Armande de Polignac was born in Paris in 1876, into a family of music-lovers. Her childhood was spent in London, where she received training in composition under the tutelage of German masters, and also became an excellent pianist and violinist. She returned to Paris circa 1892 to study composition under Eugène Gigout and Gabriel Fauré, then under Vincent d'Indy at the Schola Cantorum, where she also played alto in the orchestra and received conducting instruction from d’Indy. In 1895 she married count Alfred de Chabannes La Palice, an amateur singer himself, and the same year bore their only daughter, Hedwige. She then dedicated her life to composing, which was made possible by her fortunate station, and only paused her work for her travels to Asia, which further fed her inspiration. She published her first mélodies in 1898. Her first string quartet was performed in 1899. Ouverture de Lear was performed in 1902 in Montreux. Those are the beginnings of a vast body of work, comprising over fifty pieces – thirty of which were for symphony orchestra. Armande de Polignac’s style particularly attests to her intensive study of Gregorian chanting, modes, and counterpoint at the Schola Cantorum. Her harmonies are astonishing, her rhythms in turn languorous or frenzied, her themes wide-ranging and inspired. Some critics compared her to Moussorgsky, Stravinsky, and Richard Strauss, while others lauded the originality of her language. Maurice Ravel, in particular, lauded the harmonic depth of her ballet La Source lointaine, performed in 1912 in Paris. She was also one of the pioneering women conductors, alongside Augusta Holmès, Juliette Folville, Cécile Chaminade, and Nadia Boulanger, conducting two of her operas (La Petite Sirène in 1907 in Nice, Les Roses du Calife in 1909 in Paris) as well as her ballet Les Mille et Une Nuits, in both Paris and Brussels in 1914.
Note that she is often confused with her aunt, the princess de Polignac née Winnaretta Singer.

– Florence Launay –

[Traduction en anglais : Raphaël Meyer]