Alexandre Lavignac was a French musicologist, composer, music educator, pianist, and university lecturer. He studied at the Paris Conservatory, where his teachers included Antoine Marmontel in piano, François Benoist in organ, and Ambroise Thomas in composition. In 1864, at the age of eighteen, he played the harmonium part in the premiere of Gioachino Rossini’s Petite Messe solennelle.
Lavignac began teaching at the conservatory in 1871, became professor of solfège in 1875, and taught harmony from 1891. His students included Vincent d’Indy and Philipp Jarnach.
His best-known books include Complete Theoretical and Practical Course in Musical Dictation (1882), which helped give musical dictation a greater place in conservatory curricula; An Artistic Journey to Bayreuth (1897), an analysis of Wagner’s leitmotifs; and Music and Musicians (1895), a collection of essays on the expressive qualities of instruments and musical keys. He also wrote teaching books, including Fifty Lessons in Harmony and Pedal School.
Lavignac also composed music, though his works did not achieve success. In the 21st century, his Galop-March drew renewed attention in an arrangement by German pianist and music educator Christoph Sischka for twelve pianists playing one piano; the arrangement was used for a Guinness World Record attempt for the most pianists at one instrument.