BUSSER Henri-Paul (B-157)

French classical composer, organist, and conductor. He entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1889, where he studied organ with César Franck and composition with Ernest Guiraud. Employed for a while as secretary to Charles Gounod, he received valuable advice from that composer, who helped him obtain a position as organist at Saint-Cloud. In 1893, he won the Prix de Rome, and on his return from Italy he began a career as a conductor. In 1921, Büsser began teaching at the Paris Conservatoire, and was promoted to professor of composition in 1931. While Büsser composed a wide range of compositions, his most important works were for the stage. His operas include Daphnis et Chloé, Colomba and Les Noces corinthiennes. Several stage works demonstrate his comic wit, especially Le Carrosse du Saint Sacrement and Roxelane as well as the farce Diaforus 60, an update of Molière's Le malade imaginaire. He composed in a sophisticated compositional style with finely crafted orchestration, but remained faithful to 19th-century French tradition.