Lenepveu Charles Ferdinand, *4 October 1840 Rouen, †16 August 1910 Paris, French composer and teacher. At his father’s request, Lenepveu studied law in Paris, but from 1860 onwards he also took private music lessons. In 1862, the first public performance of one of Lenepveu’s works took place in Caen – a cantata that had won an award at a competition marking the centenary of the local Société d’Agriculture, de Commerce et d’Industrie. In 1863, he began studying at the Paris Conservatoire under A. Thomas (composition). In 1865, he was awarded the Prix de Rome for his cantata Renaud dans les jardins d’Armide. Among the most successful performances of Lenepveu’s works were the performance of his Requiem in 1871 in Bordeaux (a concert for the widows and orphans of those killed in the Franco-Prussian War), excerpts from it in 1872 at the Concerts du Conservatoire and in 1873 at the Concerts Populaires, and the London premiere of the opera Velléda. From 1880, Lenepveu taught harmony, and from 1894 composition at the Paris Conservatoire. He published the pedagogical work Cent leçons d’harmonie (Paris 1898). In 1887, he was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Legion of Honour, and from 1896 he was a member of the Institut de France.
Literature: R. de Saint-Arroman Charles Lenepveu, «Le journal musical», Paris 1898; F. Petit Charles Lenepveu, une gloire musicale de Rouen, «Études Normandes», LXI (2012), pp. 39–64, available at: Charles Lenepveu, une gloire musicale de Rouen – Persée; F. Petit Charles Lenepveu (1840–1910). Musicine officiel de la troisième République Paris, 2015; F. Petit Charles Lenepveu, le musicien venu de Normandie Correspondances, discours, concerts, e-book Paris 2024.
Instrumental:
Marche prétorienne for orchestra, published in Paris 1897
Barcarolle and Berceuse for piano, published in Paris 1869
Caprice and Ballade for piano, published in Paris 1870
Vocal-instrumental:
Renaud dans les jardins d’Armide, cantata, text y M.C. du Locle 1865
Requiem 1871, published in Paris 1877
Nocturne, scene from V. Hugo’s Hernani, for solo voice and orchestra, published in Paris 1881
Méditations sur des vers de Corneille tirés de sa traduction de l’Imitation de Jésus Christ for solo voice, choir and orchestra, published in Paris 1886
Iphigénie, scène lyrique for vocal soloists, chorus and orchestra, text by E. Guinaud, published in Paris 1887
Hymne funèbre et triomphal for chorus and orchestra, text by V. Hugo, 1889, published in Paris 1895
Ode triomphale à Jeanne d’Arc for vocal soloists, chorus and orchestra, text by. P. Allard, 1892, published in Paris 1895
Requiem 1893
Stage:
5 works, including:
Le Florentin, comic opera, libretto by M. de Saint-Georges, performed and published in Paris 1874
Velléda, opera, libretto by A. Challamel and J. Chantepie after F.R. de Chateaubriand’s Les martyrs, performed in London 1882, published in Paris 1883
Jeanne d’Arc, drame lyrique, libretto by P. Allard, performed in Rouen 1886, published in Paris 1886
