Impressionism · Composers linked to impressionism
1893 – 1918
Paris → Mézy-sur-Seine, France
Life
Lili Boulanger was born in Paris on August 21, 1893 in a family of musicians; her older sister was the famous pedagogy Nadia Boulanger. A chronic disease marked his childhood and life, but did not stop a very early talent: in 1913, at 19, he became the first woman to win the Rome Prix of composition with the cantata Faust et Hélène.
His language, close to Debussy and Fauré, combines impressionist harmonies with a very personal spiritual intensity, especially in his psalms for choir and orchestra. He died on March 15, 1918 in Mexico, at the age of twenty-four, telling his sister his last Pie Jesu.
Featured works
- Night for violin and piano (1911)
- Faust et Hélène, cantata (1913)
- Clairières dans le ciel, song cycle (1914)
- Psalms 24, 129 and 130 «Du fond de l'abîme» (1916-1917)
- Vieille prière bouddhique (1917)
- D'un soir sad and D'un matin de printemps (1918)
- Pie Jesu (1918)
