Lucien Denis Gabriel Albéric Magnard (born in Paris, June 9, 1865, died in Baron, Oise, September 3, 1914) was a French composer, sometimes referred to as the "French Bruckner".
The son of François Magnard, bestselling author and editor of Le Figaro, Albéric could have chosen to live the comfortable life his family's wealth afforded him. But he disliked being called "fils du Figaro", and decided to have a career in music based entirely on his talent and without any help from family connections. After military service and graduating from law school, he entered the Paris Conservatoire, where he studied counterpoint with Théodore Dubois and went to the classes of Jules Massenet. There he met Vincent d'Indy, with whom he studied fugue and orchestration for four years, writing his first two Symphonies under d'Indy's tutelage. Magnard dedicated his Symphony No. 1 in C minor to d'Indy.
François Magnard did what he could to support Albéric's career while trying to respect his son's wish to make it on his own. This included publicity in Le Figaro. With the death of his father in 1894, Albéric Magnard's grief was complicated by his simultaneous gratitude and annoyance for his father.
In 1896, Magnard married Julie Creton, became a counterpoint tutor at the Schola Cantorum (recently founded by d'Indy) and wrote his Symphony No. 3 in B-flat minor. Around this time, Magnard started suffering loss of hearing.
Magnard published many of his own compositions at his own expense, from Opus 8 to Opus 20.
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