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Emmanuel Chabrier (1841 - 1894)
Marche Joyeuse
Chabrier was a native of
the Auvergne region in central France. Despite his obvious
musical abilities he studied Law in Paris, and having gained
a degree joined the Civil Service. He then worked in the Ministry
of the Interior for almost 20 years. Music was still his hobby,
and he took both piano lessons and composition lessons, but
not in a formal academic surrounding. He was almost forty
when he decided to give up his Civil Service job and pursue
composing as a full time career. Most of his surviving compositions
date from the years 1877 to 1888, after which he suffered
increasing illness and died when he was only 53 years old.
The Marche Joyeuse was written in 1888 and first conducted
by Chabrier himself at a festival devoted to his music held
at Angers in the Loire valley in November that year. It was
originally a piano piece called Marche Francaise, but he changed
the name for copyright reasons - another "Marche Francaise"
was already published. A reviewer of the orchestral version
praised the work as "impossible to have more verve, more
gaiety and life. With its unexpected sonorities, the exaggeration
of which produces comical effects, the piece was enthusiastically
encored'. It also has the rare virtues of being both fun and
short. |
