Pierre Lalo

Pierre Lalo was the son of the French composer Édouard Lalo (1823-1892) and the professional singer Julie Bernier de Maligny (1816-1911). Pierre studied literature and philosophy at the École de Chartes and the École Polytechnique and also took courses in modern languages. He began writing music criticism for the Journal des débats, then he was a music critic of Le Temps from 1898 to 1914. Collections of his criticisms were published several times as books.

Lalo was a member of the board of directors of the Paris Conservatoire under the direction of Gabriel Fauré and later a member of the board of directors of the national radio station Radiodiffusion française. He became known as a sharp critic of Maurice Ravel, and later criticized Claude Debussy (1862-1918), whom he appreciated, for converging to Ravel’s style.