SAUGUET, HENRI  BIOGRAPHY

Encouraged by Milhaud to move from his native Bordeaux to Paris to study with Koechlin, Henri Sauguet was influenced by his meeting with Satie and with other young musicians established the so-called Ecole d'Arcueil, its name drawn from the suburb where Satie had chosen to live. He won a reputation in particular for his ballet music, which has all the clarity and elegance associated with a certain kind of French music.

Stage Music

Sauguet's first opera Le plumet du colonel (The Colonel's Helmet) won some success in 1924 but it was his version of Stendhal's La chartreuse de Parme, completed in 1936 and revised in 1968, was a work of much greater interest. His contributions to ballet included La chatte (The Cat) for Dyagilev in 1927.

Orchestral Music

In addition to his symphonies Sauguet wrote a number of concertos. These include the Violin Concerto, Concert d'Orphée, three piano concertos and the so-called The Garden's Concerto, for harmonica and chamber orchestra.

Chamber and Instrumental Music

Sauguet's music for smaller groups of instruments or solo instruments makes characteristically French use of wind instruments. Piano music includes the three Françaises of 1923 and two sets of Pièces poétiques for children.