Thomas Stevens

Who was Mathis Lussy?

  • For Trumpeters Only

A brief note about the author of one of the solfege texts used At the Paris Conservatory during the early 20th century.

For those who have been aware of the performer-oriented Solfege program at the Paris during the early part of the 20th century, it has been generally, albeit unofficially, acknowledged that there were some textbooks associated with those courses, one being the Mathis Lussy Treatise: Musical Expression-Accents, Nuances, and Mouvements-for Vocal and Instrumental Music.

Over the years, the use of the Lussy text often has been referred to in the music community; however, no one, including Brian Lamb (the source of photocopy of the title page included here), has been able to find any formal reference to the Lussy book as being one of the solfege texts used in the legendary Paris Conservatory courses. As a colleague once opined, Lussy must have been like Arban-everybody used it but it never was formally cited in any printed curriculum requirements.

Offered as a point of information, with a special thanks to Brian Lamb for the copy of the title page.Please excuse the poor quality of the photocopy (my bad). For Clarity The Actual French title: Mathis Lussy-Traité de L'Expression Musicale, Accents, Nuances, et Mouvements dans La Musique Vocale et Instrumentale