Lioncourt, Guy de

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Lioncourt, Guy de

Lioncourt, Guy de, French composer and teacher; b. Caen, Dec. 1, 1885; d. Paris, Dec. 24, 1961. He studied Gregorian chant with Gastoué, counterpoint with Roussel, and composition with his uncle, d’Indy, at the Paris Schola Cantorum (graduated, 1916), and in 1918 he won the Grand Prix Lasserre with his La Belle au bois dormant (1912–15). He became prof. of counterpoint (1914) at the Schola Cantorum; at d’lndy’s death in 1931, he became subdirector and prof. of composition. He helped to found the École César Franck in Paris (1935), and then was its director. He publ. an autobiography, Un Témoignage sur la musique et sur la vie au XXe siècle (Paris, 1956).

Works

dramatic: drama:Jan de la lune (1915–21). liturgical dramas: Le Mystère de l’Emmanuel (1924); Le Mystère de l’Alléluia (1925–26); Le Mystère de l’Esprit (1939–40). chamber: Piano Quintet (1908); Piano Quartet (1925); String Quartet (1933). keyboard: Piano pieces; organ music. vocal: soloists, chorus, and orch.:Hyalis, le petit faune aux yeux bleus (1909–11); La Belle au bois dormant (1912–15); Le Réniement de St.-Pierre (1928); Le Navrement de Notre Dame (1943). other: 3 masses (1914–22; 1942; 1948); Les Dix Lépreux for Voice, Women’s Chorus, and Orch. (1918–19); Le Diet de Mme. Saincte Barbe for Soloists, Chorus, Harp, and Strings (1937); motets.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire