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Ernest Chausson, in full Amédé-Ernest Chausson (b. Jan. 21, 1855, Paris, France, d. June 10, 1899, Limay), composer whose small body of compositions has given him high rank among French composers of the late 19th century.
After obtaining a doctorate degree in law, Chausson entered the Paris Conservatory in 1879 for a course of study with Jules Massenet and Cesar Franck. At this time he also began visiting Munich and Bayreuth, where he saw Richard Wagner’s operas Der fliegende Hollander (1843; The Flying Dutchman), Tristan und Isolde (1865), and in 1882, the premiere of Parsifal. These encounters with the works of Wagner greatly expanded his musical universe, until then confined largely to French operatic and sacred styles.
For the remainder of his life Chausson quietly cultivated his art as a composer, supported by a modest inheritance. Determined to counter any imputations of amateurism, he laboured persistently over his scores and presided over a salon where professional musicians of many sorts could be found, including the young composers Claude Debussy and Isaac Albeniz, pianist Alfred-Denis Cortot, and violinist Eugene Ysaie. Eager to promote French music, he served for several years as secretary of the Societe Nationale de Musique, while also offering enthusiastic support to younger French composers.
As a true member of the Franck circle, Chausson cultivated a style that became dramatic and richly chromatic, while also maintaining a certain reserve that was an enduring feature of French taste.
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