Julien Ballé

Julien Ballé, whose full name was Étienne Julien Ballé, was born on 28 December 1873 in Nîmes (France). He established himself as a musician in Montpellier, where he was already active at the beginning of the 20th century. In July 1902 he appeared as a clarinettist in a concert of the Union chorale. By 1905 he was performing as a violist in a chamber music ensemble which gave concerts of works by Beethoven and César Franck. In 1906 he also participated in a performance of Bach's Musical Offering organised by the Schola Cantorum in Montpellier. The same year he married Élise Eugénie Fernande Desmars, a schoolteacher.
Ballé became professor of viola at the Conservatoire de Montpellier, a position he held for many years. Besides his teaching activities, he continued to perform as a chamber musician and composed music in various genres. A piano reduction of his Prélude pour orchestre was published by J. Hamelle in 1911.
In 1928 Ballé composed the music for "La Legendo de l'Ermitage de Poussan", a work based on an Occitan text by René Tulet, which was published in Montpellier under his own name. During the 1930s several of his compositions were performed on French radio, including "Rêve d'or" (1932), "Les Larmes de Pierrot" (1934), a serenade, and "Menuet discret" for string instruments (1936). He also continued performing, appearing in musical programmes organised by the Montpellier-Languedoc radio station.
Ballé also composed for the stage. His three-act operetta "Master Bill" was performed in Montpellier in January 1939 and was also presented in Lodève. On 2 April 1944 his ballet "La Maritéa", with a libretto by Marie Farlène, was included in a radio broadcast from Montpellier, performed by an orchestra conducted by Ch. Bernat.
Julien Ballé died in 1957. His exact date and place of death have not yet been established.

In my possession are four autograph manuscripts by Julien Ballé, all for violin and piano: "Hommage à Francoeur" (1698–1787) and arrangements of Niccolò Paganini's Caprices Nos. 9, 14 and 20. The Hommage à Francoeur is dedicated "à mon fils", presumably to Ballé's son Frédéric, who was also a violinist. The three Paganini arrangements are dedicated to the famous French violinist Jacques Thibaud (1880–1953). All four manuscripts bear handwritten numbers at the bottom of the pages: J.75.B (Hommage à Francoeur), J.83.B (Caprice No. 14), J.84.B (Caprice No. 20) and J.85.B (Caprice No. 9). These may represent an individual numbering system used by the composer, although their exact significance remains unknown. The manuscripts are undated.