Choron, Alexandre (Étienne)
Choron, Alexandre (Étienne)
Choron, Alexandre (Étienne), French music editor and theorist; b. Caen, Oct. 21, 1771; d. Paris, June 28, 1834. A student of languages, and passionately fond of music, he took interest in music theory and through it in mathematics, which he studied till the age of 25. Through several years’ serious application to the Italian and German theorists, he acquired a thorough knowledge of the theory and practice of music. Becoming (1805) a partner in a music publishing firm, he devoted his entire fortune to editing and publishing classic and theoretical works and compositions, meanwhile contributing new works of his own. In 1811 he became a corresponding member of the Académie Française. He was entrusted with the reorganization of the maîtrises (training schools for church choirs), and was appointed conductor of religious festivals. In 1816, as director of the Académie Royale de Musique, he reopened the Cons, (closed in 1815) as the École Royale de Chant et de Déclamation. Losing his directorship (1817) because he favored new works by unknown composers, he established, with a very moderate subsidy, the Institution de Musique Classique et Religieuse, for which he labored indefatigably until the July Revolution (1830).
Writings
Principes d’accompagnement des écoles d’Italie (1804); Principes de composition des écoles d’Italie (3 vols., 1808; 2ndéd., 6 vols., 1816); Dictionnaire historique des musiciens (2 vols., 1810-11; with Fayolle); Méthode élémentaire de musique et de plainchant (1811); rev. and enl. Francoeur’s Traité général des voix et des instruments d’orchestre (1813); trs. of Albrechtsberger’s Grù’ndliche Anweisung zur Composition and Generalbassschule (1814, 1815; new éd., 1830; Eng. tr. by A. Merrick, 1835) and of Azopardi’s Musico prattico (1816); Méthode concertante de musique à plusieurs parties (written for his Cons., 1818; new éd., 1833); Méthode de plainchant (1818); Manuel complet de musique vocale et instrumentale, ou Encyclopédie musicale (1836-39; 6 vols, letterpress and 5 vols, plates; with La Fage).
Bibliography
L.E. Gautier, Éloge de C. (Caen, 1845); H. Réty, Notice historique sur C. et son école (Paris, 1873); J. Cariez, G, Sa vie et ses travaux (Caen, 1880); G. Vauthier, C. sous l’Empire (Poitiers, 1909).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire