Camille CHEVILLARD

Son of the cellist Alexandre Chevillard, Camille Chevillard studied piano at the Paris Conservatoire under Mathias, leaving there in 1880 with a second prix. Despite having no formal training in composition, he wrote his first work, a Piano Quintet, in 1882. He then assisted the conductor Charles Lamoureux (whose daughter he married), particularly in the first Paris performance of Wagner’s Lohengrin at the Eden-Théâtre in 1887. Chevillard made a living as a pianist, founding the Société Beethoven in 1889 and creating the Trio Chevillard-Hayot-Halmon in 1895. In 1897, he was appointed conductor of the Concerts Lamoureux, and became director on the death of their founder in 1899. Particularly interested in the German repertoire (Schumann, Beethoven, Wagner) and in Russian music, Chevillard was regarded as one of the best conductors of his time – he took part, for example, in the first Alsace-Lorraine music festival in 1905, along with Mahler and Strauss. It is interesting to note that he conducted the first performances of Les Nocturnes and La Mer by Debussy, who was not impressed by his efforts on these occasions. After becoming professor of instrumental ensemble music at the Paris Conservatoire in 1907, Chevillard ended his career as music director of the Paris Opéra in 1915, a post he held until his death in 1923. As a composer, he belongs to a Post-Romantic tradition influenced by César Franck. His catalogue includes chamber music, several orchestral pieces, some art songs and a large number of transcriptions and orchestrations.