André Caplet

Caplet studied at the Paris Conservatoire and received the Prix de Rome in 1901 for his cantata Myrrha. He gained a reputation as a fine conductor and served in that post at the Boston Opera from 1910-14. He volunteered for service in the war in 1914. After being gassed, he was forced to give up his conducting responsibilities and concentrated on composition. Aligned with the impressionists, Caplet greatly admired the music of Debussy, and the two composers became friends. He orchestrated Debussy's Le martyre de Saint-Sébastien and conducted its first performance in 1911. Caplet's long experience with the voice as a conductor of opera inspired him to write to train singers in new vocal techniques, such as singing very wide intervals. His mass Pain quotidien was composed for this purpose. His compositions are unusual in their contour of melody and color effects. ~ Lynn Vought