CHAUSSON Ernest (C-40)

French Romantic composer who died in a bicycle accident just as his career was beginning to flourish. From 1886 until his death in 1899, Chausson was secretary of the Société Nationale de Musique. The creative work of Chausson is commonly divided into three periods. In the first, his output was stylistically dominated by the influence of Massenet. The second period, dating from 1886, is marked by a more dramatic character, deriving partly from Chausson's contacts with the artistic milieux in which he moved. From his father's death in 1894 dates the beginning of his third period, during which he was especially influenced by his reading of the symbolist poets and Russian literature, particularly Turgenev, Dostoyevsky, and Tolstoy.