Tag: French Music

Merveilleuse was the “Boulangerie” that produced sisters Nadia and Lili.

Their mother, Raissa Myshetskaya (Mischetzky), was a Russian princess, who married Ernest Boulanger, a teacher and prize-winning composer at the Paris Conservatory. His associates included Charles Gounod, Jules Massenet, and Camille Saint-Saëns. Their grandfather, who had also taught there, was a notable cellist. Their grandmother sang at the Théâtre de l’Opéra-Comique. Suffice it to say, from their earliest years, the girls were exposed to the finest musical minds of Paris.

On Nadia Boulanger’s birthday, much respect to these marvelous musical sisters.

Nadia (1887-1979) became what has been described as the most influential teacher since Socrates. Her students included everyone from Dinu Lipatti to Igor Markevitch, from Aaron Copland to Elliott Carter, from Astor Piazzolla to Philip Glass, from Michel Legrand to Quincy Jones, from Leonard Bernstein to “What Makes It Great?” radio host Rob Kapilow.

Her influence on American music, in particular, has been incalculable. Hopefuls flocked to her American Conservatory at Fontainebleau, where she accepted applicants from all backgrounds, provided they were determined to learn. It was Virgil Thomson who quipped, “She was a one-woman graduate school, so powerful and permeating that legend credits every United States town with two things: a five and dime and a Boulanger pupil.” The five and dimes may have faded, but not so the legacy of the “Boulangerie.”

Beneath those grey hairs and pince-nez lurked an iron will that brooked no nonsense, yet Boulanger was surprisingly accepting, astonishingly objective, and generally dead-on in her assessments.

Nadia’s younger sister, Lili (1893-1918), was one of the great hopes of French music, the first woman to win the Prix de Rome composition prize. She won the prize in 1913, at the age of 19, for her cantata “Faust et Hélène.” It was actually Lili’s second attempt. The year before, she collapsed during her performance.

Unfortunately, Lili suffered from chronic ill health, contracting bronchial pneumonia at the age of 2. Her compromised immune system left her vulnerable to Crohn’s disease, which ended her life in 1918 at the age of 24.

Nadia too had had ambitions to compose. She attempted to win the Prix de Rome (as their father had done in 1835), but was repeatedly frustrated. She got as far as second place in 1908. It became evident that her sister was the real talent in that regard, so Nadia pursued organ and, of course, pedagogy.

Both sisters were greatly influenced by Gabriel Fauré, who was director of the Paris Conservatory – Lili, a musical prodigy, had been accompanying her sister to the conservatory from before the age of 5 – and of course Debussy’s impact in those days was inescapable. Like Debussy, Lili gravitated toward a kind of indirection in her music, more characteristic of Symbolism than the evocative sorts of atmospheres often attempted by the Impressionists (a classification, by the way, Debussy disliked).

Lili was greatly affected by the death of her father in 1900, and many of her works are marked by grief and loss. Ernest fathered his children quite late in life. He was 72 when Nadia was born, and 77 at the time of Lili’s birth. The girls’ mother was 41 years his junior. Despite the inherent melancholy that pervades much of her music, Lili displayed a colorful mastery of harmony and orchestration.

Often she was perceived as destined for greatness. Her music has actually been programmed fairly frequently for a woman composer of her era. But now with greater sensitivity to male dominance in the world’s concert halls, we are bound to hear even more Lili Boulanger. It’s just a pity she didn’t leave us more.

Nadia’s life was as long as her sister’s was brief. She died in 1979 at the age of 92.

Fascinating documentary about Nadia Boulanger, including first-hand accounts, historical footage, and terrific insights. Leonard Bernstein is interviewed in French, beginning around the 7-minute mark:

Nadia conducts Fauré’s Requiem

Nadia’s own “Fantaisie variée” for piano and orchestra

Lili Boulanger’s “Faust et Hélène”

“D’un soir triste” (“Of a Sad Evening”)

“Vieille prière bouddhique” (“Old Buddhist Prayer”)

BREAK BREAD WITH THE BOULANGERS ON NADIA’S BIRTHDAY: Nadia, left, with Lili in 1913. The bread was baked fresh this morning.