Vincent d'Indy

Life

Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy was born in Paris into an aristocratic family of royalist and Catholic persuasion; his great-grandfather was the politician Joseph Isaïe Saint-Ange d'Indy. He received piano lessons from his paternal grandmother, who later passed him on to Antoine François Marmontel and Louis Diémer. At age 14 he studied harmony with Albert Lavignac, and at 16 an uncle introduced him to Berlioz's treatise on orchestration, inspiring him to become a composer.

He wrote a piano quartet that he sent to César Franck, who recognized his talent and recommended a career in composition. During the Franco-Prussian War at age 19, d'Indy enlisted in the National Guard, returning to musical life after hostilities ended. He entered Franck's organ class at the Conservatoire de Paris in 1871, remaining until 1875, when he joined the percussion section of the orchestra at the Châtelet Theatre for practical experience and also served as chorus-master to the Concerts Colonne.

His first performed work was a Symphonie italienne heard at an orchestral rehearsal under Jules Pasdeloup, admired by Georges Bizet and Jules Massenet. In summer 1873 he visited Germany, meeting Franz Liszt and Johannes Brahms. On 25 January 1874 his overture Les Piccolomini was performed at a Pasdeloup concert between works by Bach and Beethoven. Around this time he married his cousin Isabelle de Pampelonne.

In 1875 his symphony dedicated to János Hunyadi was performed, and he played the prompter at the premiere of Bizet's Carmen. In 1876 he attended the first production of Wagner's Ring cycle at Bayreuth, becoming a fervent Wagnerian. His symphonic ballad La Forêt enchantée was performed in 1878, and he heard Wagner's Parsifal in 1882. Le Chant de la cloche appeared in 1883, Saugefleurie in 1884, and his piano suite Poème des montagnes around that time.

In 1887 his Suite in D for trumpet, 2 flutes and string quartet was performed, and he served as choirmaster for Lamoureux's production of Wagner's Lohengrin. His music drama Fervaal occupied him from 1889 to 1895.

Works

Vincent d'Indy’s music rarely appears on concert programs nowadays. His most familiar works are the Symphony on a French Mountain Air for piano and orchestra and the symphonic poem Istar, which unfolds as a set of variations that save the theme for the very end. Other orchestral pieces include a Symphony in B-flat, Jour d’été à la montagne, and Souvenirs, composed after his first wife’s death. Critics at The Times observed that his music carries strong marks from Berlioz, Franck, and Wagner—Franck shaping his melodies, Wagner guiding their development, and Berlioz influencing the orchestration.

His chamber output, which contains three completed string quartets, is seen as more academic and less compelling than his orchestral writing. He also produced piano works like a Sonata in E minor, songs, and operas such as Fervaal and L’Étranger.

His music drama Le Légende de Saint Christophe, using Gregorian chant themes, debuted at the Paris Opéra in June 1920. D’Indy revived several forgotten Baroque pieces, including his own edition of Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea and an arrangement of Vivaldi’s cello sonatas as concerti, published in 1922. His writings include the three-volume Cours de composition musicale and biographies of Franck and Beethoven.