Gabriel Pierné

Gabriel Pierné was a French composer and conductor born in Metz in 1863. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, winning the Prix de Rome in 1882, and succeeded his teacher César Franck as organist at Sainte-Clotilde. Pierné composed operas, ballets, orchestral works, and chamber music that blended late-Romantic and Impressionist styles. He conducted the Concerts Colonne from 1910 to 1932 and championed contemporary French music. His ballet Cydalise et le Chèvre-pied and the oratorio La Croisade des Enfants remain among his best-known scores. Pierné died in Ploujean in 1937.