Rhené-Baton

Rhené - Baton, actually René -Emmanuel Baton ( spelling also Bâton ) ( born September 5, 1879 in Courseulles -sur -Mer, Calvados, † September 23, 1940 in Le Mans) was a French conductor and composer.

Life

Rhené Baton studied at the Conservatoire de Paris piano and music theory with André Gedalge. 1903 premiered his Variations for Piano and Orchestra by the Société Nationale de Musique. 1907 to 1908 he was a choral conductor at the Opéra -Comique. He then conducted the Société Sainte Cecile in Bordeaux and the Société Populaire of Angers ( 1910-1912 ). In 1910 he was invited to conduct the " Festival de musique française " to Munich. At the request of Sergei Diaghilev, he conducted the orchestra of the Ballets Russes in London and in South America ( 1912-1913 ).

During the First World War Rhené Baton was chief of the Royal Dutch Opera (1916-1918) and led the summer concerts of the Orchestra of The Hague's residence in Scheveningen ( 1914-1919 ). Serge Sandberg gave him in 1918 the management of the Orchestre Pasdeloup in Paris, a post he held until 1932; afterwards he conducted the orchestra continues. Rhené Baton advocated, " democratize " access to music by he cared for places with reasonable prices and continued introductions at the beginning of concerts.

Rhené Baton was conductor of numerous world premieres, such as

• Les Evocations of Albert Roussel (1912 ),
• Printemps by Claude Debussy (1913 ),
• Habanera by Louis Aubert (1919),
• L' Alborada del gracioso (1919 ) and the orchestral version of Le Tombeau de Couperin by Maurice Ravel (1920),
• Les Agrestides (1922 ) and Symphonie avec orgue by Georges Miskovsky,
• Requiem Ropartz Guy (1939 )

He also conducted the French premiere of the futuristic piece foundry of Alexander Mosolov.

Arthur Honegger dedicated his Le Chant de Négamon (1918 ) and Albert Roussel 's Symphony No. 2 (1923).

Work

Rhené Baton composed orchestral works, chamber music and songs. Despite its use as a conductor of contemporary composers, his style remained comparatively conservative, which is also in favor of classical forms (including the suite ) is expressed. So Titles like " Passacaille ", " Bourrée " find (both for flute and piano) or " Dans le style rococo " ( for piano). In addition, he orchestrated six dances by Claude Gervaise. Although born in Normandy, located Rhené Baton felt very drawn to music and the landscape of Brittany, which also in the choice of title reflects some of the works (including the piano works "En Bretagne " or " Vieille chapelle en Cornwall "). He maintained friendships with the Breton composer Paul Le Flem, Paul Ladmirault and Louis Aubert.