Essential Boulanger
She lived only to the age of 24 but nevertheless counts as one of France's most important composers. Lili Boulanger, born in 1893 in Paris, stood out from an early age for her enormous musical gifts and in 1913 became the first woman to win the prestigious 'Prix de Rome'.
Read more…Boulanger's success came at a time when recognition was hard to come by as a female composer. As a fragile, chronically ill child she learnt piano, violin, cello and harp, and started studying scores aged six. She had no shortage of musical role models at home: her father Ernest was a composer, her mother Raissa a singer. Such prominent figures as Charles Gounod, Jules Massenet and Gabriel Fauré were regular visitors to chez Boulanger. At the age of 16, Lili decided to dedicate herself entirely to composing, with vocal works such as psalm settings, cantatas and songs making up the large part of her output, alongside chamber and instrumental works. Boulanger cultivated an individual musical language despite the influence of Wagner, Fauré, Saint-Saëns and Debussy, and many of her works are inspired by the bible and mysticism. Her "Faust et Hélène" – the cantata that won her the 'Prix de Rome' – was enthusiastically received by both critics and the public when unveiled at Paris's Théâtre du Châtelet in November 1913. But Boulanger knew that the ill-health that constantly disrupted her work would also cut her life short. She composed with feverish speed as her condition – identified as "intestinal tuberculosis" – deteriorated further. Shortly before her death in 1918 she dictated her final work, 'Pie Jesu', to her older sister, Nadia. An outstanding conductor and composer but remembered principally as a hugely important teacher, Nadia Boulanger outlived Lili by 61 years.