Lucien Haudebert

Lucien Haudebert (10 April 1877 – 24 February 1963) was a French composer who strongly identified with his Breton heritage. Life Haudebert was born in Fougères, Département Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany. He received his first music lessons at age 5 from the local organist at the Catholic church of Saint Léonard and was able to play his first Bach prelude at age 7. He studied philosophy at a college in Laval and subsequently received a degree in business studies (Diplôme des Hautes Études Commerciales), following his father’s wishes. He spent his military service at Vitré until September 1900. Musically largely self-taught, against his parents’ wishes he then went to Paris where he made the acquaintance of Gabriel Fauré, then organist at the Eglise de la Madeleine, and received private lessons from him, cut short by his suffering from anemia. Roman Catholic himself, he married his Protestant wife Mary (1879–1958) in Paris in 1907, a poet who often provided the words for Haudebert’s songs and choral pieces. He participated in World War I, leaving the army as lieutenant. He spent his life mainly in Paris where he died. Music The strength of Haudebert’s music lay in his melodic inventivene