Maurice
Emmanuel

Maurice Emmanuel (1862-1938) was a French composer of classical music and musicologist born in Bar-sur-Aube, northeastern France. He went to Paris, and in 1880 he entered the Paris Conservatoire, where his composition teacher was Léo Delibes. His other teachers included Théodore Dubois (harmony) and Louis-Albert Bourgault-Ducoudray (history). Emmanuel also studied classics, poetics, philology and art history at the Sorbonne and École du Louvre. Delibes' strong disapproval of his early modal compositions caused a rift between them and his expulsion from. Emmanuel subsequently went to study with Ernest Guiraud, also at the Conservatoire. He came to know Claude Debussy who was also a pupil there. In addition, he attended the Conservatoire classes of César Franck, about whom he wrote a short book in 1930. Emmanuel pursued a notable academic career. He wrote a treatise in 1895 on the music of Ancient Greece, for which he earned a doctorate in 1896. Emmanuel's interests included folksong, Oriental music, and exotic modes.