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Lucien Garban

1877 – 1959

French musician and musicologist

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About Lucien Garban

Lived 1877 – 1959 (aged 81). Lucien Garban was a French musicologist, composer, music arranger, pianist and musician.

Lucien Garban (1877–1959) was a French composer, music arranger and editor who wrote transcriptions still performed in the modern repertoire. The Bibliothèque nationale de France lists about twenty original works by Garban and a large number of transcriptions by other composers. He also transcribed a few scenes from the opera L'enfant et les sortilèges for piano or piano four hands. The four hand piano duet version of La valse frequently is performed.

Other Garban transcriptions include L'apprenti sorcier by Paul Dukas and Saint-Saëns's Le carnaval des animaux for solo piano.

Around 1900, Garban along with Maurice Ravel and a number of young artists, poets, critics, and musicians joined together in an informal group; they came to be known as Les Apaches ("The Hooligans"), a name coined by Ricardo Viñes to represent their status as "artistic outcasts".

Notable recordings The duo Sergio Tempo - Karin Lechner, for example, recorded his version of Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé, suite No. 2 transcribed for two pianos in 2007. Leon Fleisher recorded Garban's La valse piano transcription as a duet with his wife – pianist Katherine Jacobson – on the 2015 album Four Hands

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Important facts

People in Lucien Garban's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Lucien Garban's

Frequently asked questions

Who was Lucien Garban?

French musician and musicologist

When was Lucien Garban born?

Lucien Garban was born on 22 August 1877 in Nevers.

When did Lucien Garban die?

Lucien Garban died on 16 January 1959 in 18th arrondissement of Paris.

What was Lucien Garban's occupation?

Lucien Garban was a musicologist, composer, music arranger, pianist and musician.

What nationality was Lucien Garban?

Lucien Garban was French.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Lucien Garban

· Wikidata: Q16635752

· DBpedia: Lucien Garban

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Lucien Garban. https://biography.guide/lucien-garban/

MLA: "Lucien Garban." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/lucien-garban/.

Chicago: "Lucien Garban." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/lucien-garban/.

Data last updated: 2026-09-20 · Spot an error? Report a correction.

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