Ladmirault, Paul (-Émile)
Ladmirault, Paul (-Émile)
Ladmirault, Paul (-Émile), French composer and teacher; b. Nantes, Dec. 8, 1877; d. Kerbili en Kamoel, St. Nazaire, Oct. 30, 1944. As a child, he studied piano, organ, and violin. He entered the Nantes Cons, in 1892, winning first prize in 1893. He was only 15 when his opera Gilles de Retz was staged in Nantes (May 18, 1893). He entered the Paris Cons, in 1895, studying with Tardou (harmony), Fauré (composition), and Gédalge (counterpoint and fugue); subsequently returned to Nantes, where he taught at the Cons. His Suite bretonne (1902–03) and symphonic prelude Brocéliande au matin (Paris, Nov. 28, 1909) were extracts from a 2nd opera, Myrdhin (1902–09), which was never performed. The ballet La Prêtresse de Koridwen was premiered at the Paris Opéra (Dec. 17, 1926). Other works included the operetta Glycère (Paris, 1928), Sym. (1910), La Brière for Orch. (Paris, Nov. 20, 1926), En forêt, symphonic poem (1932), incidental music to Tristan et Iseult (1929), Valse triste for Piano and Orch., Airs anciens for Tenor, String Quartet, and Piano (1897), Ballet bohémien for Flute, Oboe, Double String Quartet, and Piano (1898), Fantaisie for Violin and Piano (1899), Chanson grecque for Flute and Piano (1900), Violin Sonata (1901), De l’ombre à la clarté for Violin and Piano (1936), piano pieces, songs, and many arrangements of Breton folk songs.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire