Rabaud, Henri (Benjamin)

Rabaud, Henri (Benjamin) , noted French conductor, pedagogue, and composer; b. Paris, Nov. 10, 1873; d. there, Sept. 11, 1949. His father was Hippolyte Rabaud (1839–1900), prof. of cello at the Paris Cons., where Henri studied with Gédalge and Massenet (1893–94), winning the Premier Grand Prix de Rome in 1894 with his cantata Daphné., In 1908 he became conductor at the Paris Opéra and at the Opéra-Comique, and from 1914 to 1918 he was director of the Opéra. In 1918–19 he was engaged to conduct the Boston Sym. Orch. He then was appointed director of the Paris Cons. in 1922, holding this post until 1941.

Works

DRAMATIC: O p e r a : La Fille de Roland (Paris, March 16, 1904); Le Premier Glaire (Béziers, 1908); Marouf, savetier du Caire (Paris, May 15, 1914); Antoine et Cléopâtre, after Shakespeare (1916–17); L’Appel de la mer (Paris, April 10, 1924); Le Miracle des loups (Paris, Nov. 14, 1924); Rolande et le mauvais garçon (1933; Paris, May 28, 1934); Le Jeu de l’amour et du hasard (1948; Monte Carlo, 1954). OTHER: Incidental music and film scores. ORCH.: 2 syms. (1893, 1900); La Procession nocturne, symphonic poem (Paris, Jan. 15, 1899); Divertissement sur des chansons russes (1899); Lamento (1930); Prelude and Toccata for Piano and Orch. (1945). CHAMBER: String Quartet (1898); Trio for Oboe, Clarinet, and Bassoon (1949); piano pieces. VOCAL: L’Étée for Soprano, Alto, Chorus, and Orch. (1895); job, oratorio (1900); Hymne à la France éternelle for Chorus (1916); songs.

Bibliography

M. d’Ollone, H. R.: Sa vie et son oeuvre (Paris, 1958).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire