Paul Paray was born in
Le Tréport,
Normandy, on 10 October 1886.[citation needed] His father, Auguste, a
sculptor, organist at St. Jacques church, and leader of an amateur musical society, put young Paray in the society's
orchestra as a
drummer.[citation needed] Later, Paray went to Rouen to study
music with the
abbots Bourgeois and Bourdon, and
organ with Haelling, which prepared him to enter the Paris Conservatoire.[when?][citation needed]
In 1911, Paray won the Premier Grand
Prix de Rome for his
cantataYanitza. Deprived of paper while a prisoner of war during
World War I, Paray composed his string quartet in E minor, and the piano suite D'une âme..., both in his head, only writing them down from memory after the war. Once the war was over, Paray was invited to conduct the orchestra of the Casino de
Cauterets in the
Pyrenees, which included players from the
Lamoureux Orchestra. Casino de
Cauterets was a springboard for him to conduct orchestras in Paris.[clarification needed][when?]
Paray would later serve as music director of the
Monte Carlo Orchestra.[when?] In 1922, Paray composed music for the
Ida Rubinstein ballet Artémis troublée. That year he and the Spanish violinist
Manuel Quiroga premiered his Violin Sonata. In 1931, he wrote the Mass for the 500th Anniversary of the Death of Joan of Arc, which was premiered at the cathedral in
Rouen to commemorate the quincentenary of
Joan of Arc's
martyr death. Paray became president of the
Concerts Colonne, and in 1935, he wrote his Symphony No. 1 in C major, which premiered there. Paray made his American debut with the
New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra in 1939. He composed his Symphony No. 2 in A major in 1941.[where?]
In 1952, Paray was appointed music director of the
Detroit Symphony Orchestra, going on to conduct them in numerous recordings for the
Mercury Records' "Living Presence" series. Paray left Detroit in 1963.
Paray returned to France and maintained a healthy international guest-conducting career. He was in his tenth decade when he made his last conducting appearance in the United States, leading the Orchestra of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. A report in Musical America noted:[full citation needed] "Now ninety-two, Paray brings to the podium not only a reputation as one of the great conductors of our time, but strength, energy, and a solid technique that have not diminished through the years."[This quote needs a citation]
Messe du cinquième centenaire de la mort de Jeanne d'Arc (Mass for the Fifth Centenary of the Death of Joan of Arc) for soloists, chorus and orchestra (1931)
Nuit tombante for chorus and orchestra
Pastorale de Noël pour for soloists, chorus and orchestra
Soleils de septembre for chorus and orchestra
Notes
^Western Michigan University maintains a collection of images that include pictures of the prison camp at Darmstedt.[3]
References
^Orenstein, Arbie (2003). Ravel, Maurice (ed.). A Ravel Reader. Courier Dover Publications. p. 580.[verification needed]
W.L. Landowski, Paul Paray, musician de France et du monde, in series, Nos amis les musiciens, Lyon: Éditions et impr. du Sud-est (1956).
Bibliography (in French): Jean-Philippe Mousnier: "Paul Paray", Editions L'Harmattan (1998).
This section appears to contradict another section of this articleon the specifics of his conducting appointments and his dates at the DSO. Please see the
talk page for more information.(November 2022)