Émile Bienaimé


Paul Émile Bienaimé was a 19th-century French composer.

Biography

A pupil at the, he studied at the Conservatoire with Victor Dourlen and François-Joseph Fétis. In 1822 he won the prize in harmony and in 1825, was laureate of a competition of musical composition organised by the Conservatoire with a four-act fugue and finished in second place of the prix de Rome with his cantata Herminie in 1826.
In 1827, he succeeded Pierre Desvignes as kapellmeister at Notre-Dame de Paris where he would play most of his sacred works, such as the Requiem in 1830 with large orchestra in honor of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette.
With François-Antoine Habeneck he founded the "Société des concerts du Conservatoire" in 1828. His position at Notre-Dame was abolished after the July Revolution. He then devoted himself to teaching at the Conservatory in the classes of harmony and accompaniment, which he left in 1864 to retire.

Works

He wrote sacred music, works for salon, an orchestral overture and books on music education.