Gustave Samazeuilh

Gustave Marie Victor Fernand Samazeuilh (2 June 1877 – 4 August 1967) was a French composer and writer on music. He produced many piano transcriptions of orchestral works, and also wrote musical biography.^[1]

Gustave Samazeuilh was born on 2 June 1877 in Bordeaux, France.^[2] He was a childhood friend of Maurice Ravel, and they remained friends until 1937 when Ravel died. He studied music privately with Ernest Chausson who in 1897 introduced him to Paul Dukas.^[1] He trained with Chausson until the latter's death in 1899, and then attended the Schola Cantorum de Paris, where he was a student of Dukas and Vincent d'Indy.^[2] During his years of study he made trips to Germany in 1894, 1897, and 1898. He met Richard Strauss while attending the Bayreuth Festival.^[1]

Samazeuilh was much influenced by the impressionist school.^[2] In 1896 he met, at the age of 19, he met Claude Debussy and became a disciple of the composer. In 1897 he studied Debussy's symphonic poem Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune with the composer, and he became a vocal advocate and publicist for Debussy.^[1] A number of Samazeuilh's works for piano are reminiscent of Debussy. His output was marked more by "fine craftsmanship" (to quote Slonimsky) than by quantity or commercial success.^[3]

Samazeuilh published monographs on two of his teachers: Chausson and Dukas. He wrote music criticism for a variety of French-language publications, including the newspapers Le Temps, and Sud Ouest; the musical magazines La Revue musicale and Le courrier musical; and the cultural magazine Revue des deux Mondes. He also worked for Radio France.^[1]

Samazeuilh died in Paris on 4 August 1967 ^[2]

• Free scores by Gustave Samazeuilh at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)