Joseph Boulnois (28 January 1884 – 20 October 1918) was a French organist and composer.

Joseph Boulnois
Born28 January 1884
Died20 October 1918 (1918-10-21) (aged 34)
Military hospital of Chalaines
EducationConservatoire de Paris
Occupation(s)Composer, organist
AwardsMort pour la France

Biography

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Boulnois attended the Conservatoire de Paris, where he studied counterpoint with Georges Caussade and organ with Louis Vierne. In 1906, he married the pianist Jane Chevalier, and they had a son the following year, Michel Boulnois, who also became a composer and organist.

In 1908, he was appointed to the organ of the Église Sainte-Élisabeth-de-Hongrie [fr], in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris. He stayed there a short time and was appointed to the organ of the Église Saint-Louis-d'Antin [fr] in the 9th arrondissement. In 1909, he was singing conductor at the Opéra-Comique. He remained very active as a soloist, notably as co-founder with Marc de Ranse, of the Concerts spirituels de Saint-Louis d'Antin. He also played in the Opéra-Comique and performed in the Église Saint-Dominique de Paris [fr] church in the 14th arrondissement.

After the beginning of the First World War, Boulnois was mobilised at the Février Hospital of Châlons-sur-Marne, where he was a nurse[1] from 1 January 1915.[2] Appointed a corporal on 26 March 1915, he became a sergeant on 19 October 1916.[1]

During this period, Boulnois produced his most important works: the Sonate pour piano, the Suite en 5 parties for cello and piano, and the Trio for violin, cello and piano.

Having contracted the 1918 flu pandemic, Boulnois was hospitalised on 15 October 1918.[1] He died five days later, three weeks before the Armistice of 11 November 1918.

Prizes

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Principal works

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Orchestra

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  • Sonate pour piano et petit orchestre
  • Rhapsodie
  • Marine
  • Symphonie funèbre (unfinished)
  • La Toussaint (1903), orchestration by Édouard Mignan (1919)

Piano

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  • Menuet pastoral
  • Choral en fa dièse mineur
  • La Toussaint (1903)
  • Madrigal
  • Pavane
  • Scherzino
  • Gigue
  • Toccata, dedicated to his wife Jane Chevalier
  • La Basilique (1918)
  • Sonate (1918)
  • Sainte Cécile au milieu d'un grand concert des anges (1918)

Organ

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  • Quatre pièces brèves en ré (1912)

Chamber music

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  • Quatuor à cordes (1916)
  • Sonate pour violon et piano
  • Sonate pour violoncelle piano, dedicated to Gérard Hekking (1917)
  • Suite en cinq parties for piano and cello (1918)
  • Trio pour piano, violon et violoncelle (1918)
  • Noël, pour violon et piano
  • Hiver, Neige, Noël, suite for cello and piano
  • Hymne à Bacchus, for cello
  • Jeux, for cello and piano
  • Musette et Bidon, suite for cello
  • Perdus dans un rêve, for cello and piano

Mélodies

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Stage music

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  • L'Anneau d'Isis, lyrical drama in 5 acts (1912)

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Archinoë – Archives départementales de l'Oise". ressources.archives.oise.fr. Retrieved 2015-12-19.
  2. ^ Joseph Boulnois (December 1915). "Lettre à la Gazette des classes de composition du Conservatoire". Gazette des Classes de Composition du Conservatoire (in French). No. 1. p. 8. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d Anne Bongrain (2012). Le Conservatoire national de musique et de déclamation 1900–1930. Documents historiques et administratifs (in French). Paris: Vrin. p. 482. ISBN 978-2-7116-2398-3.
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