Marie , Vicomtesse de Grandval

Marie-Félicie-Clémence de Reiset, Viscountess de Grandval, was a French composer born in Saint-Rémy-des-Monts, in the Sarthe department, in 1828, and died in Paris in 1907. She came from a wealthy family, which allowed her to begin her musical studies at the age of six. Her life belongs to the France of the Second Empire and the Third Republic, a period in which women composers faced great obstacles in publishing and premiering their works.

Her first compositions date from her adolescence and were written under the guidance of Friedrich von Flotow, a friend of the family, who left Paris before her training was complete. After marrying the Viscount de Grandval, she studied for two years with Saint-Saëns. In 1859 her one-act operetta Le sou de Lise was premiered at the Bouffes-Parisiens, and it was published that same year under the pseudonym Caroline Blangy. Other works appeared under various pseudonyms, among them Clémence Valgrand, Maria Felicita de Reiset and Maria Reiset de Tesier. In 1880 she won the Concours Rossini with the oratorio La fille de Jaïre, which was first performed the following year at the Paris Conservatoire.

According to the sources, Grandval's catalogue includes nine known stage works, three symphonies, two concertos, an unpublished concert overture, music for ballet, more than ten chamber works, and numerous pieces for piano and songs. She also left the manuscript of a large four-act opera. Her dedicatees were composers from her circle, such as Gounod, Flotow, Pasdeloup, Massé and Saint-Saëns. The critic Fétis praised the energy with which she tackled different genres, though he did not regard her as a genius, but as a composer of genuine talent. Her work forms part of the history of nineteenth-century French music, although her presence in the repertoire today is limited.