René de Boisdeffre

René de Boisdeffre was a French composer. He is the author of some 60 pieces of chamber music as well as a few pieces for piano and vocal music. General de Boisdeffre was his cousin.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article on René de Boisdeffre.

From the period sources

René de Boisdeffre, born in Vesoul in 1838, established himself as a composer in Paris from 1843, becoming “favourably known” for his work by 1864, according to Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians (1904). His output included numerous songs, church music, and chamber music, as noted in A Biographical Dictionary of Musicians (1900). Boisdeffre was recognized for his chamber compositions, winning the prestigious Prix Chartier in 1883 for works such as pianoforte sonatas, two trios, a piano quartet, two piano quintets, and a piano sestet, Op. 43. His orchestral works include “Scenes champétres” and a symphony in A minor, alongside a “Messe solennelle” and a cantata setting of the “Cantique des Cantiques.” While praised for his “great elegance of style,” Grove’s Dictionary (1904) suggests he “lacks the qualities of invention required in composers of the highest rank.” He was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1894, and his work was the subject of a sketch by Hugues Imbert in his Nouveaux Profils de Musiciens (1892), as mentioned in The New Encyclopedia of Music and Musicians (1924).