Joséphine Boulay
Joséphine Pauline Boulay (22 May 1869 – 5 August 1925) was a French organist, composer and professor.
Career[]
Born in Paris, she became blind at age three. She began her studies with the Blind Sisters of St. Paul and then with the National Institution for the Blind.[1] She was admitted to the Conservatoire de Paris in 1887 and studied with César Franck and Jules Massenet.[2] In 1888, she became the first woman to win a first prize in organ at the Conservatoire.[3]
Appointed a professor at the National Institution for the Blind, she took charge of the organ and composition classes there while continuing her musical apprenticeship at the Conservatoire. There, she went on to win a second prize for harmony in the class of Charles Lenepveu in 1890, a second prize of counterpoint and fugue in 1895 in the class of Jules Massenet, and finally a first prize in 1897 in the composition class of Gabriel Fauré.[4]
For thirty-seven years she taught piano, organ, composition and harmony for young blind students at the Institute.[5] She was decorated with the Palmes académiques in 1899 for her work.[1] She died in Paris at 56 years of age.[6]
Works[]
Selected works include:
- Petit Carillon
- Andante
- Fugue
- Prelude
- Six Motets à la Sainte Vierge et au Saint Sacrement for voice and organ or harmonium
- Suite for violin and piano
- Andante in E
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Joséphine Boulay", Wikipédia (in French), 2019-10-27, retrieved 2019-11-18
- ^ Durand, Sébastien (2001). "Une femme d'exception dans l'ombre de l'Institution Nationale des Jeunes Aveugles : Joséphine Boulay (1869-1925)", L'orgue, n° 255, III-2001, p. 7-20.
- ^ Durand, Sébastien (2014). "Joséphine Boulay (1869-1925) in Compositrices françaises au XXe siècle vol. 2", Sampzon, Delatour.
- ^ Smith, Rollin; Vierne, Louis (1999). Louis Vierne: organist of Notre-Dame Cathedral.
- ^ The American organist: Volume 24. American Guild of Organists, Royal Canadian College of Organists, Associated Pipe Organ Builders of America. 1990.
- ^ Smith, Rollin (1997). Playing the organ works of César Franck.
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- 1869 births
- 1925 deaths
- 19th-century classical composers
- 19th-century French composers
- 19th-century women composers
- 20th-century classical composers
- 20th-century French composers
- 20th-century French women musicians
- 20th-century women composers
- Blind musicians
- Conservatoire de Paris alumni
- French classical composers
- French classical organists
- French female classical composers
- French music educators
- Musicians from Paris
- Piano pedagogues
- Women music educators
- Women organists