death_date birth_place nationality birth_date article_title name occupation
06 august 1954 galliac , france french 25 december 1896 fernande decruck
 fernande decruck composer , performer
fernande decruck

fernande decruck -lrb- née breilh -rrb- -lrb- 25 december 18966 august 1954 -rrb- was a french composer who composed over 40 works for the saxophone .
most well-known is her sonata for alto saxophone , dedicated to marcel mule .
she was born in the village of gaillac in frace to a local merchant .
she began learning piano aged eight and studied at the conservatoire de toulouse .
she was admitted to the conservatoire de paris in 1918 studying organ and composition .
there she won prizes in harmony , fugue , counterpoint , and piano accompaniment .
her studies in improvisation on organ led her to travel to america where she entered a competition in new york .
it was in america that she met her future husband , maurice decruck , a clarinetist , saxophonist and double-bassist .
maurice decruck later became a music publisher .
they married in 1924 and had two children , jeannine decruck -lrb- born february 1925 -rrb- and michel decruck -lrb- born march 1926 -rrb- .
she moved to the united states with her family in 1928 .
in 1932 , maurice decruck returned to paris and began a publishing company `' les editions de paris '' that would go on to publish fernande decruck 's compositions .
fernande decruck later rejoined her husband in paris in 1933 .
there she had her third child alain -lrb- born 1937 -rrb- and began teaching harmony at the conservatoire de toulouse .
between 1937 and 1942 fernande lived in toulouse with her children apart from her husband in paris .
during this period she continued to teach , compose and perform .
in 1942 she moved back to paris and many of her works were premiered between 1943 and 1947 including her sonate en ut # .
fernande and maurice decruck divorced in 1950 after several years or separation .
she died of a stroke on 6 august 1954 .
