Raoul Laparra

Raoul Laparra (13 May 1876 – 4 April 1943) was a French composer. Born in Bordeaux, Laparra studied at the Conservatoire de Paris with André Gedalge, Jules Massenet, Gabriel Fauré and Albert Lavignac. In 1903 he won the Premier Grand Prix de Rome with his cantata Ulysse. Laparra worked as a music critic for the magazines Ménestrel and Matin and taught at the Conservatoire de Paris. Among his students were Claude Champagne and Cemal Reşit Rey. His compositions are often influenced by Spanish and Basque folk music. He remains one of the masters of French Hispanism without remaining locked up in this speciality. He is the brother of the painter William Laparra. He died during the bombing of Boulogne-Billancourt on 4 April 1943 and is buried in Chézy-sur-Marne.