Paul Le Flem

Paul Le Flem ( born March 18, 1881 in Lézardrieux; † August 1, 1984 in Paris) was a French composer.

Life

Le Flem studied at the Schola Cantorum and at the Conservatoire de Paris with Albert Roussel, Vincent d' Indy, Alexandre Jean Albert Lavignac and Amédée Henri Gustave Noël Gastoué. In 1924 he was choirmaster of the Opéra -Comique. From 1925 to 1949 he was conductor of the Chanteurs de Saint- Gervais. At the same time he worked as a teacher of counterpoint at the Schola Cantorum. His last work, Préludes pour Orchestre, Le Flem finished with 97. He died at 103 years old in Paris.

Style

Although the composer was over 100 years old, his catalog is not too extensive, which is mainly caused by several extended work breaks. Le Flem wrote operas (eg La magicienne de la mer and Aucassin et Nicolette ), four symphonies, the symphonic triptych. For the dead, a fantasy for piano and orchestra, a concert piece for violin and orchestra, chamber music, as well as some choruses and songs

Paul Le Flem was oriented at the beginning of his career in the late Romantic period, especially at his teacher d' Indy. Under the influence of Gabriel Fauré and Claude Debussy, he increasingly took impressionistic elements in his music. In his later work (eg the symphonies 2-4 ), he became deeply involved with means of bi- and polytonality. A striking feature of Le Flems style is the inclusion of melodic turns of the folk music of his native Brittany, which often gives the compositions a strange color.

Works (selection)

Orchestra music

• Symphony No. 1 in A major ( 1906/ 08)
• Symphony No. 2 (1957 /58)
• Symphony No. 3 (1967 )
• Symphony No. 4 (1971 /74)
• Pour les Morts ( " For the dead " ), tone poem for orchestra (1912 /20)
• Fantasy for piano and orchestra (1911 )
• Concert Piece for Violin and Orchestra ( 1964)

Chamber Music

• Piano Quintet in E minor (1905 )
• Violin Sonata in G minor (1905 )

Operas

• Aucassin et Nicolette (1909 )
• La magicienne de la mer (1947 )