Armande de Polignac

Armande de Polignac, comtesse de Chabannes-La Palice (Marie Armande Mathilde; 8 January 1876 – 29 April 1962) was a French composer, the niece of Prince Edmond de Polignac and Princess Winnaretta de Polignac, the patron of Ravel, Stravinsky and Milhaud. She studied privately with Eugène Gigout and Gabriel Fauré, as well as with Vincent d’Indy at the Schola Cantorum. De Polignac married the Comte de Chabanne la Palice. Biography Born in 1876, Armande de Polignac was the only daughter from the first marriage of Camille de Polignac and Marie Adolphine Langenberger; Marie Adolphine died within a week of giving birth. From a very young age, Armande de Polignac was passionate about foreign languages, speaking a dozen of them, and cultivated a lifelong attraction to and strong taste for musical creation. She began her harmony studies in London. She supported Edgar Varèse, whom she had met at the Schola Cantorum, by raising funds in 1915 so that he could travel to the United States. From its founding in 1905, Armande de Polignac became a contributor to the Mercure musical, a journal founded by Louis Laloy. From its inception, Claude Debussy, Romain Rolland, Jean Marnold, and Willy also con