Théodore Dubois: Musique sacrée et symphonique

Each volume in the ‘Portraits’ series is devoted to a composer who has now largely been forgotten; it presents a varied selection of his works. Théodore Dubois is the perfect example of the ‘official’ composer during the time of French Romanticism: he successively was a Prix de Rome recipient (1861), organist at the Madeleine (1877), an academician (1894), and director of the Conservatoire (1896) where he had been teaching since 1871. However, so much injustice as well as honour was heaped upon his music – accused of academic rigidity – that it is important to rehear it to be in a better position to judge its real interest value. A representative selection of works, typically previously unrecorded, is provided on this multifaceted book-CD: a biography, extracts from Dubois’ recollections, as well as articles discussing the composer’s style and personality.