Emmanuel, (Marie François) Maurice

Emmanuel, (Marie François) Maurice, eminent French music scholar; b. Bar-sur-Aube, May 2, 1862; d. Paris, Dec. 14, 1938. He received his primary education in Dijon. He sang in the church choir in Beaune, and then studied at the Paris Cons. (1880–87) with Savard, Dubois, Delibes, and Bourgault-Ducoudray. He then specialized in the musical history of antiquity under Gevaert in Brussels, and also studied ancient languages at the Sorbonne, becoming a licencie es lettres (1887) and a docteur es lettres (1895) with the theses De saltationis disciplina apud Graecos (publ. in Latin, Paris, 1895) and La Danse grecque antique d’apres les monuments figures (Paris, 1896; Eng. tr. as The Antique Greek Dance after Sculptured and Painted Figures, N.Y., 1916). He was a prof, of art history at the Lycee Racine and Lycee Lamartine (1898–1905), maitre de chapelle at Ste.-Clotilde (1904–07), and in 1909 succeeded Bourgault-Ducoudray as prof, of music history at the Paris Cons., holding this post until 1936. He ed. vols. 17 and 18 of the complete works of Rameau, as well as Bach’s works in Durand’s ed. of the classical masters.

Writings

Hístoíre de la langue musicale (2 vols., Paris, 1911; new ed., 1928); Traíté de I’accompagnement modal des psaumes (Lyons, 1912); with R. Moissenet, La Polyphonic sacrée(Dijon, 1923); Pelléas et Mélisande de Claud Debussy (Paris, 1926; 2nd ed., 1950); César Franck (Paris, 1930); Anton Reicha (Paris, 1936).

Works

DRAMATIC Salamine, opera (1921–23; 1927–28; Paris, June 28, 1929); Amphitryon, opéra-bouffe (1936; Paris, Feb. 20, 1937). OTHER: 2 syms. (1919,1931); 2 string quartets and other chamber music; 6 piano sonatinas; vocal music.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire