# Abel Decaux



## TresPicos

French organist and composer *Abel Decaux* (1869-1943) should be famous for two reasons. First, for being extremely _unprolific_. Second, for being extremely _modern_.










His principal work is "Clairs de lune", four piano pieces written between 1900 and 1907, and published in 1913 (_not to be confused with Debussy's "Clair de lune"_).










And that's pretty much all he wrote. There are a few other pieces by him mentioned here, though.

According to Wikipedia, "Clairs de lune" was "remarkably modern for its time" and "anticipated some of the work of Claude Debussy and Arnold Schoenberg". Which is really spot-on, because it really sounds like a mix between the two. Decaux was also nicknamed "The French Schoenberg".

Decaux studied for Widor and Massenet, wrote "Clairs de lune", became organist in the famous Sacré Coeur church in Paris, where he stayed for 25 years, taught organ in the US and in France and, unfortunately, refrained from any further composing. Pourquoi, Abel? 

_Pronunciation guide: Ah-BELL Deh-COH (where "Deh" has the vowel sound of "girl", and "COH" has the vowel sound of "more")._


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## sjorstakovitsj

Thanks, TresPicos! Clairs de Lune has become one of my favourite French solo piano works.
Although I wonder who inspired whom, it's hard to tell if you ask me.


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## Medtnaculus

Still such a fan of Clairs de Lune. Astounding work which definitely needs to be performed far more often.


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## eugeneonagain

The description of Clairs de Lune in the OP as halfway between Debussy-Schoenberg is spot-on! 

I have this on a Hyperion CD paired with Dukas's Eb Minor sonata (played by Hamelin, which I see is mentioned in the Wiki page)...strange combination. It's certainly a curiosity, but a very expressive one that actually feels like it tallies with the titles of the pieces. 

It's hilarious that he worked on these for 7 years. Maybe just writing a little bit every six months. :lol: Vive le patience!


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