Jacques Durand
Compositions for: Piano four hands
WikipediaBorn in Paris, Durand was a fellow student of
Paul Dukas and
Claude Debussy at the Conservatoire de Paris, where his only reward was an honourable mention (2 accessit) in harmony in 1884.
Jacques Durand was first associated with his father
Auguste Durand in 1886 as director of the music publishing house Durand-Schönewerk & Cie at 4, Place de la Madeleine in Paris. On 19 November 1891, the company changed its name to Éditions A. Durand & Fils. In 1909, after his father's death, he took over the management of the publishing house. On 23 November of that year, the company changed its name again to Éditions Durand & Cie. From then on, Durand was associated with his cousin Gaston Choisnel (1857–1921) and then, from April 1921, with another cousin, René Dommange [fr].
Among the main composers published under the direction of Jacques Durand were many of his contemporaries such as
Louis Aubert,
André Caplet, Debussy, Dukas,
Gabriel Fauré,
Jacques Ibert,
Vincent d'Indy,
Darius Milhaud,
Maurice Ravel,
Albert Roussel,
Camille Saint-Saëns, and
Florent Schmitt.
In 1914, under his direction, Éditions Durand launched the important collection Édition classique Durand & Fils, with the French editions of 19th century works by renowned composers: piano sonatas and sonatas for violin and piano of
Beethoven by Dukas, piano works of
Frédéric Chopin by Debussy, violin sonatas of
Haydn by Schmitt, piano works of
Felix Mendelssohn by Ravel, chamber music of Mendelssohn by Roussel, and piano works of
Robert Schumann by Fauré.
Durand led an initiative to organise chamber music concerts, and sometimes even orchestral music concerts, to promote the authors of his publishing house's catalogue: in 1910, 1911, 1912 and 1913 and later in 1927. In 1924, Durand made a major donation of Claude Debussy's musical manuscripts to the library of the Conservatoire de Paris. Durand was also a patron of musicians; in 1927, he made a donation of 100,000 francs to the Académie des beaux-arts to establish a biennual musical composition prize for a symphonic or chamber music work. His untimely death in 1928 prevented him from seeing the realisation of this gift.
Durand was the owner of the manor house of Bel Ébat in Avon, the former hunting lodge of King Henry IV of France, not far from Fontainebleau.
In 1889, he married Augustine Marcotte, daughter of his adoptive mother. They had no children.
On 22 August 1928, Durand died of a stroke at the age of 63. Notified by his widow, Ravel, then in the middle of the orchestration of the
Boléro, came from Montfort l'Amaury the next day to Avon, and returned for the funeral celebrated in private: "Yes, I went to Avon on Thursday [23 August 1928]. The other week, a telegram from Ms. Durand told me that poor Jacques had a stroke and died within a few hours. I went back there on Saturday [25 August 1928]." "For the funeral, very simple, no church. Few people: only relatives and friends. So much more moving than the great ceremony in Paris that one might have feared." The press confirmed Maurice Ravel's testimony: "The funeral of Mr. Jacques Durand, the well-known music publisher, was celebrated in the strictest privacy on the 26th of this year in Avon (Seine-et-Marne). No announcement has been sent."
