Bűsser, (Paul-) Henri

Bűsser, (Paul-) Henri, esteemed French conductor, pedagogue, and composer; b. Toulouse, Jan. 16, 1872; d. Paris, Dec. 30, 1973. He received initial music instruction as a choirboy at the Toulouse Cathedral under Aloys Kunc; at age 13, he was taken to Paris, where he studied with A. Georges at the School of Religious Music; he then pursued training at the Cons. (1889–92) as a pupil of Franck and Widor (organ) and Guiraud (composition); he also received advice from Gounod. In 1892 he became organist at St. Cloud, near Paris. In 1893 he won the Prix de Rome with his cantata Antigone. Returning to Paris, he became conductor at the Théâtre du Chateau d’Eau in 1900, and at the Opéra-Comique in 1902; he was conductor at the Opéra (1905-39; 1946-51). In 1904 he became head of the vocal ensemble class at the Cons., and subsequently was prof. of composition there from 1931 to 1948. In 1938 he was elected to membership in the Académie. He married Yvonne Gall in 1958. Büsser was an accomplished composer for the theater. He also orchestrated Debussy’s Petite Suite (1907), Printemps (1912), La cathédrale engloutie (1917), and other pieces. His writings comprise Traité d’instrumentation (with Guiraud; Paris, 1933), De “Pelléas” aux “Indes galantes” (Paris, 1955), and Gounod (Lyons, 1961).

Works

DRAMATIC: Les accordailles, opéra comique (1890); Les Marivaudages, pantomime (1891); Daphnis et Chloé, scenic pastorale (c. 1896; Paris, Dec. 14, 1897); Le miracle des perles, drame lyrique (1898); Blanc et noir, pantomime (Paris, 1900); Colomba, drame lyrique (c. 1910; Nice, Feb. 4, 1921); Les noces corinthiennes, tragédie lyrique (1916-18; Paris, May 10, 1922); La pie borgne, comédie lyrique (Aix-les-Bains, Aug. 5, 1927); La carosse du Saint-Sacrement, comédie lyrique (Paris, June 2, 1948); Roxelane, comédie lyrique (Mulhouse, Jan. 31, 1948); Diafoirus 60, farce musicale (Lille, April 4, 1963); La Vénus d’ille, drame lyrique (Lille, April 15, 1964).orch. :A la villa Médias (c. 1895); Suite funambulesque (1900); Hercule au jardin des Hespérides (1900).other: Magnificat; masses; motets; choruses; songs; piano pieces; organ music

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire