Augusta Mary Anne Holmès is generally ranked a minor
figure among French composers of her time, though a
growing number of admirers consider her unjustly
neglected. Her output includes a range of orchestral
and choral works, songs, and operas.
Holmès was born in Paris in 1847 of Irish parents. She
was raised in Versailles in an environment that
provided her the finest education: at 12, she could
speak English, German, and Italian, besides French, and
was already composing songs, often...(+)
Augusta Mary Anne Holmès is generally ranked a minor
figure among French composers of her time, though a
growing number of admirers consider her unjustly
neglected. Her output includes a range of orchestral
and choral works, songs, and operas.
Holmès was born in Paris in 1847 of Irish parents. She
was raised in Versailles in an environment that
provided her the finest education: at 12, she could
speak English, German, and Italian, besides French, and
was already composing songs, often using her own
texts.
There is much myth surrounding Holmès' life -- myth
she often encouraged. It is highly unlikely she ever
attempted suicide in her teens because her mother tried
to discourage her study of music; and the claim that
her godfather and mentor, poet Alfred de Vigny, who
bore a resemblance to her, was her biological father,
is also probably untrue.
Her early music teachers included Versailles Cathedral
organist Henri Lambert, with whom she studied harmony
and counterpoint, Hyacinthe Klosé (orchestration), and
Guillot de Sainbris (voice). In 1870-1871 Holmès was a
nurse in the Franco-Prussian War, shortly after which
she acquired French citizenship (despite her Parisian
birth, she had been considered a foreign national).
Around 1875 she became a pupil of, or at least
developed ties to, César Franck. Living in Paris now,
she was financially secure as the sole heir to her
father's considerable holdings. Though she had remained
productive as a composer in her pre-Paris years, her
output up until then included mostly songs. In the
1870s and thereafter she focused on larger works, like
the successful 1878 choral piece Lutèce.
It was in the 1870s, too, that Holmès met librettist
and critic Catulle Mendès, who would become her lover
and father of her five children. She remained active as
a composer during their two-decade relationship,
producing many large works, among them the only opera
of hers to be staged in her lifetime, La montagne
noire, completed in 1884. The Opéra de Paris premiered
it, but not until 1895, when it was tepidly
received.
Holmès achieved great success with the symphonic poems
Irlande (1882), Pologne (1883), and Ludus pro patria
(1888), nationalistic works that fostered yet another
myth, that she actively promoted the causes of
oppressed peoples from abroad. Her last completed work,
Le jugement de Naïs, for orchestra, dates to 1902. She
died in Paris in January 1903.
Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusta_Holm%C3%A8s
).
Although originally composed for Voice & Piano (and
arranged by Jenne Van Antwerpen for Flute & Piano),
created this arrangement for Viola & Concert (Pedal)
Harp) transposed to F Major.
