Désiré Dondeyne

Who is Désiré Dondeyne?

Désiré Louis Corneille Dondeyne is a French conductor, composer, and teacher born in Laon in the Aisne département July 21, 1921.

He studied music at the conservatory in Lille and beginning in 1936 at the Conservatoire de Paris. Dondeyne earned first prize in clarinet, chamber music, harmony, fugue, counterpoint, and composition. From 1939 to 1953 he was the solo clarinet with the Musique de l’air. From 1954-1979, he was conductor of la Musique des Gardiens de la Paix. Dondeyne expanded the works of the wind orchestra by his discoveries, his own compositions, and with personal encouragement to other composers. The wind orchestra repertory was enriched with compositions from Jacques Castérède, Louis Durey, Gabriel Fauré, Jacques Ibert, Charles Koechlin, Darius Milhaud, Florent Schmitt, Germaine Tailleferre, and Kurt Weill. With la Musique des Gardiens de la Paix he traveled through Europe, made over 100 recordings, and won several Grand Prix du Disques.

He was appointed in 1979 to the governing board of the French Ministry of Culture. He was the director of the conservatory of Issy-les-Moulineaux, a small suburb outside of Paris during 1980-1986. Dondeyne has also composed and arranged a large number of compositions from instrumental to symphonic.