Nadia Boulanger facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Nadia Boulanger
Boulanger in 1925
Background information
Birth name	Juliette Nadia Boulanger
Born	16 September 1887 Paris, France
Died	22 October 1979 (1979-10-23) (aged 92) Paris, France
Occupation(s)	Teacher and conductor

Juliette Nadia Boulanger (born September 16, 1887 – died October 22, 1979) was a famous French music teacher and conductor. She taught many of the most important composers and musicians of the 20th century. She also played the piano and organ sometimes.

Nadia came from a musical family. She won awards as a student at the Conservatoire de Paris. But she believed she wasn't a good composer. So, she stopped writing music and became a teacher instead. She taught many young composers, especially from the United States.

Some of her famous students included Aaron Copland, Philip Glass, Quincy Jones, and Astor Piazzolla.

Boulanger taught in the U.S. and England. She worked with schools like the Juilliard School. But her main teaching place was her family's apartment in Paris. She taught there for about 70 years until she died at 92.

Nadia Boulanger was the first woman to conduct many major orchestras. These included the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. She also led the first performances of new music by composers like Copland.

Nadia Boulanger's Life Story

Her Early Years and Schooling

Nadia Boulanger was born in Paris, France, on September 16, 1887. Her father, Ernest Boulanger, was a composer and pianist. Her mother, Raissa Myshetskaya, was a Russian princess.

Ernest Boulanger had won a big award for composition called the Prix de Rome. He wrote operas and choral music. He was also a singing teacher at the Paris Conservatoire.

Nadia's parents met in Russia and married in 1877. Nadia was born on her father's 72nd birthday.

When Nadia was very young, she didn't like music. She would hide when she heard it. But when she was five, something changed. She heard a fire bell and tried to play the sounds on the piano. Her parents were very surprised. After that, she loved music and started learning the basics.

Her younger sister, Lili Boulanger, was born in 1893. Nadia was six years old. Her father made Nadia promise to take care of Lili. He wanted her to help with the new baby.

From age seven, Nadia prepared for her music school exams. She took private lessons with teachers from the Conservatoire. Lili often sat quietly and listened to these lessons.

In 1896, nine-year-old Nadia entered the Conservatoire. She studied with famous teachers like Gabriel Fauré. She won first prize in a music theory competition in 1898. She also took private lessons for organ.

Nadia became a Catholic in 1899. Her faith remained important to her throughout her life.

In 1900, her father Ernest died. The family faced money problems. Nadia worked hard at the Conservatoire to become a teacher. She wanted to help support her family.

By 1903, Nadia won first prize in harmony at the Conservatoire. She kept studying for years. She also started earning money by playing the organ and piano. She studied composition with Gabriel Fauré. In 1904, she won first prize in organ, piano accompaniment, and fugue.

In late 1904, Nadia started teaching from her family's apartment. She gave private lessons and held group classes. These classes continued almost until her death. After classes, she hosted famous "at homes." Students could meet professional musicians and artists there. Guests included Igor Stravinsky and Fauré.

Starting Her Career

After leaving the Conservatoire in 1904, Nadia was a keen composer. She was encouraged by her teachers. Her music often had many complex notes but still sounded clear. She wanted to win the Prix de Rome, like her father. She worked very hard, even with her growing teaching and performing jobs.

In 1908, Nadia caused a stir in the Prix de Rome competition. She submitted an instrumental piece instead of a vocal one. Newspapers talked about it, and she was allowed to be judged. She won the Second Grand Prix for her cantata, La Sirène.

In 1908, Nadia also worked with pianist Raoul Pugno. They wrote a song cycle together called Les Heures claires. It was well-received. Her sister Lili, then 16, decided she also wanted to become a composer.

In 1912, Nadia Boulanger conducted for the first time. She led an orchestra performing her own music. Lili Boulanger won the Prix de Rome in 1913. She was the first woman ever to win this award.

When World War I started in 1914, public concerts stopped. Nadia continued teaching privately. She and Lili organized a charity to help musicians who were soldiers.

Lili became very ill from her war work. She died in March 1918.

Life After Lili's Death

Nadia was very sad after her sister's death. She felt a strong duty to honor Lili's memory. She decided to work even harder. She wanted to make her mother's life less sad.

In 1919, Boulanger performed in over twenty concerts. She often played her own music and Lili's. She also joined a new music school in Paris, the École normale de musique de Paris. There, she taught harmony, counterpoint, and composition.

She also wrote music reviews for a newspaper. She never really liked writing her opinions down.

In 1920, Boulanger started composing again. She wrote a series of songs. In 1921, she performed at concerts supporting women's rights. However, later in life, she said she was not a feminist. She believed women should not vote because they "lacked the necessary political sophistication."

Teaching in America

In the summer of 1921, the French Music School for Americans opened in Fontainebleau. Boulanger became a harmony professor there. She started a tradition of inviting her best students to her home for meals. Aaron Copland was one of her first students at Fontainebleau.

Nadia's busy schedule of teaching and performing made her tired. She often had headaches. She focused on teaching because it was her best way to earn money. She told her teacher Fauré that she had stopped composing. She felt her music was "useless."

In 1924, Boulanger toured the USA. She performed organ music and Lili's pieces. She also played a new piece by Copland, written for her. She returned to France in February 1925.

George Gershwin visited Boulanger in 1927. He asked for composition lessons. After they talked, Boulanger told him, "I can teach you nothing." Gershwin took this as a compliment.

Her mother Raissa died in March 1935. This allowed Nadia to travel more for teaching.

Traveling and Recording Music

In 1936, Boulanger taught piano masterclasses in London. She also conducted for the BBC. She was the first woman to conduct the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Her performances were highly praised.

Boulanger loved the music of Claudio Monteverdi. In 1937, she recorded six albums of his madrigals. This helped many more people discover his music.

In late 1937, Boulanger returned to Britain. She gave lectures and conducted. In November, she became the first woman to conduct a full concert for the Royal Philharmonic Society in London.

In 1938, Boulanger went on a longer tour of the US. She gave lectures at several universities. She also became the first woman to conduct the Boston Symphony Orchestra. During this tour, she gave over a hundred lectures and concerts. She conducted the first performance of Igor Stravinsky's Dumbarton Oaks Concerto.

The next year, she became the first woman to conduct the New York Philharmonic Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. She also conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra. She gave 102 lectures in 118 days across the US.

World War II and Moving to America

As World War II began, Boulanger helped her students leave France. She also planned to leave herself. She waited until the last moment before the German invasion. She arrived in New York on November 6, 1940.

In the US, Boulanger taught at the Longy School of Music. She taught harmony, fugue, and composition. In 1942, she also started teaching at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore.

Later Life in Paris

Boulanger left America at the end of 1945. She returned to France in January 1946. She became a professor at the Paris Conservatoire. In 1953, she became the director of the Fontainebleau School. She also continued to tour other countries.

As a family friend, Boulanger organized the music for the wedding of Prince Rainier of Monaco and Grace Kelly in 1956. In 1958, she toured the US again. She gave lectures and made television films.

In 1962, she toured Turkey. She conducted concerts with her young student İdil Biret. Later that year, she was invited to the White House by President John F. Kennedy. In 1966, she went to Moscow to judge a music competition. She also taught in England at the Yehudi Menuhin School.

Her eyesight and hearing started to get worse as she got older. In 1977, for her 90th birthday, she had a surprise party. The school chef made a big cake. Her student, Emile Naoumoff, played a piece he wrote for her. Nadia Boulanger worked almost until she died in 1979 in Paris. She is buried with her sister Lili and their parents.

Her Teaching Style

Nadia Boulanger said she enjoyed all "good music." She believed a good simple song was as valuable as a complex one. She judged music only on its beauty. She liked Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel. She was a big fan of Igor Stravinsky.

She always asked for full attention from her students. She said, "Anyone who acts without paying attention... is wasting his life."

Boulanger had interesting views on women in music. Even though her sister Lili was successful and she was a great teacher, she believed a woman's main duty was to be a wife and mother. She saw teaching as a joy and a duty.

She accepted students from any background. They only needed to want to learn. She treated students differently based on their talent. Talented students faced harder questions. Less talented students, who didn't plan a music career, were treated more gently. She said, "Each individual poses a particular problem."

Boulanger used many teaching methods. These included traditional harmony and reading music at the piano. She also taught analysis and sight-singing.

When she looked at a student's music, she would compare it to other composers. She would ask if they could make it more interesting. She didn't like new ideas just for the sake of being new. She said, "You need an established language and then... the liberty to be yourself."

She always said she couldn't give creativity to her students. She could only help them become smart musicians. She believed that the desire to learn was all that was needed to succeed. She would give examples of famous composers who started late in life.

Her memory was amazing. By age twelve, she knew all of Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier by heart. Students said she knew every important piece by every important composer.

Awards and Honors

• 1932 Chevalier to the Légion d'honneur
• 1934 Order of Polonia Restituta
• 1962 Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• 1962 Howland Memorial Prize
• 1975 Médaille d'Or of the Académie des Beaux-Arts of the Institut de France
• 1977 Grand officier to the Légion d'honneur
• 1977 Order of the British Empire
• 1977 Order of St. Charles of Monaco
• 1977 Order of the Crown of Belgium

Key Musical Works

Here are some of the musical pieces Nadia Boulanger composed:

Vocal Music

• Allons voir sur le lac d'argent (1905)
• Ecoutez la chanson bien douce (1905)
• Les sirènes (1905)
• A l'aube (1906)
• A l'hirondelle (1908)
• La sirène (1908)
• Dnégouchka (1909)
• Over 30 songs for voice and piano, including:

• Extase (1901)
• Désepérance (1902)
• Cantique de soeur Béatrice (1909)
• Une douceur splendide et sombre (1909)
• Larme solitaire (1909)
• Une aube affaiblie (1909)
• Prière (1909)
• Soir d'hiver (1915)
• Au bord de la nuit, Chanson, Le couteau, Doute, L'échange (1922)
• J'ai frappé (1922)

Chamber and Solo Works

• 3 pièces, organ (1911), also arranged for cello and piano
• 3 pièces, piano (1914)
• Pièce sur des airs populaires flamands, organ (1917)
• Vers la vie nouvelle, piano (1917)

Orchestral Music

• Allegro (1905)
• Fantaisie variée, piano and orchestra (1912)

Works with Raoul Pugno

• Les heures claires, 8 songs for voice and piano (1909)
• La ville morte, opera (1910–13)

Recordings of Her Music

Here are some recordings featuring Nadia Boulanger's music or her conducting:

• Mademoiselle: Premiere Audience – Unknown Music of Nadia Boulanger, Delos DE 3496 (2017)
• Tribute to Nadia Boulanger, Cascavelle VEL 3081 (2004)
• BBC Legends: Nadia Boulanger, BBCL 40262 (1999)
• Women of Note. Koch International Classics B000001SKH (1997)
• Chamber Music by French Female Composers. Classic Talent B000002K49 (2000)
• Le Baroque Avant Le Baroque. EMI Classics France B000CS43RG (2006)

Images for kids

• 

  Château de Fontainebleau, where the French Music School for Americans was located.

• 

  Nadia Boulanger with her friend, composer Igor Stravinsky, in 1937.

• 

  The street where Nadia Boulanger lived and taught for many years, 36 rue Ballu in Paris.

See also

In Spanish: Nadia Boulanger para niños