HEDWIGE CHRÉTIEN - FRANCE
BORN 15 JULY
BORN 15 JULY
Hedwige (Gennaro)-Chrétien was a French composer. She was appointed a music professor at the Paris Conservatoire in 1889 where she had previously been a student from 1874, studying with Ernest Guiraud. In 1881, she won first prize in harmony, counterpoint and fugue. She also won first prize in piano and in composition in other concours which she entered. She was a prolific composer, yet not much else is known about her life. Her compositions, about 150 in all, consist of pieces for piano, orchestral and chamber works, songs, two ballets and two one-act operas.
One of the most extensive collections of her work in the United States is held in the University of Michigan’s Women Composers Collection, which is available on microfilm from there and other libraries.
Wind Quintet by Hedwige Chrétien
LUCILE GRÉTRY - FRANCE
BORN 15 JULY
The composer Angélique-Dorothée-Louise Grétry, who would be known as Lucile Grétry, was born in Paris on July 15, 1772, and named after the heroine in an opera written by her father, the composer André Grétry. He would teach her counterpoint and declamation, while Jean-François Tapray would teach her harmony. At age 13, Lucile composed the vocal parts, as well as the bass and a harp accompaniment for Le mariage d'Antonio which her father later orchestrated. The full score, published in 1786, was performed 47 times between 1786 and 1791, during the tumultuous French Revolution, and many music critics commented on the work's freshness. She also composed Toinette et Louis which had only a single performance. Both Lucile and her two sisters had contracted tuberculosis in childhood, the disease which was responsible for her early death.
The composer Angélique-Dorothée-Louise Grétry, who would be known as Lucile Grétry, was born in Paris on July 15, 1772, and named after the heroine in an opera written by her father, the composer André Grétry. He would teach her counterpoint and declamation, while Jean-François Tapray would teach her harmony. At age 13, Lucile composed the vocal parts, as well as the bass and a harp accompaniment for Le mariage d'Antonio which her father later orchestrated. The full score, published in 1786, was performed 47 times between 1786 and 1791, during the tumultuous French Revolution, and many music critics commented on the work's freshness. She also composed Toinette et Louis which had only a single performance. Both Lucile and her two sisters had contracted tuberculosis in childhood, the disease which was responsible for her early death.
