Escudier, Léon

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Escudier, Léon

Escudier, Léon, French music journalist; b. Castelnaudary, Aude, Sept. 17, 1816; d. Paris, June 22, 1881. He was a brother and partner of Marie (-Pierre-Yves) Escudier (b. Castelnaudary, June 29, 1809; d. Paris, April 18, 1880). In 1837, the brothers began publishing the periodical La France Musicale and soon afterward established a music shop. Industrious writers, they issued jointly the following works:Etudes biographiques sur les chanteurs contemporains (1840), Dictionnaire de musique d’aprés lés théoriciens, historiens et critiques les plus célèbres (2 vols., 1844; reprinted in 1854 as Dictionnaire de musique, théorique et historique; 5th ed., 1872), Rossini, Sa vie et ses oeuvres (1854), and Vie et aventures des cantatrices célébres, précèdées des musiciens de I’Empire, et suivies de la vie anecdotique de Paganini (1856). Léon broke up partnership with his brother in 1860, retaining the music business. He established a new journal, L’Art Musical, which continued to appear until Sept. 27, 1894. Marie retained the publishing and editorial rights to La France Musicale, which ceased publication in 1870.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire