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Albert Lavignac

Alexandre Jean Albert Lavignac  (21 January 1846 –

28 May 1916) was a French music scholar, known for his

essays on theory, and a minor composer.

1 Biography

Lavignac was born in   Paris   and studied with  Antoine

François Marmontel,   François Benoist   and   Ambroise

Thomas   at the   Conservatoire de Paris, where later

he taught harmony. Among his pupils were   HenriCasadesus,   Claude Debussy,   Vincent d'Indy,   Amédée

Gastoué, Philipp Jarnach, Henri O'Kelly, Gabriel Pierné,

and Florent Schmitt.

In March 1864, at the age of eighteen, he conducted

from the  harmonium the private premiere of Gioachino

Rossini's Petite messe solennelle.

His condensed work,   La Musique et les Musiciens, anoverview of musical grammar and materials, continued to

be reprinted years after his death. In it he characterised

the particular characteristics of instruments[1] and of each

key,

[2]

somewhat in the way Berlioz and Gevaert (Traité d'orchestration, Gand, 1863, p. 189) had done:

Major keys:

•   F-sharp major: Rough (“rude”)

•   B major: Energetic ("énergique”)

•   E major: Radiant, warm, joyous ("éclatant, chaud,

joyeux”)

•  A major: Frank, sonorous (“franc, sonore”)

•   D major: Joyful, brilliant, alert (“gai, brilland,

alerte”)

•  G major: Rural, merry (“champêtre, gai”)

•   C major: Simple, naive, commonplace (“simple,

naïf, franc, ou plat et commun”)

•  F major: Pastoral, rustic (“pastoral, agreste”)

•   B-flat major: Noble and elegant, graceful (“noble et

élégant, gracieux”)

•   E-flat major: Vigorous, chivalrous (“sonore, én-

ergique, chevaleresque”)

•   A-flat major: Gentle, caressing, or pompous (“doux,

caressant, ou pompeux”)

•   D-flat major: Charming, suave, placid (“plein de

charme, placide, suave”)

•   G-flat major: Gentle and calm (“doux et calme”)

Minor keys:

•  G-sharp minor: Very somber (“très sombre”)

•   C-sharp minor: Brutal, sinister, or very sombre

(“brutal, sinistre ou très sombre”)

•   F-sharp minor: Rough, or light, aerial (“rude ou

léger, aérien”)

•   B minor: Savage or sombre but vigorous (“sauvage

ou sombre, mais énergique”)

•   E minor: Sad, agitated (“triste, agité")

•   A minor: Simple, naive, sad, rustic (“simple, naïf,

triste, rustique”)

•   D minor: Serious, concentrated (“sérieux, concen-

tré")

•   G minor: Melancholy, shy (“mélancolique, om-

brageux”)

•   C minor: Gloomy, dramatic, violent (“sombre, dra-

matique, violent”)

•  F minor: Morose, surly, or energetic (“morose, cha-

grin, ou énergique”)

•   B-flat minor: Funeral or mysterious (“funèbre ou

mystérieux”)

•   E-flat minor: Profoundly sad (“profondémenttriste”)

•   A-flat minor: Lugubrious, anguished (“lugubre, an-

goissé")

His more popularized works discussed the music dramas

of Richard Wagner, summarised in Le Voyage artistiqueà Bayreuth.

2 Selected works

Lavignac edited the compendious Encyclopédie de la Mu-sique.

1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Wagnerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-flat_minorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-flat_minorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-flat_minorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F_minorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_minorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G_minorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D_minorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_minorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_minorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B_minorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-sharp_minorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-sharp_minorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-sharp_minorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-flat_majorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-flat_majorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-flat_majorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-flat_majorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-flat_majorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F_majorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_majorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G_majorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D_majorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_majorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_majorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B_majorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-sharp_majorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois-Auguste_Gevaerthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hector_Berliozhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_(music)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petite_messe_solennellehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gioachino_Rossinihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gioachino_Rossinihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pump_organhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florent_Schmitthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Piern%C3%A9https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_O%2527Kellyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philipp_Jarnachhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Am%C3%A9d%C3%A9e_Gastou%C3%A9https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Am%C3%A9d%C3%A9e_Gastou%C3%A9https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_d%2527Indyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Debussyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Casadesushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Casadesushttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservatoire_de_Parishttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambroise_Thomashttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambroise_Thomashttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Benoisthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_Fran%C3%A7ois_Marmontelhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_Fran%C3%A7ois_Marmontelhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parishttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composer

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2   5 EXTERNAL LINKS 

•   Cours complet théoretique et pratique de dictée musi-cale (1882)

•  École de la pédale  (1889)

•  La musique et les musiciens   (1895) Translated intoEnglish, 1905

•  Le voyage artistique à Bayreuth  (1897) An analysisof Wagner’s leitmotifs.

3 Footnotes

[1] “The timbre of the trombone is in its nature majestic

and imposing. It is sufficiently powerful to dominate a

whole orchestra and produces an impression of superhu-

man power ... it can become terrible ... or mournful and

full of dismay: or it may have the serenity of the organ ...

It is a superb instrument of lofty dramatic power, whichshould be reserved for great occasions.”

[2] page 424

4 References

•   Gail Smith, “Keys and colors: is there a connec-

tion?"

5 External links

•  Free scores by Albert Lavignac at the International

Music Score Library Project

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Music_Score_Library_Projecthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Music_Score_Library_Projecthttp://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Lavignac,%2520Alberthttp://www.melbay.com/creativekeyboard/jan03/colors.htmlhttp://www.melbay.com/creativekeyboard/jan03/colors.htmlhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leitmotif

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6 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

6.1 Text

•   Albert Lavignac  Source:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert%20Lavignac?oldid=660212243  Contributors:   Wetman, JackofOz, De-frosted, Imaginatorium, BD2412, Rjwilmsi, Roboto de Ajvol, Rolf-Peter Wille, Crystallina, FordPrefect42, Makemi, Reccmo, Ser Aman-

tio di Nicolao, Bencherlite, Waacstats, Hrdinský, Addbot, Luckas-bot, Full-date unlinking bot, RjwilmsiBot, WikitanvirBot, Sir Morosus,

ChrisGualtieri, Basemetal, SD5bot, VIAFbot, Aklein62, KasparBot and Anonymous: 11

6.2 Images

6.3 Content license

•   Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0

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