Paul Ladmirault

Paul Ladmirault was a composer from Brittany who often used folk sources from that region of France in his music. He also employed folk themes from other Celtic regions like Ireland, Scotland, and Wales that are historically and culturally associated with Brittany. Ladmirault had developed a patriotic sense about Brittany, advocating self-rule and cultural independence. Almost all of his music is associated in some way with Brittany or another Celtic culture. He produced a fairly sizable output, with several operas, a ballet, various orchestral works (including concertos), chamber and solo piano music, songs, and choral works. Ladmirault's style was fairly conservative, often exhibiting a colorful, rollicking character or a pensive, dreamy manner. Though his music didn't sound like <a href="spotify:artist:17hR0sYHpx7VYTMRfFUOmY">Ravel</a>'s, it had that kind of lightness and the manner of unpretentious yet confident expression. While he attained some prominence in his time, Ladmirault is largely forgotten today, though from around the turn of the 21st century signs of renewed interest in his music began to appear. A handful of his works are available on record from such labels as <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Skarbo%22">Skarbo</a>, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Bayer%22">Bayer</a>, and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Labor%22">Labor</a>.

Paul Ladmirault was born in Nantes, France, on December 8, 1877. From his early childhood he studied piano, organ, and violin, and by age eight was composing. At 15 he wrote an opera, Gilles de Retz, which was premiered in Nantes in 1893.

That same year, as a 16-year-old student at the Nantes Conservatory he was awarded first prize in his harmony class. Ladmirault enrolled at the Paris Conservatory in 1895, and from 1897-1904 he studied composition there with <a href="spotify:artist:2gClsBep1tt1rv1CN210SO">Gabriel Fauré</a>.

During this time Ladmirault turned out such large works as the Breton Suite (1903), already showing his love of Brittany. He remained active in composition right up to the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. From then until 1918, Ladmirault served in the French military.

Ladmirault moved from Paris to Morbihan, Brittany, after the war. In 1926 he completed his ballet La Prêtesse de Korydwenn, which was staged at the l'Opéra-Comique in Paris, in December that year. He became increasingly caught up in cultural and political matters of Brittany, co-founding the Nantes Celtic Circle in 1929.

Ladmirault wrote much chamber music in the 1930s, including his String Quartet (1933) and Sonata for cello and piano (1939). He was active during the war, turning out a Sonata for clarinet and piano (1942). He died on October 30, 1944.