Blanche Selva

Marie Blanche Selva (Catalan Blanca Selva i Henry, 29 January 1884 – 3 December 1942) was a French pianist, music educator, writer and composer of Spanish origin.

Blanche Selva was born in Brive-la-Gaillarde in Corrèze. As a child she studied piano with a number of teachers, took preparatory classes with Sophie Chéné, and was admitted to the Paris Conservatory in 1893. She studied with S. Chéné and won a medal in competition, but left the Conservatory without graduating.

Her family moved to Geneva, and Selva began giving concerts at the age of 13 in Lausanne. She studied with Vincent d'Indy in Valencia, and became a professor at the Schola Cantorum de Paris in December 1901, later taking positions at the Conservatoire de Strasbourg, the École Normale de Musique in Paris, and the Prague Conservatory. Blanche Selva was the only French pianist of her time to specialise in Czech music, and she was consequently very popular in Czechoslovakia. She continued to tour and work as a concert pianist in Europe. By the age of 20 she had performed all of J.S. Bach's keyboard works in 17 recitals. Between 1906 and 1909 she premiered all four books of Isaac Albéniz's piano suite Iberia.

In January 1925 Selva moved to Barcelona, where she founded her own music school and performed in a duo with violinist Joan Massià. In 1930 she developed a paralysis that ended her performing career, but she continued teaching, writing and composing.

In 1936 she left Barcelona because of the Spanish Civil War and lived for a while in Marseille, then Moulins, Allier, and Saint-Saturnin, Puy-de-Dôme, Auvergne. Suffering from cancer, she entered a hospital in Saint-Amant-Tallende, where she died in December 1942 at age 59.

Blanche Selva was active as a translator and transcriptionist, and published several texts on piano technique, including:

She also published professional articles in magazines and journals including Tablettes de la Schola, Le Monde Musical, La Revue Musicale and Le Revista Musical Catalana. Selected articles include:

Selected compositions include:

Selva's works have been recorded and issued on CD, including: