Édouard Lalo (1823 – 1892) was a composer, conductor, and string musician (viola and violin). He was born in Lille, France, in the northernmost part of the country bordering Belgium. His most famous composition was the Symphonie Espagnole, heard below.
Lalo’s father served as an officer in the French Army, and was wounded at the battle of Lützen in 1813. Both his mother and father were of Spanish descent, foreshadowing the influence for one of his most acclaimed works. Édouard Lalo showed early promise as a musician, taking violin lessons from M. Baumann, a cellist who studied under Ludwig van Beethoven. Against his father’s wishes, Lalo moved to Paris at the age of 16 to become a professional musician, earning francs by playing and giving lessons. He was later admitted to the Paris Conservatory, one of the preeminent academic institutions for music at that time. Lalo married one of his pupils at the age of 42, Julie Besnier de Maligny, a contralto from Brittany. Her stunning voice inspired him, and with his muse secured he began to compose many of the pieces for which he is known today. The first of these pieces is the “Symphonie Espagnole” or Spanish Symphony in D minor, Op. 21. The violin concerto and its five movements was written for flamboyant Spanish Virtuoso Pablo de Sarasate and premiered in Paris in 1875. See the Petrucci music library for more information on Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnole, including downloadable performances of the symphony.
Lalo’s body of work was better known for quality over quantity and many of his pieces are still performed today. Like the Symphonie Espagnole, his strongest works were created in close collaboration with other musicians. For example, his Cello Concerto in D minor in 1876, was written with Belgian cellist Adolphe Fischer. The concerto is in three movements and can be heard below interpreted by the Spanish virtuoso cellist Fermín Villanueva.
In his native France, his most popular work was the Opera called “Le Roi d'Ys” or the “King of Ys”. Being a late bloomer, he wrote the Opera in 1878, but it was not performed until 1888 when Lalo was 65, he passed away only 4 years later. Hear the Opera below:
Lalo died in Paris in 1892, leaving unfinished works, including his opera La Jacquerie. He was buried at the Père Lachaise Cemetery, the eternal resting place of Frédéric Chopin, Oscar Wilde, and Jim Morrison. For more information on M. Lalo, please see the additional resources below.
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