Paul Lacombe was born in Carcassonne into a wealthy family of linen merchants. Initial music lessons were at the piano with his mother and he later studied voice, fugue, harmony and counterpoint with François Teysseyre[1] (1821–1887), an alumnus of the Conservatoire de Paris who opened the first music school in Carcassonne in 1851.[2][3][4]
Lacombe was an admirer of the music of Georges Bizet, particularly the opera The Pearl Fishers. In 1866 he began a correspondence with Bizet and asked him to help with his composition. Bizet accepted, and for two years, from 1866 to 1868, compositional advice and corrections were exchanged via post. A real friendship developed between the two as Bizet realized the enthusiasm of his student.[3] In 1871, Lacombe was a founding member of the Société Nationale de Musique. Bizet promoted Lacombe's music among his Parisian peers, and was responsible for a performance of Lacombe's Violin Sonata, Op. 8, by Pablo de Sarasate and Élie-Miriam Delaborde. Having shown excellent compositional control in a study for quartet, Bizet wrote to Lacombe in 1867 encouraging him to write a symphonic work. Lacombe produced the Ouverture symphonique, Op. 22, which was premiered in 1876, a performance Bizet never heard due to his untimely death the previous year.[3] Lacombe went on to write Suite pastorale, Op. 31 (1878), a work praised by Édouard Lalo, and two Prix-de-la-société-des-compositeurs-winning symphonies: No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 30 (1879) and No. 3 in A, Op. 48 (1887). Due to efforts made by Bizet, his music was played regularly at the Concerts Colonne and Pasdeloup.[3]
Though Lacombe's music was well appreciated among fellow composers and musicians, it never gained a widespread popularity as he was not willing to leave his hometown of Carcassonne for Paris.[3] A prolific composer with more than 150 works, his only significant popular success came in 1890 with the Aubade printanière, Op. 37. Throughout he retained a sense of classical form and melody, but explored contemporary (i.e. Impressionistic) harmonies in his later works.[5] His compositional style presents, aside from its clean and solid craftsmanship, an amiable and appealing character, but with no particular originality.[4] In addition to symphonic works, Lacombe composed a large volume of piano music, concertante works, chamber music and some 120 songs, many of which remain in manuscript.[4] Recordings of his three piano trios, and the Méditation pour violon et piano, Op 124 of 1906, were released on the Dutton Epoch label in 2021.[6]
Lacombe died in Carcassonne in 1927. In 1929, the city erected a monument in his memory on the street that bears his name, and honored him in June 1984 through a major exhibition and concert.
Paul Lacombe has sometimes been confused with fellow composer Paul Lacôme d'Estalenx (1838–1920).[7] Some of Lacôme's scores, including in operettas La fille de l'air and Les quatre filles Aymon, were published as composed by "Paul Lacombe".
Fétis, François-Joseph (1880). Biographie universelle des musiciens et bibliographie générale de la musique, Supplément et Complément, Tome 2. Paris: Firmin-Didot et Cie. p. 58. (in French)
Martial Andrieu (2013). Paul Lacombe, le testament musical d'un grand symphoniste français. Musique et patrimoine.
^ abcFerchault, Guy. "Lacombe, Paul". Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, Barenreiter Kassel – Basel, 1960, pp. 39-40. (in German)
^Mathews, William Smythe Babcock (1901). "Symphony Since Beethoven". Music: A Monthly Magazine Devoted to the Art, Science, Technic and Literature of Music, Volume 19, November 1900 to April 1901. Chicago: Music Magazine Publishing Company. pp. 98–99.
