Course in Musical Composition

The first English translation of lectures by a French contemporary of Debussy and Ravel

French composer and educator Vincent d’Indy differed from contemporaries Debussy and Ravel in his conservative political and philosophical ideas and in his musical style. This redaction and English translation of his Cours de composition musicale includes the introductory lectures for the course he taught at the Schola Cantorum in Paris.

D’Indy’s ideas about composition, best articulated in the lectures presented here, were unique in their combination of historical concepts and music theory. This is the first publication of d’Indy’s work in English. In addition to a faithful translation, Gail Hilson Woldu provides annotations that clarify d’Indy’s often complex concepts and correct his occasional errors of fact. In her introduction, Woldu places d’Indy in the world of French music education at the turn of the twentieth century, identifies the chief musical influences on the composer, and discusses the political and religious controversies surrounding the Schola Cantorum and the Paris Conservatoire. The book concludes with the pioneering work of d’Indy scholar Merle Montgomery, who was the first to translate the Cours into English. Her study offers a comparative framework for understanding d’Indy’s place in the history of music composition and theory.

This volume introduces students and scholars of music history and composition to an influential teacher and prolific composer of the early twentieth century.