Théodore Dubois

Clément François Théodore Dubois (24 August 1837 – 11 June 1924) was a French Romantic composer, organist, and music teacher.

After study at the Paris Conservatoire, Dubois won France’s premier musical prize, the Prix de Rome in 1861. He became an organist and choirmaster at several well-known churches in Paris, and at the same time was a professor in the Conservatoire, teaching harmony from 1871 to 1891 and composition from 1891 to 1896, when he succeeded Ambroise Thomas as the Conservatoire’s director. He continued his predecessor’s strictly conservative curriculum and was forced to retire early after a scandal erupted over the faculty’s attempt to rig the Prix de Rome competition to prevent the modernist Maurice Ravel from winning.

As a composer, Dubois was seen as capable and tasteful, but not strikingly original or inspired. He hoped for a career as an opera composer, but became better known for his church compositions. His books on music theory were influential, and remained in use for many years.

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