MACHABEY, ARMAND

MACHABEY, ARMAND (1886–1966), French musicologist and composer. Born in Pont-de-Roide, France. Machabey studied classics and music in Paris with d'Indy and Pirro, concentrating on composition, but eventually devoted himself to musicology. His main contributions were made in the field of medieval musicology. He wrote his dissertation (1928) on the evolution of musical forms in the Middle Ages, for which he was awarded the Bernier Prize of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1930. His writings include monographs on Ravel, Anton Bruckner (1946), Le Bel Canto (1948) as well as Traité de la critique musicale (1946) and studies of notation such as La Notation musicale (1952). He also wrote about Girolamo Frescobaldi (1952) and Guillaume de Machaut: la vie et l'oeuvre musicale (2 vols., 1955), which are his best-known works. In 1957 he edited with Dufourcq and Raugel the Larousse de la musique encyclopedia. His compositions include chamber and solo instrument music such as six short preludes for piano, six pieces for violin and piano, and orchestral works. -ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Grove online; F. Raugel, "Armand Machabey (1886–1966)," in: Acta Musicologica, 11 (1968). (Israela Stein (2nd ed.)