Alexandre Pierre François Boëly (1785 – 1858) was
a French composer, organist, and pianist. Born into a
family of musicians, Boëly received his first music
lessons from his father, Jean François, who was a
countertenor at the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris and a
composer and harp teacher at the court of Versailles.
He also studied under the Tyrolian pianist Ignaz
Ladurner, who introduced him to the work of Bach and
Haydn, which Boëly would champion in his adult career.
Besides mastering the pi...(+)
Alexandre Pierre François Boëly (1785 – 1858) was
a French composer, organist, and pianist. Born into a
family of musicians, Boëly received his first music
lessons from his father, Jean François, who was a
countertenor at the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris and a
composer and harp teacher at the court of Versailles.
He also studied under the Tyrolian pianist Ignaz
Ladurner, who introduced him to the work of Bach and
Haydn, which Boëly would champion in his adult career.
Besides mastering the piano and organ, Boëly was also
a talented violist.
As the Romantic movement swept through Europe during
the 19th century, Boëly was shunned by the official
mainstream of musical life in Paris because of his
Classical sensibilities and his "elitist" fidelity to
writing serious music. Boëly regarded with distaste
the music that was written and feted by many of his
contemporaries. The most popular standards during the
Napoleonic period were compositions that swelled with
patriotism or operatic intensity. Entrenching his
reactionary reputation, he used his appointment as
organist at Saint Germain l'Auxerrois in 1840 to
promote the works of dead composers who were then only
scantily appreciated by the public. These included
Frescobaldi, Couperin, and most importantly of all, the
supposedly impenetrable, unplayable Bach.
Such efforts did not win Boëly popular favor, for he
was dismissed from his position in 1851 for the
"austerity" of his playing. He died a simple piano
teacher, but not without enjoying the respect and
confidence of a close circle of friends which included
Marie Bigot, Pierre Baillot, Friedrich Kalkbrenner, and
Johann Baptist Cramer.
Although Boëly was and remains largely unknown to the
public, this does not diminish the part he played in
the flourishing development of French music during the
19th century. He left behind an impressive oeuvre which
numbers about 300 individual works, especially in the
genres of chamber music and instrumental pieces for
piano or organ. These include twelve books of
practice-pieces of different styles and four books for
organ with pedals or piano three hands. In Boëly's old
age, he was sought out by two rising young artists,
César Franck and Camille Saint-Saëns, who revered him
as a guardian of a noble and pure classical organ
tradition.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandre_Pierre_Fran%C3
%A7ois_Bo%C3%ABly)
Although originally composed for Piano, I created this
Interpretation of the "Danse Villageoise" from "24
Pièces pour Piano" (Op 20 No 16) for Flute & Piano.
SHEET MUSIC