Ernest Chausson

Short biography Ernest Chausson was born on 20 January 1855 in Paris into a prosperous bourgeois family, a background that afforded him a thorough education and a life free from financial constraint. He initially read law and was called to the bar in 1877, but soon devoted himself entirely to music. From 1879 he studied at the Paris Conservatoire, where his teachers included Jules Massenet, before entering César Franck's composition class in 1880 – an influence that would leave a lasting mark on his style. Chausson died on 10 June 1899 at Limay in a cycling accident, at the age of just 44.

Historical placement Ernest Chausson is associated with French late Romanticism, occupying a stylistic position between the influence of César Franck and Richard Wagner on the one hand and the emerging Impressionist movement centred on Claude Debussy on the other. His music is characterised by chromatic harmony, lyrical melody, and a dense orchestral texture. Despite his early death and a comparatively slender output, he is regarded as a significant figure in French music at the turn of the century.

Personal connections César Franck was Chausson's most important composition teacher, whose cyclic formal principles and harmonic language exerted a fundamental influence on Chausson's work. Jules Massenet taught Chausson at the Conservatoire before the latter moved to Franck's class. Claude Debussy was bound to Chausson by a close personal friendship that also encompassed artistic exchange. Isaac Albéniz likewise maintained a personal and friendly relationship with Chausson.

Important works
Symphonie B-Dur – symphony (op. 20, 1890)
Concert für Violine, Klavier und Streichquartett – chamber music (op. 21, 1891)
Poème für Violine und Orchester – orchestral work (op. 25, 1896)
Poème de l'amour et de la mer – song/orchestral song (op. 19, 1882–1892)
Quatuor à cordes (unfinished) – string quartet (op. 35, 1899)
Trio für Klavier, Violine und Violoncello – chamber music (op. 3, 1881)
Les Serres chaudes – song cycle for voice and piano (op. 24, 1896)
Viviane – symphonic poem (op. 5, 1882)