| 1866 |
born May 17 in Honfleur (Normandy)
to two composers |
| 1873 |
began playing the piano, age 7 |
| 1874 |
weekly lessons in medieval
musicianship |
| 1879 |
father brought him to Paris |
| 1880 |
began at the Paris Conservatoire,
under the tutelage of Mathias and Tadou |
| 1883 |
Spent a year at the Paris
Conservatory |
| 1884 |
published his first piano work as
op. 62! |
| 1887 |
wrote 3 Sarabandes for piano |
| 1888 |
wrote Trois Gymnopédies for piano |
| 1890 |
active with the Rosicrucian
movement and wrote, published, and paid for the official publication of a
group called Metropolitan Church of the Art of Jesus the Conductor |
| 1891 |
he joined a sect of the religious
occult Rosicrucian order, a spiritual group that explored white magic and
alchemy |
| 1903 |
wrote Trois Morceaux en forme de
poire for piano four-hands |
| 1906 |
at the age of 40, already an
accomplished musician, he studied at the Schola Cantorum under the French
composers Vincent d'Indy and Albert Roussel at the Schola Cantorum |
| 1908 |
graduated with a Diploma marked
"tres bien" |
| 1910 |
early compositions before this time
were simply "loftiest gestures" |
| 1913 |
wrote 3 Embryons desséchés and Limp
Preludes for a Dog |
| 1914 |
wrote 21 Sports et divertissements
for piano and Heures séculaires et instantanées for piano |
| 1917 |
wrote Sonatine bureaucratique for
piano and Parade ballet, a commission from Diaghilev, in collaboration
with Pablo Picasso and Jean Cocteau |
| 1918 |
wrote Socrate, for four sopranos
and chamber orchestra, based on Plato's dialogues |
| 1924 |
wrote Mercure ballet |
| 1925 |
died July 1 of cirrhosis of the
liver |
