Laurent de Rillé

François Anatole Laurent de Rillé (24 November 1828 – 26 August 1915), was a French composer, writer and musical theorist.

De Rillé composed a number of operettas and sacred music works, but his name is more frequently associated with the so-called "Orphéonist" movement, which had also Hector Berlioz and Charles Gounod among its members, which sought to increase the knowledge of music among popular classes by way of setting up male choir associations. The name comes from the first of these associations, founded in Paris, who named itself "Orphéon" (from Orpheus).

Thanks to the efforts of De Rillé, who not only wrote many music pieces for male choir and arranged pieces of widely known composers such as Verdi, Donizetti and Rossini but also books on how to organise a choir and train its members, the popularity of "orphéoniste" societies spread throughout France between the late 1800s and early 1900s, and as well in the United Kingdom, where A.J. Foxwell wrote English lyrics for many of his pieces.

Though most of the music composed by De Rillé is almost forgotten nowadays, his choral works, and particularly "Les Ruines de Gaza (The Destruction of Gaza)" and "Les Martyres aux Arènes" (Martyrs of the Arena), are still among the favorites of male choir societies.


Birth and Death Data: Born November 30, 1824 (Orléans), Died August 26, 1915 (9th arrondissement of Paris)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1909

Roles Represented in DAHR: composer

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Victor B-6798 10-in. 2/15/1909 The destruction of Gaza Glyndwr Mountain Ash Welsh Male Choir Male vocal chorus composer  

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Rillé, Laurent de," accessed April 17, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/112677.

Rillé, Laurent de. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved April 17, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/112677.

"Rillé, Laurent de." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 17 April 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/112677

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