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D'Indy was born in Paris. He had piano lessons from from an early age, but initially studied law to please his family. He was determined to be a musician, however, and became a devoted student of César Franck. In 1894, he co-founded the Schola Cantorum in Paris with Charles Bordes and Alexandre Guilmant and until his death taught music there and at the Paris Conservatoire. Among his pupils were Erik Satie, Bohuslav Martinu and Albert Roussel. He co-wrote the three volume Cours de composition musicale (1903) and wrote studies of Franck and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Few of d'Indy's works are performed with any regularity today. His best known pieces are probably the Symphonie sur un chant montagnard français (Symphony on a French Mountain Air) for piano and orchestraAn orchestra is a musical ensemble used most often in classical music. A small orchestra is called a chamber orchestra''. Full size orchestras may sometimes be called "symphony orchestras" or "philharmonic orchestras"; these prefixes do not indicate any d (1886) and Istar (1896), a symphonic poemA symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music in one movement in which some extra-musical programme provides a narrative or illustrative element. This programme could come from a poem, a novel, a painting or some other source. Music based o in the form of a set of variations. Among his other works are other orchestral music, chamber musicChamber music is a form of Classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accomodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any "art music" that is performed by a small number of performers with one perform, piano music, songs and a number of operaCharles Garnier's Opera, Paris, opened 1875 Opera is an art form consisting of a dramatic stage performance set to music. The drama is presented using the typical elements of theater such as scenery, costumes, and acting. However, the words of the opera,s, including Fervaal (1897). As well as Franck, d'Indy's works show the influence of Richard WagnerWilhelm Richard Wagner ( May 22, 1813 February 13, 1883) was an influential German composer, music theorist, and essayist, primarily known for his operas. His music is still widely performed, the best known pieces being the "Ride of the Valkyries" from Di (he attended the premiere of Wagner's Der Ring des NibelungenThe Ring of the Nibelung or, in the original German, Der Ring des Nibelungen is a series of four epic operas. Both the libretto and the music were written by Richard Wagner over the course of twenty-six years, from 1848 to 1874. The four operas in the Rin at the Bayreuth FestspielhausThe Bayreuth Festspielhaus ( German: "Bayreuth Festival House") is an opera house located north of the town of Bayreuth in Germany, dedicated to performing the operas of Richard Wagner. It was designed and built under Wagner's supervision, and its constru in 1876).
D'Indy also helped to revive a number of then-largely forgotten early works, making his own edition of Claudio Monteverdi's opera L'Incoronazione di Poppea , for example.
He died in Paris.