Edouard Lalo (1823-1892)

Donald Macleod surveys the life and music of the elusive French
composer, Edouard Lalo


Even if you know the name, it's possible you might not be able to
place the French composer Edouard Lalo date-wise. He was born in
Lille in 1823. Berlioz was his senior in age by some twenty
years, Saint-Saëns twelve years his junior. Lalo has a direct
contemporary in the shape of César Franck, another composer who
preferred to stay out of the limelight. As a musician, Lalo cut
an independent path, preferring to complete his music studies
privately rather than following the accepted route of attending
the Paris Conservatoire.


Lalo had a retiring nature, a man who appears to have preferred
the quiet life. That doesn't mean he wasn't sociable. He seems to
have been generally well liked. He lived in Paris from the age of
sixteen and mixed with and knew all the leading musical
personalities of the day. Aside from the Symphonie espagnole, he
wrote several operas, a ballet, a symphony, a whole number of
orchestral and chamber works including three piano trios and a
string quartet, and something in the region of 30 songs.


Trying to get a handle on Lalo isn't straightforward. The first
letter that’s been preserved dates from 1848, by which time Lalo
was in his late twenties. His son Pierre was a primary source of
information about his father, but more recent research indicates
the picture he drew seems to have been somewhat rose-tinted. The
first full length biography in English has yet to be published.


Donald Macleod sets about mapping the life and the music of this
elusive, yet significant figure in French musical history in a
survey that takes us from Lalo's early experiences in Lille,
where he first met Berlioz, to his eventual triumph, age sixty on
the opera stage with Le roi d'Ys.


Music Featured:


Guitarre, op 28 arr. Ernest Guiraud Symphonie Espagnole in D
minor , Op 21 (I: Allegro non troppo) Le roy d’Ys - Overture
Violin sonata in D major, “Grand duo concertant” Op 12 (2nd
movement Variations) Piano Trio No 2 (III: Minuetto: Allegro)
Violin Concerto No 1 in F major, Op 20 (I: Andante – Allegro)
Deux impromptus, Op 4 (I : Espérance) Symphonie Espagnole in D
minor, Op 21 (II : Scherzando; Allegro molto) Trois mélodies La
fenaison Six romance populaires (IV : Si j’étais petit oiseau; I
: La pauvre femme) Piano Quintet "Grand Quintette" in Ab major
(2nd movement) Cello Concerto in D minor (I. Prélude. Lento -
Allegro maestoso) Rapsodie norvégienne Divertissement No 3:
Andantino Fiesque, Act 2: Entr’acte: une place de Gênes Fiesque,
Act 1: Je ne puis supporter Fiesque Act 2 (except) Piano Trio No
3 in A minor, Op 26 (II: Presto) Sonata for cello and piano (I:
Andante non troppo) Concerto russe (II: Chants russe; III.
Intermezzo) Namouna, Act 1: Valse de la Cigarette Symphony in G
minor (III: Adagio) Namouna Suite No 2 Piano Trio in A Minor, Op
26 (I: Allegro appassionato) Cello Concerto in D minor (II:
Intermezzo; III: Introduction: Andante - Allegro vivace) Overture
to Le roi d’Ys (excerpt) Le roi d’Ys, Act 3: Vainement, ma
bien-aimée String Quartet in E flat (I: Allegro vivo) Piano
Concerto in F minor (I: Lento-Allegro) Le roi d’Ys, Act 1
(excerpt) Le roi d’Ys, Act 3 (excerpt) Symphonie Espagnole (V:
Rondo)


Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Johannah Smith for BBC
Audio Wales and West


For full track listings, including artist and recording details,
and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after
broadcast) head to the series page for Edouard Lalo (1823-1892)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001rhyp


And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve
featured on Composer of the Week here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z