born March 27, 1851, Paris, France
died Dec. 1, 1931, Paris
French composer and teacher.
Trained in organ and composition, he rejected the prevailing French style as frivolous by comparison with the German musical tradition. He wrote several important stage works, including Fervaal (1895) and The Legend of Saint Christopher (1915), but orchestral works such as Symphony on a French Mountain Air (1886), Summer Day in the Mountains (1905), and Istar (1896) remain better known. In 1894 he cofounded the music academy called the Schola Cantorum in Paris, where many of France's foremost composers and musicians would be trained.