Home > Baker's Student Encyclopedia of Music > Lalo, Édouard

(-Victoire-Antoine), distinguished French composer of Spanish descent; b. Lille, Jan. 27, 1823;d. Paris, April 22, 1892. Lalo studied violin and cello at the Lille Conservatory. After his father objected to his pursuing a career as a professional musician, he left home at age 16 to study VIOLIN at the Paris Conservatory. He also studied composition privately with Erwin Schulhoff.

Between 1848 and I860, Lalo made a precarious living as a violinist and teacher, and also began to compose, producing some songs and chamber music. He became a founding member of the Armingaud Quartet in 1855, serving first as a violist and subsequently as second violinist. Lalo nearly abandoned composing after I860 because his own works had failed to find an audience. However, his 1865 marriage to the CONTRALTO Bernier de Maligny, who sang many of his songs, prompted him to resume composing.

Lalo wrote an opera, Fiesque, and submitted it to a competition sponsored by the Théâtre-Lyrique in Paris in 1867. It was refused production, a rebuke that left him deeply bitter. However, he was so convinced of the value of the score that he subsequently reworked parts of it into various other works, including the first Aubade for small orchestra, the Divertissement, and the Symphony in G minor.

The Divertissement was introduced at the Concert Populaire in 1872 and was Lalo's first popular success. Then, the talented violinist PABLO DE SARASATE gave the premiere performance of Lalo's Violin Concerto in 1874, and, a year later, of Lalo's Symphonie espagnole for violin and orchestra.

While producing orchestral works, Lalo continued to write for the stage. In 1875 he began work on the opera Le Roi d'Ys. The major portion of the score was finished by 1881, and extracts were performed in concerts. However, no theater was interested in mounting a full production. He then accepted a commission from the Opéra to write a ballet. Although the resulting work, Namouna (1882), failed to make an impression, he drew a series of orchestral suites from it, which became quite popular. In 1888, Lalo finally succeeded in persuading the Paris Opéra-Comique to produce Le Roi d'Ys. Its premiere was an enormous success. Lalo was rewarded by being made an Officer of the Legion of Honor.

While Le Roi d'Ys is considered Lalo's masterpiece by his countrymen, his instrumental music is of particular importance in assessing his achievement as a composer. His craftsmanship, combined with his originality, places him among the most important French composers of his time.

Lalo's son, Pierre (b. Puteaux, Sept. 6, 1866; d. Paris, June 9, 1943), was a music critic who became well known for his writings attacking the modern works of CLAUDE DEBUSSY.