Joseph de Marliave

Who was Joseph de Marliave?

Joseph de Marliave was a French musicologist. He is best known for his book on the Beethoven quartets, which was the most widely read and quoted book on the subject prior to Joseph Kerman's 1966 book The Beethoven Quartets.

In addition to his work on Beethoven, he published numerous essays on other composers. Some of his book on Beethoven was a translation and paraphrase of the 1885 book in German by Theodor Helm.

Marliave was a close friend of Gabriel Fauré, who wrote the preface to the original French edition of the book on the Beethoven quartets.

Marliave was also a captain in the French army, and he was killed in action in August 1914, shortly after the outbreak of the First World War. Maurice Ravel memorialized him in his Le tombeau de Couperin, dedicating the closing Toccata to him.

Marliave was the husband of the famous French pianist Marguerite Long.