Jean Chantavoine [SEP] date of death
Jean Chantavoine
Jean Chantavoine (17 May 1877 – 16 July 1952) was a French musicologist and biographer and the secretary general for the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique.
Chantavoine was born in Paris. He published numerous books and articles, including biographies of Beethoven, Liszt, Saint-Saëns and Mozart.
In 1933, he revealed the existence of Bizet's Symphony in C, housed in the library of the "Conservatoire", in an article in the French periodical "Ménestrel." Chantavoine also was the first
unknown at Bizet's death, passing into the possession of his widow, Geneviève Halévy.
History Rediscovery and posthumous popularity.
Although Bizet's first biographer, Douglas Charles Parker, is widely credited with bringing the symphony to public attention, it was the French musicologist Jean Chantavoine who first revealed the existence of the work, in an article published in the periodical "Le Ménestrel" in 1933. Parker, alerted to its existence, informed the Austrian conductor Felix Weingartner, who gave the highly successful premiere in Basel in 1935.