Henri Duparc

Eugène Marie Henri Fouques Duparc (21 January 1848 – 12 February 1933) was a French composer of the late Romantic period. He is best known for his mélodies ("art songs").

Biography Son of Charles Fouques-Duparc and Amélie de Guaita, Henri Fouques-Duparc was born in Paris. He studied piano with César Franck at the Jesuit College in the Vaugirard district and became one of his first composition pupils. Following military service in the Franco-Prussian War, he married Ellen MacSwiney, from Scotland, on 9 November 1871. In the same year, he joined Saint-Saëns and Romain Bussine to found the Société nationale de musique.

Duparc is best known for his 17 mélodies ("art songs"), with texts by poets such as Baudelaire, Gautier, Leconte de Lisle and Goethe.

A mental illness, diagnosed at the time as "neurasthenia", caused him abruptly to cease composing at age 37, in 1885. He devoted himself to his family and his other passions, drawing and painting. He served as mayor of Marnes-la-Coquette from 1884 to 1885. But increasing vision loss after the turn of the century eventually led to total blindness. He destroyed most of his music, leaving fewer than 40 works to posterity. In a poignant letter about the destruction of his incomplete opera, dated 19 January 1922, to the composer Jean Cras, his close friend, Duparc wrote:

He spent most of the rest of his life in La Tour-de-Peilz, near Vevey, Switzerland, and died in Mont-de-Marsan, in southwestern France, at age 85.

Duparc is buried at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. A square in the 17th arrondissement of Paris, near the rue de Levis, is named in his honor.

Works Catalogue of works by Henri DuparcYearCompositionNotesType of Work 1863-65 Six rêveries, pour piano Printed, but unpublished. Private collection of Mme. d'Armagnac, granddaughter of Duparc. Piano solo 1867 Sonate pour violoncelle et piano Premiered in 1948. Private collection of Mme. d'Armagnac, granddaughter of Duparc. Cello & piano 1867-69 Feuilles volantes, pour piano Piano solo 1868 Chanson triste Published as: Op. 2, no. 4. Text by Jean Lahor. Voice & piano (orchestrated 1912) 1869 Le galop Published as: Op. 2, no. 5. Text by Sully Prudhomme. Released in 1948. Voice & piano 1869 Romance de Mignon Published as: Op. 2, no. 3. Text by Victor Wilder, based on « Kennst du das Land » by Goethe). Voice & piano 1869 Sérénade Published as: Op. 2, no. 2. Text by Gabriel Marc. Voice & piano 1869 Soupir Published as: Op. 2, no. 1. Text by Sully Prudhomme. Revised 1902. Voice & piano 1869 Cinq mélodies, op. 2 Voice & piano 1869 Beaulieu, pour piano Private collection of Mme. d'Armagnac, granddaughter of Duparc. Piano solo 1869-70 Au pays où se fait la guerre Text by Théophile Gautier. Original title: Absence. Definitive version, 1911–13. Voice & piano (orchestrated 1876) 1870 L'invitation au voyage Text by Charles Baudelaire. Released in 1872. Voice & piano (orchestrated 1892–95) 1871 La fuite, duo pour soprano et ténor avec piano Published as: Op. 2, no. 6. Duet for voice & piano 1871 La vague et la cloche Text by François Coppée. Released in 1873. Voice & piano (Orchestrated) 1872 Suite d'orchestre (Lost). Orchestral suite 1872-82 Phidylé Text by Leconte de Lisle. Released in 1889 Voice & piano (orchestrated, 1891–92) 1873 Laendler, suite de valses pour orchestre (Destroyed). Orchestral suite 1873 Laendler (version for two pianos) Two pianos 1874 Poème nocturne : I. Aux étoiles - II. Lutins et follets - III. Duo: L’aurore Part lost, only: I. Aux étoiles is extant. Premiered in Paris on 11 April 1874 at the Société Nationale de Musique Moderne. Orchestral work 1874 Elégie Text by Ellen MacSwiney (wife of Duparc) after Thomas Moore. Voice & piano 1874 Extase Text by Jean Lahor. Released 1882. Revised 1884. Voice & piano 1875 Lénore Based on the ballad of the same name by Gottfried August Bürger. Symphonic poem 1875 Lénore (version for two pianos) transcription for 2 pianos (1884) by Camille Saint-Saëns Two pianos 1877 Suite pour le piano (Lost). Piano solo 1879 Le manoir de Rosemonde Text by Robert de Bonnières Voice & piano (orchestrated 1912) 1879-95 Roussalka, opéra en trois actes Unfinished. Based on Русалка (Rusalka), an unfinished dramatic poem by Alexander Pushkin. Destroyed except for "Absence," republished as "Au pays où se fait la guerre". Opera in 3 acts 1880 Sérénade florentine Text by Jean Lahor. Released 1882. Voice & piano 1882 Benedicat vobis Dominus Motet for three mixed voices and organ (or piano). Choral music 1883 Lamento Text by Théophile Gautier. Voice & piano 1883 Testament Text by Paul Armand Silvestre. Released in 1898. Voice & piano (orchestrated 1900–02) 1884 La vie antérieure Text by Charles Baudelaire. Voice & piano (orchestrated 1911–13) 1886 Recueillement Unfinished. (Destroyed). Voice & piano? 1892 Danse lente Extract from Roussalka. Copied by Ernest Ansermet. Preserved by Éditions Salabert. Orchestral work 1903 Transcription of two works for organ by J.S. Bach: Prélude and fugue in E minor ("Cathedral"), BWV 513Prélude and fugue in A minor ("The Great"), BWV 543 Two pianos 1908 Transcription of six organ works by César Franck Two pianos 1910 Aux étoiles, pour piano Also: version for piano four hands, & version for organ. Revised 1911. Piano solo 1911 Aux étoiles Entr'acte for an unpublished drama. Orchestral work (n.d.) Transcription of a work for organ by J.S. Bach: Chorale Prélude and Fugue: In dir ist Freude, BWV 615 Private collection of Ernest Ansermet Two pianos