About Edmond Dédé
Edmond Dédé is a French composer who has remained relatively obscure outside of France. One of his most famous work is “The Cello Concerto”.
Biography
Edmond Dédé studied at the Conservatoire de Paris. There, he was a pupil of Jean-Louis Tulou (violin) and Émile Pessard (composition). His works have been primarily performed in France. He died on October 18, 1931, aged only 63.
His work is not well known outside of France and few composers in the West know his name or compositions.
Composition
Edmond Dédé’s work is focused on the composition of instrumental music. During the 1890s he switched from composing for piano to writing for cello, a change that may have come after hearing his friend Jean-Baptiste Faure play Joseph Jongen’s “Cello Concerto” in 1893. He wrote his first cello concerto in 1895 and “The Cello Concerto” in 1899. The latter work was quite popular and won him a State Prize from the French government in 1906, which was unusual for an amateur composer. It is also credited with being one of the most-often played string quartets of all time. One of his more popular works is “Portugal-Marine”, a choral suite that dates from 1899, used by film directors such as Jean Renoir and Luc Moullet. He also wrote “Les Amants de la Mer”, a short orchestral piece from 1898.
Instrumentation
Dédé was known to be flexible in using cello and orchestra, writing works that could be adapted as required. His work “Portugal-Marine” is mainly for string orchestra but can be adapted to a cello quartet or soloist. The title of his cello concerto is derived from the Spanish word ‘portugal’, which means Portugal (a common name of the singer). The fourth movement of his cello concerto was the only one to have a première and comes with an “entr’acte” that lasts until the end of this movement. It is considered as one of his most popular works, admired by directors such as Jean Renoir and Luc Moullet who used it in their films.
The last classical piece Edmond Dédé wrote during his life was entitled “Cello Sonata”. It was discovered by the French composer Charles-Valentin Alkan.
Personal Life of Edmond Dédé’
Edmond Dédé was born on 9 May 1852 in Paris. His father was from a family of craftsmen and he died of tuberculosis when Edmond Dédé was four years old. He then moved to a street in Paris with his mother who worked as a maid for a naval officer. As there were no schools for poor children at the time, Edmond Dédé did not go to school until he was 12 and even then he had to work as an assistant in a chemist’s store.
In 1874, he was accepted to the Conservatoire de Paris to study piano. He studied music with Ferdinand Brunetière, a composer who composed many works based on folk tunes. He learned counterpoint and fugue but left the course early in 1886. In that year he wrote his first two cello concertos that are recognised as being his most popular works among cellists.
Early life and education:
In 1874, he began his studies at the Conservatoire de Paris. This was an extremely difficult time for him. In 1878 he left the course early and did not return for two years. In 1879, he returned but didn’t stay long as he was one of the only students that admitted to the class at that time. His mother visited him regularly and they spoke every day as she became ill soon after leaving. He eventually left the course in 1886 with little success and received a small pension from the school.
The Conservatoire de Paris was founded after Napoleon I established a national system of music education for beginners called the Conservatoire National de Musique et de Déclamation or CNMD. Before its founding, young musicians were taught privately by teachers or were given basic theoretical education at home. This created an uneven playing field and those who could afford private tutors were far advanced while others less fortunate had little or no instruction. Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, nephew of Napoleon I and the current president of France, was determined to remedy this situation. He founded the CNMD with the intention that it would train musicians as well as provide a place for them to learn theory and composition.
Dédé studied with Ferdinand Brunetière who also taught Theophile Gautier, Maurice Ravel and Henri Rabaud.
Further reading:
In 1885, Edmond Dédé wrote his first cello concerto. It was first performed at the Paris Conservatoire by Alfred Brunet in 1889.
This is the only biographical reference available online:
The Concerto has had a revival since its original performance, and it is now considered one of the most-often played works for cello in all of classical music. The first performance took place under the baton of Henri Rabaud on May 15, 1889.
In 1891, Edmond Dédé wrote his second cello concerto. It was performed in 1892 and again in 1910 (with some parts of the work being replaced for the 1910 revival). The first performance took place on February 13, 1892 at the Paris Conservatoire by Jean-Baptiste Faure.
