Lucien Cailliet
Encyclopedia
Lucien Cailliet was an American composer, conductor, arranger and clarinetist.
, in France, Cailliet studied at the Conservatory
in his native city before migrating to the United States in 1918.
Cailliet worked as staff arranger for the Philadelphia Orchestra
. During this time, he founded the Cherry Hill Wind Symphony, which would later become the Wind Symphony of Southern New Jersey.
Cailliet is well known among wind musicians for his faithful arrangements of orchestral music for wind ensemble. In particular, his arrangements of Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral (from Wagner
's opera Lohengrin
) and Finlandia
(a symphonic poem
by Jean Sibelius
) have become staples of the wind ensemble repertory.
Lucien Cailliet served as Associate Conductor of The Allentown Band (Pennsylvania) from 1934 until 1969. During that period he conducted many of his arrangements on Allentown Band Concerts. In 1938 he dedicated his "Variations on the Theme Pop! Goes the Weasel" to The Allentown Band, an arrangement that continues to be a favorite or both bands and orchestras to this day. The renowned composer and arranger studied at several French music conservatories before graduating from the Dijon Conservatory at age twenty-two. He also received a degree from the National Conservatory in Paris. He was a bandmaster in the French Army and, in 1915, he toured the United States with the French Army Band. In 1919, he joined the Philadelphia Orchestra as a clarinetist, saxophonist, and arranger, where he worked closely with Leopold Stokowski. In 1923, at age thirty-two, Cailliet became an American citizen and continued to play with the Philadelphia Orchestra while attending graduate school at the Philadelphia Musical Academy. After receiving his Doctor of Music Degree in 1937, he moved to California to teach at the University of Southern California
. After teaching there for seven years, he decided to devote his time to guest conducting and composing film scores.
In 1933, Cailliet performed Reynaldo Hahn
's Sarabande et Theme on bass clarinet
with Leopold Stokowski
and the Philadelphia Orchestra
. In 1937, he made a new arrangement of Modest Mussorgsky
's piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition
. Cailliet also orchestrated three piano pieces of Sergei Rachmaninoff
: the Serenade No. 5 from Morceaux de fantaisie
Opus 3, the Prelude No. 5 in G minor
from the 10 preludes of Opus 23
, and the Prelude No. 5 in G major from the 13 preludes of Opus 32
.
Cailliet also enjoyed a prolific career creating music for films. He contributed to nearly fifty films as either composer or arranger. Among the best known of these films are She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, The Ten Commandments
(for which Elmer Bernstein
wrote the score), and Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
.
In the 1950s he lived in Kenosha, Wisconsin
where he worked for the musical instrument producer G. Leblanc Company and conducted the Kenosha Symphony Orchestrahttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0128838/bio. He died at Woodland Hills
.
Cailliet's name often appears as "Lucien Caillet" on printed music; this was merely a pervasive misspelling, according to the New Grove Dictionary of American Music.
Biography
Born at DijonDijon
Dijon is a city in eastern France, the capital of the Côte-d'Or département and of the Burgundy region.Dijon is the historical capital of the region of Burgundy. Population : 151,576 within the city limits; 250,516 for the greater Dijon area....
, in France, Cailliet studied at the Conservatory
École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement. The school has a history spanning more than 350 years,...
in his native city before migrating to the United States in 1918.
Cailliet worked as staff arranger for the Philadelphia Orchestra
Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...
. During this time, he founded the Cherry Hill Wind Symphony, which would later become the Wind Symphony of Southern New Jersey.
Cailliet is well known among wind musicians for his faithful arrangements of orchestral music for wind ensemble. In particular, his arrangements of Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral (from Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
's opera Lohengrin
Lohengrin (opera)
Lohengrin is a romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach and its sequel, Lohengrin, written by a different author, itself...
) and Finlandia
Finlandia (symphonic poem)
Finlandia, Op. 26 is a symphonic poem by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The first version was written in 1899, and it was revised in 1900...
(a symphonic poem
Symphonic poem
A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music in a single continuous section in which the content of a poem, a story or novel, a painting, a landscape or another source is illustrated or evoked. The term was first applied by Hungarian composer Franz Liszt to his 13 works in this vein...
by Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius was a Finnish composer of the later Romantic period whose music played an important role in the formation of the Finnish national identity. His mastery of the orchestra has been described as "prodigious."...
) have become staples of the wind ensemble repertory.
Lucien Cailliet served as Associate Conductor of The Allentown Band (Pennsylvania) from 1934 until 1969. During that period he conducted many of his arrangements on Allentown Band Concerts. In 1938 he dedicated his "Variations on the Theme Pop! Goes the Weasel" to The Allentown Band, an arrangement that continues to be a favorite or both bands and orchestras to this day. The renowned composer and arranger studied at several French music conservatories before graduating from the Dijon Conservatory at age twenty-two. He also received a degree from the National Conservatory in Paris. He was a bandmaster in the French Army and, in 1915, he toured the United States with the French Army Band. In 1919, he joined the Philadelphia Orchestra as a clarinetist, saxophonist, and arranger, where he worked closely with Leopold Stokowski. In 1923, at age thirty-two, Cailliet became an American citizen and continued to play with the Philadelphia Orchestra while attending graduate school at the Philadelphia Musical Academy. After receiving his Doctor of Music Degree in 1937, he moved to California to teach at the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
. After teaching there for seven years, he decided to devote his time to guest conducting and composing film scores.
In 1933, Cailliet performed Reynaldo Hahn
Reynaldo Hahn
Reynaldo Hahn was a Venezuelan, naturalised French, composer, conductor, music critic and diarist. Best known as a composer of songs, he wrote in the French classical tradition of the mélodie....
's Sarabande et Theme on bass clarinet
Bass clarinet
The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet...
with Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Anthony Stokowski was a British-born, naturalised American orchestral conductor, well known for his free-hand performing style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from many of the great orchestras he conducted.In America, Stokowski...
and the Philadelphia Orchestra
Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...
. In 1937, he made a new arrangement of Modest Mussorgsky
Modest Mussorgsky
Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky was a Russian composer, one of the group known as 'The Five'. He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period...
's piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition
Pictures at an Exhibition
Pictures at an Exhibition is a suite in ten movements composed for piano by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky in 1874.The suite is Mussorgsky's most famous piano composition, and has become a showpiece for virtuoso pianists...
. Cailliet also orchestrated three piano pieces of Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music...
: the Serenade No. 5 from Morceaux de fantaisie
Morceaux de Fantaisie
Morceaux de fantaisie , Op. 3, is a set of five piano solo pieces composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff in 1892...
Opus 3, the Prelude No. 5 in G minor
Prelude in G minor (Rachmaninoff)
Prelude in G minor, Op. 23, No. 5, was a music piece by Sergei Rachmaninoff, completed in 1901. It was included in his Opus 23 set of ten preludes despite having been written two years earlier than the other nine. It epitomizes Rachmaninoff's Russian nationalism, being rich, in full chords, and...
from the 10 preludes of Opus 23
Preludes, Op. 23 (Rachmaninoff)
Ten Preludes, Op. 23, is a set of ten preludes for solo piano, composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff in 1901 and 1903. This set includes the famous Prelude in G minor.- Composition :...
, and the Prelude No. 5 in G major from the 13 preludes of Opus 32
Preludes, Op. 32 (Rachmaninoff)
Thirteen Preludes , Op. 32, is a set of thirteen preludes for solo piano, composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff in 1910.-Works in this opus:Opus 32 contains 13 preludes:*No. 1 in C major *No. 2 in B flat minor...
.
Cailliet also enjoyed a prolific career creating music for films. He contributed to nearly fifty films as either composer or arranger. Among the best known of these films are She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, The Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments (1956 film)
The Ten Commandments is a 1956 American epic film that dramatized the biblical story of the Exodus, in which the Hebrew-born Moses, an adopted Egyptian prince, becomes the deliverer of the Hebrew slaves. The film, released by Paramount Pictures in VistaVision on October 5, 1956, was directed by...
(for which Elmer Bernstein
Elmer Bernstein
Elmer Bernstein was an American composer and conductor best known for his many film scores. In a career which spanned fifty years, he composed music for hundreds of film and television productions...
wrote the score), and Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957 film)
The film was based on a real event which took place on October 26, 1881. It was directed by John Sturges and featuring a screenplay written by novelist Leon Uris, and the movie's supporting cast included Rhonda Fleming, John Ireland, Jo Van Fleet, Martin Milner, Dennis Hopper, Jack Elam, Lee Van...
.
In the 1950s he lived in Kenosha, Wisconsin
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Kenosha is a city and the county seat of Kenosha County in the State of Wisconsin in United States. With a population of 99,218 as of May 2011, Kenosha is the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Kenosha is also the fourth-largest city on the western shore of Lake Michigan, following Chicago,...
where he worked for the musical instrument producer G. Leblanc Company and conducted the Kenosha Symphony Orchestrahttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0128838/bio. He died at Woodland Hills
Woodland Hills
Woodland Hills is the name of various communities in the United States, including:*Woodland Hills, Cleveland, a neighborhood on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio.* Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California...
.
Cailliet's name often appears as "Lucien Caillet" on printed music; this was merely a pervasive misspelling, according to the New Grove Dictionary of American Music.