Cécile Chaminade and Her Legacy: A Historical Novel

About the Project

This summer, I embarked on a research project exploring the extraordinary woman composer Cécile Chaminade (1857-1944). Though generally unknown today, Chaminade was one of the most famous composers of her time: she toured Europe and the United States, became the first woman composer to win the Legion of Honor, and published nearly all of her extensive musical output. Last year, I gave a piano recital entitled “Four Seasons of Women Composers,” which included one of Chaminade’s works (“Automne” Étude, Op. 35, No. 2); ever since then, I’ve wanted to write a historical novel about her life. Thanks to the Benenson Award, I traveled to Paris, New York, and Washington, D.C., perusing archives in library reading rooms and visiting sites where Chaminade lived and worked.

I began my research in New York. Chaminade, though French, had a wide-ranging fan base of American women, who formed over two hundred “Chaminade clubs” dedicated to music appreciation in her honor. The New York Public Library (Lincoln Center and Schwartzman Building locations) and Morgan Library have extensive materials from Chaminade’s 1908 American tour, which was greatly reported upon in the press and attended by thousands of women. At the Center for Brooklyn History, I discovered a treasure trove from the original and grandest of the Chaminade clubs. I even met with the ladies of the Yonkers Chaminade Club, one of four Chaminade clubs that survive today. I also took a weekend trip to Washington, D.C., where the Library of Congress provided more documentation of women’s musical and social lives in turn-of-the-century America. Learning how to navigate the websites and rules of these libraries was a challenge, but an enjoyable one, giving me skills that I will take with me as I pursue more archival research in the future.

After four weeks, I traveled to Paris, where I took my research to the next level. The Bibliothèque Nationale de France, whose magnificent libraries even include a reading room inside the Palais Garnier opera house, provided hours’ worth of archives to study (while putting my French to good use). I visited Le Vésinet, the suburb where Chaminade lived, and conducted a self-guided walking tour of Paris to follow in her footsteps. At the Bibliothèque Historique de la Ville de Paris, housed in a historic mansion in the Marais district, I explored primary sources from the Paris World’s Fairs, which shaped the cultural and technological landscapes of Paris while Chaminade lived there. I also toured the Opéra Comique (historic opera house where Chaminade attended performances) and the Musée Carnavalet (the museum of Parisian history).

By the end of the summer, I had transcribed 83 letters and examined hundreds of press clippings, photographs, recital programs, and other ephemera relating to Chaminade and the women she inspired. This project was the perfect intersection of my interests: novel writing, music, French, and historical research on women in the arts. I’ve gained a great deal of inspiration for my writing, and I’m excited to begin work on my novel!