Nadia Boulanger

By Clarissa Wormsbaecher         

                        

 

 

 

Pays/Ville:

Paris, France

  

Details Personnels:

      I was born on September 16, 1887 in Montmartre, France to father Ernest Boulanger and mother Raissa Myschetsky Shuvalov. My father was a French composer, conductor, and teacher at the Paris Conservatory. My mother is Russian and had moved to France, where she met my father. They had me and my younger sister, Lili. When I was younger, music did not interest me at all which was strange since both of my parents were into music. Soon enough my time did come though when I was interested in it.

     I was still rather young when I started studying music so intensly. My mother pushed me father to make sure I always was studying  and practicing. In the next years I continued to study very hard with Louis Iverne, Paul Vidal, Gabriel Faure, Alexandre Guilmant, Raoul Pugno, Walter Damrosch, and Aaron Copland.  Pugno made me start teaching some of his students. I also taught my younger sister Lili. I won numerous awards in these years and my largest one was probably second place in the Prix de Rome competition. Also, then I traveled around to many countries, especially the United States.

     When my father died, I was inspired to try even harder in my musical career. The same thing happened to me when my sister Lili died. They were my two biggest inspirations in my life and missed then very dearly. Both deaths, although far apart in time, made me want to be even better at music and to promote them. I  spent most of my life teaching, and it was amazing.

  

Date de Naissance:

September 16, 1887 in Montmartre Paris, France 

 

Date de Mort:

October 22, 1979 in Paris France 

 

Sexe:

Female

  

Croyances Politiques:

I am a Royalist so I support the monarchy.    

  

Croyances Religieuses:

I am a Roman Catholic.   

 

Situation de Famille:

I am not married.

 

Enfants:

Therefore, I do not have any kids.

 

En Cherchant:

New students to teach about the wonders of music, new teachers so I can learn, the fun of traveling so I can work with other artists

 

Metier:

A French conductor, pianist, organist, and composer.

 

Interets/Loisirs:

• Playing the piano
• Playing the organ
• Composing music
• Teaching students about music

In this video I am helping one of my students.

 

Accomplissements:

• Wrote in:
  • I wrote a section in the book Le Monde Musical in 1920. By that time i had made my philosophy on the teaching. My goal was to awaken my students' curiosity, and then to show them how to satisfy that curiosity. I wanted to make it clear that their dedication to music must come first, before their dedication to their own careers. My personal opinion is not what matters: it has no importance whatsoever. 
  • There are speeches of mine in Eugene Beaudouin's and Emmanuel Bondeville's, Remise de la Grande Medaille d'Or de l'Academie des Beaux-arts a Mademoiselle Nadia Boulanger, le 2 Mars, 1977 , Institut de France, 1977.  
  • I wrote sections in Bruno Monsaingeon's, Mademoiselle: Entretiens avec Nadia Boulanger, Van de Velde, 1980. There are also interviews and transcripts in the book.  
  • I, with Benjamin Britten, wrote Mozard and His World.
  • In my many years I also contributed many essays to newspapers and journals in the 1910s and 1920s.
• Composed:
  • La Sirene, the piece that won me Second Prise in Prix de Rome in 1908. I caused a controversy because the composition was usually for singers, but I made mine a string quartet.    
  • There are many other compositions including Three Pieces and Vers la Vie Nouvelle which are below played by other musicians.
  •  
  •  
• Awards:
  • First Prize in Solf fege, 1897
  • Second Prize Harmony at the Conservatory, 1901
  • First Prize in Harmony, 1903
  • First prize in organ, piano accompaniment, fugue, and composition, 1904
  • Second Prize, Prix de Rome, 1908 for cantata La Sirene
  • Chevalier, Legion of Honor, 1932
  • Order of Polonia Restituta, 1934
  • Grand Prix du Disque, 1937
  • Master of the Chapel to the Prince of Monaco, 1947
  • Henry Hadley Medal from National Association of American Composers and Conductors, 1949
  • Howland Medal, 1962
  • Grand Officer, Legion of Honor, 1977
  • Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, 1977
  • Gold Medal, Academy of Beaux- Arts, 1977
  • Medaille de Vermeil, Ville de Paris
  • Officer of Order of St. Charles of Monaco
  • Officer of the Order of the Leopold of Belgium
  • Officer of Order of St. Cyrille and St. Methode of Bulgaria
  • Commander of Order of the Academic Palm of France
  • Commander of Order of Polonia Restituta of Poland
  • Honorary degrees from Oxford University, Harvard University, Brown University, Smith College, Russell Sage College, University of Southern Illinois, University of Leeds, University of Newcastle, and Washington College of Music
• Recordings:
  • Depuis 1904 J'enseigne la Musique, Desalle, c. 1970.

 

 

Education:

     My father was a composer, conductor, and professor at Paris Conservations. He was my first and largest teacher. When I was little, I was not good at music, nor was I really interested. Although, when I was older I became more interested and my father supported me more. Also, my mom always made sure i studied, practiced, and worked really hard as well as discipline and perfection.

     In 1886, I started studying sight reading, singing, and application of the sol-fa syllables in relation to musical scale and melody at the Conservatory. I was also studying organ and composition under Louis Vierne. My hard work paid offand in 1897 I wont a first prize in solfege. I continued with my studies and in 1998, I studied harmony at the Conservatory under Auguste Chapuis.

     When my father died in 1900, I put much more devotion and energy into my musical studies. With Paul Vidal I then studied accompaniment and in 1901 i took a a composition class with Gabriel Faure. My work only got harder and in 1902 I did an organ study with Alexandre Guilmant, in 1903 I became Faure's substitute organist, in 1904 I started earning money as an organ musician for primary class presentation at the Tracadero Palace.           

          In the years after, I did not study as fiercely and as much, but more just picked up things from other musicians as I  went on. In 1905, I  taught my first students that Pugno had sent to me. In the  years after this, I  won many more awards that are all listed above under my achievements. When my sister started studying music, I  became her teacher and she was much more talented than me. After I traveled to Berlin and Moscow with Pugno where I  wanted to perform and learn more, but the trip was cut short because Pugno became ill and died. Shortly after my sister Lili also died, so I  devoted the rest of my musical career to promoting my sisters memory and work.

          From there on, I  did travel quite a few times to the United States after meeting Walter Domrosch. In the United States I mostly held speeches and conducted, but I  also learned some things from the people I  met there. My direct learning classes were over by that time and I  just taught most of the time then.

 

Musique Preferee:

My fathers music and mine. :)

The classical music of my teacher's was also enjoyable as well as the many different styles I studied and taught my students.

Pre-Bach to post-Stavinsky music.

 

Personnage que je voudrais rencontrer et pourquoi:

     I would love to meet Johann Sebastian Bach. I know ALL of his music and I can play ALL of his music. I have taught my students to play some of his compositions. He is very inspiring to me because he was a deaf composer. I use my ear for all of my compositions, directing, and teaching. Bach is one of the most famous composers and it troubles me that I was not alive during the time of that man, or he would have been my best friend.

     Also, I would like to meet any other musicians or composers who have added something to the history of music. I want to meet the ones who left a mark in the music field for a number of reasons. Those people have helped me come to where I am today in my music.

 

Amis:

• Raoul Pugno
• Stravinsky
• Walter Damrosch
• Saint-Saens
• Maurice Ravel
• Princess de Polignac (born Winaretts Singer)
• Sister, Lili
• Father, Ernest Boulanger
• Mother, Raissa Myschetsky Shuvalov

My students also became my friends, there were very many, but some of theme were

• Virgil Thomson
• Walter Piston
• Roy Harris
• Elliot Carter
• Astor Piazzola

 

Citation Memorable:

“Loving a child doesn't mean giving in to all his whims; to love him is to bring out the best in him, to teach him to love what is difficult.” - Nadia Boulanger

  

Mon Influence sur la Culture Francaise

          I am a worldwide known composer, musician, organist, and pianist, I am Nadia Boulanger. To many, I am known as only Mademoiselle. I know that not everyone will always remember my work, but I hope my students, and the students, of my students will pass on the things that I have taught them. My learning and practicing was always and still is joy to me. Everything has paid off and now I have left a big mark in the culture of France. My influence in the French culture was my influence on the music students, music from my time, and the worldwide attention I gave France.

            After I had spent many years with the fun of performing and composing, I stopped much of it because I wanted to teach music. Over all of my years I taught over 1,200 students and probably influenced them all in some way or another. The main thing I want my students to do is keep their style while learning and composing their music. If they do not do that simple thing, I have a hard time teaching them. I am so educated in music from pre-Bach to post Stravinsky so I easily can show my students anything to fit their style. I wanted them to learn as much about music as I did so they could be the best they could be. I worked every day starting at eight o’clock A.M. and ending sometime later than ten o’clock P.M.  My students did learn well and some of them now are also just as famous as I was in my time and are French icons. My influence on a French icon can show how I have influenced the French culture.

France is known for many musicians and not only me. Their music is very important to the French culture since France is proud of its people. Many of those still known are ones that I taught, like Charles Camille Saint-Saëns. These students composed music that reflected things I taught them. My music, the music of my family, and the music that my students composed became a part of the French culture as they started French composed, but became more famous so almost everyone heard the music. The classical music was a huge part of French culture in the time. It was a joy for me to see how the music of France could be changed because of me.

            One of my largest influences on French culture was the world wide attention I brought to France. My students were not only from France, but other countries as well. kyujuyof them were from the United States. I traveled to the United States a numerous amounts of times to teach music, perform music, hold speeches, and compose with other musicians. Much of this happened during World War II when I moved to the United States. Since so many people started to hear about me through the news of how I was helping many people through the hard times, I became even more known. It brought a lot of attention to France because it is my homeland. People wanted to know more about me and my family as well as France. Some traveled to France to watch me perform or work with me and then brought some of the things from their culture to people in France. Also, those people took our culture that they picked up during their stay, to their homes in other countries. The attention the French got, changed their culture and made it more interesting to other people. It helped to educate people in the world and open people’s minds to France. I am very happy to say I helped France become even more recognized for a new good reason.

     Overall, my teachings and compositions were important because they influenced French music, French people, and helped France get more world wide attention. The music of mine, my student's, and my family has brought joy to many people in the world and it has helped people in France gain fame. I hope i can continue to influence the French culture.

 

 

Resources:

 "Nadia Boulanger." Contemporary Musicians, Volume 56. Thomson Gale, 2006.

Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2009. <http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC>.

 

"Nadia Boulanger." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online, 2009. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/75496/Nadia-Boulanger>.