Biography
Following studies under Massenet at the Paris Conservatoire, Bruneau directed his creative output chiefly toward opera. Every libretto for those stage works came from Zola and was cast entirely in prose. Although Wagner and Berlioz shaped his musical language, the block triad sequences, whole tone harmonies, and plainsong elements that appeared in his scores were later taken up and extended by Debussy. Of the many songs Bruneau produced, the cycle Chants de la vie (1913) is widely regarded as his strongest. He also supplied frequent articles to French journals.