Henri Duparc
1848 — 1933
Eugène Marie Henri Fouques Duparc was a French composer of the late Romantic period. He is best known for his mélodies.
Adapted from the Wikipedia article on Henri Duparc (composer).
From the period sources
Henri Duparc, born in Paris in 1848, was a pupil of César Franck, studying piano and composition with him from 1872 to 1875, according to Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians (1904). Possessed of “a rare power of self-criticism,” Duparc notably destroyed many of his compositions of value. Among his surviving works, a symphonic poem, “Lénore,” was performed at the Concert Populaire in 1877 and later arranged for two pianos by Saint-Saëns and Franck themselves (Grove’s Dictionary, 1904). He also published a symphonic poem “Lenore” many years prior to 1905, and twelve songs described as “works of remarkable beauty” (A Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 1905). These songs, including examples like “Phydilé,” “Invitation au voyage,” and “Extase,” are considered “among the most perfect things of their kind produced by the modern French school” (Grove’s Dictionary, 1904). Duparc’s output was limited, as “delicate health has prevented steady work at composition” (A Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 1905), compelling him to cease all composition by 1889 (Grove’s Dictionary, 1904). He was a founder of the Société Nationale de Musique in 1871, alongside Alexis de Castillon and Saint-Saëns (The New Encyclopedia of Music and Musicians, 1924).