Vincent d'Indy
Romantic · 1851–1931
Vincent d'Indy was born in Paris in 1851 into an aristocratic family with deep roots in the Ardèche, the rugged mountain country of south-central France, and that landscape and its folk songs kept surfacing in his music. He became the most devoted student of César Franck, and after his teacher's death he made it his mission to carry Franck's ideals forward.
He did that above all as an educator. In 1894 he co-founded the Schola Cantorum in Paris, a music school built around rigorous training and respect for older music, and he taught there for decades, influencing a long line of French composers. He also helped revive interest in earlier composers such as Monteverdi and Rameau. He died in Paris in 1931.
Start with the Symphonie sur un chant montagnard français, often called the Symphony on a French Mountain Air: it builds a whole sunlit symphony, with a prominent piano part, from a shepherd's tune he heard in his family's mountains.
48 works in the catalog, across 5 genres. Log what you listen to with Opus, the classical music journal for iPhone.
Chamber
- Cello Sonata, op. 84
- Chansons et Danses for 7 wind instruments, op. 50
- Piano Trio no. 1 in B flat major, op. 29
- Piano Trio no. 2, op. 98
- Quartet in A minor for Piano and Strings, op. 7
- Quintet in A minor for Piano and Strings, op. 81
- Sarabande et Minuet, op. 72
- Sextet in B flat major, for 2 violins, 2 violas and 2 cellos, op. 92
- String Quartet no. 1 in D major, op. 35
- String Quartet no. 2 in E major, op. 45
- String Quartet no. 3 in D flat major, op. 96
- Suite, for flute and ensemble, op. 91
- Suite dans le style ancien in D major, for trumpet, 2 flutes and string quintet, op. 24
Keyboard
- 3 Romances sans paroles, op. 1
- 6 Paraphrases sur des chansons enfantines de France, op. 95
- Contes de fées, suite, op. 86
- Fantaisie pour piano sur un vieil air de ronde française, op. 99
- Helvétia, 3 waltzes, op. 17
- Menuet Sur le Nom D'Haydn, op. 65
- Nocturne, op. 26
- Petite sonate dans la forme classique, op. 9
- Piano Sonata in E minor, op. 63
- Poème des Montagnes, op. 15
- Promenade, op. 27
- Quatre pièces, op. 16
- Schumanniana, op. 30
- Thème Varié, Fugue et Chanson, op. 85
Orchestral
- Istar, op. 42
- Jour d'été à la montagne, symphonic triptych op. 61
- Symphonie sur un chant montagnard francais, op. 25, "Symphonie cevenole"
- Choral varie, op. 55
- Choral varié, for saxophone and orchestra, op. 55
- Concerto in E flat major, for flute, cello, piano and strings, op. 89
- Diptyque mediterraneen, op. 87
- Fantasy on French Folk Tunes, for oboe and orchestra, op. 31
- Karadec, op. 34
- Lied for Cello and Orchestra, op. 19
- Médée, incidental music and suite, op. 47
- Poème des Rivages, symphonic suite op. 77
- Saugefleurie, légende d'après un conte de Robert de Bonnières, op. 21
- Souvenirs, op. 62
- Symphony no. 1 in A, "Italienne"
- Symphony no. 2 in B flat major, op. 57
- Symphony on a French Mountain Air, for piano and orchestra, op. 25
- Tableaux de voyage, op. 36
- Wallenstein, 3 overtures op. 12
Stage
- Fervaal, op. 40
Vocal
- Dans mon pays, le rossignol y chante, for voice and piano
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