Emmanuel Chabrier

Although music seems to have been his passion all along, it was not until nearly the age of 40 that Emmanuel Chabrier turned to composition as his full-time career. When he finally did this, he crafted works characterized by brilliance, wit, and vivid harmonic, rhythmic, and orchestral coloring. As early as age six, Chabrier began piano lessons under the tutelage of a Spanish refugee named Saporta. At ten, he attended the Lycée Impérial at Clermont Ferrand, where he continued his keyboard studies and began to try his hand at composition. Upon the insistence of his father, how...