 2^nd éd., rev., 1984); Tristan et Isolde de Wagner (1963; 2^nd éd., 1972); Alia musica (1965); Expliquer l’harmonie? (Lausanne, 1967); La Musique et le signe (Lausanne, 1967); “La Flûte enchantée,” opéra maçonnique: Essai d’explication du livret et de la musique (1968; 2^nd éd., aug., 1983; Eng. tr., 1971, as The Magic Flute, Masonic Opera); “L’Art de la fugue” de J.S. Bach. Étude critique des sources (1, 1971, II, 1972); Le “Carnaval” de Schumann (1971); Cours d’histoire de la musique (4 vols., 1972–90); Les Chorals d’orgue de Bach (1974); La Musique (Tours, 1975); Le Voyage d’hiver de Schubert (1975); Solfège-déchiffrage pour les jeunes pianistes (1975); Traité d’harmonie au clavier (1977); Parsifal de R. Wagner, opéra initiatique (1979); La Musique grecque antique (1979); De la musique à la musicologie...a l’occasion de son 70^e anniversaire (1980); Eléments de philologie musicale (2 vols., 1985); with J. Viret, Le Symbolisme de la gamme (1988); Propos sans orthodoxie (1989); La musique et son langage (1996).