The violinist Amanda Favier will perform the pieces that Lucien Durosoir composed after serving in the First World War. Courtesy Institute Française
The violinist Amanda Favier will perform the pieces that Lucien Durosoir composed after serving in the First World War. Courtesy Institute Française
The violinist Amanda Favier will perform the pieces that Lucien Durosoir composed after serving in the First World War. Courtesy Institute Française
The violinist Amanda Favier will perform the pieces that Lucien Durosoir composed after serving in the First World War. Courtesy Institute Française

Abu Dhabi concert to honour Lucien Durosoir


Saeed Saeed
  • English
  • Arabic

The music of the influential French composer Lucien Durosoir will be celebrated in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday when the pianist Célimène Daudet and the violinist Amanda Favier play his famous pieces.

The programme's title, In the Soldier's Trunk, comes after the French duo discovered a trunk bag belonging to Durosoir that contained scores by Beethoven, Debussy and lesser known composers.

The scores are believed to have provided solace while Durosoir was fighting in the trenches of the First World War.

Marion Eynard from Institut Français, the organiser of the concert, says the event sheds light on an important yet neglected composer.

"We are convinced that this French composer deserves greater recognition," she says. "He was a highly regarded concert violinist before the Great War took the 36-year-old into the trenches."

Durosoir's promising career as a violinist was stymied after he was enlisted to fight in the war.

Returning to France psychologically scared from combat, he gave up his performance career and focused instead on composition.

This year marks the centenary of the First World War. Daudet and Favier will perform the pieces Durosoir composed after the war, in addition to contemporary works including Debussy's Sonata and works by Lili Boulanger and Alfredo D'Ambrosio.

Beethoven's Sixth Sonata will also be performed. Durosoir credited the piece with providing comfort among the carnage of war.

"This programme is about unravelling the stories behind Durosoir's music," Eynard says. "It is also a journey through history of the 20th century."

In the Soldier's Trunk is June 18 at 8pm at Abu Dhabi Theatre, Corniche Breakwater. Tickets can be purchased from the French Embassy, Institute Française and Spinneys Khalidiya

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