Holmès (real name, Holmes), Augusta
Holmès (real name, Holmes), Augusta
Holměs (real name, Holmes), Augusta (Mary Anne), French composer; b. Paris (of Irish parents), Dec. 16, 1847; d. there, Jan. 28, 1903. She progressed very rapidly as a child pianist, and gave public concerts. She also composed songs, under the pen name Hermann Zenta. She studied harmony with H. Lambert, an organist, and later became a pupil of César Franck. She then began to compose works in large forms, arousing considerable attention, mixed with curiosity, for she was one of the very few professional women composers of the time. Her music lacks individuality or strength. At best, it represents a conventional by-product of French Romanticism, with an admixture of fashionable exotic elements.
Works
dramatic:Opera: La Montagne noire (Paris Opéra, Feb. 8, 1895); Héro et Léandre; Astarte; Lancelot du lac. ORCH.: Andante pastoral (Paris, Jan. 14, 1877); Lutèce (Angers, Nov. 30, 1884); Les Argonautes (Paris, April 24, 1881); Irlande (Paris, March 2, 1882); Ode triomphale (Paris, March 4, 1888); Pologne; Andromède; Hymne à Apollon. vocal:cantatas:La Vision de la Reine; La Chanson de la caravane; La Fleur de Néflier. other voca1: 117 songs. OTHER: Piano pieces.
Bibliography
P. Barillon-Bauché, A. H. et la femme compositeur (Paris, 1912); R. Pichard du Page, A. H: Une Musicienne versaillaise (Paris, 1921).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire