Some of these works are nonetheless still played nowadays, for instance the flute sonatina (1943) and the oboe sonata (1947).Īfter the Piano Sonata, Dutilleux started working on his First Symphony (1951). He has renounced the works he composed before it because he did not believe them to be representative of his mature standards, considering many of them to be too derivative to have merit. 1 his Piano Sonata (1946-1948), written for pianist Geneviève Joy whom he had married in 1946. It also shows a concern for the concepts of time and memory, through the use of quotations (notably from Bartók, Britten and Jehan Alain) and short interludes which recall material that was used in earlier movements and/or introduce ideas that will be fully developed later.Ī perfectionist with an acute sense of artistic integrity, he has allowed only a small number of his works to be published, and what he does publish he often revises and adjusts even after.ĭutilleux numbered as Op. Most of his works have a dreamlike, highly poetic quality, which makes them relatively more accessible than those of many other post-World War II composers.ĭutilleux's music has often been influenced by art and literature, such as by the works of the painter Vincent van Gogh, poet Charles Baudelaire and novelist Marcel Proust. the overall organisation of the different movements or the spatial distribution of the various instruments but is also apparent in the music itself (themes, harmonies and rhythms mirroring, complementing or opposing each other). This is particularly obvious from an "external" point of view i.e. His music also displays a very strong sense of structure and symmetry. Some of Dutilleux's trademarks include very refined orchestral textures, fluid and intricate rhythms, a preference for atonality and modality over tonality, the use of pedal points that serve as atonal pitch centers and "reverse variation" by which a theme is not exposed immediately but rather revealed gradually, appearing in its complete form only after a few partial, tentative expositions. His music also contains echoes of jazz as can be heard in the double bass introduction to his First Symphony and his frequent use of syncopated rhythms. Rather, his works merge the traditions of earlier composers and post-World War II innovations and translate them into his own idiosyncratic style. As an independent composer, Dutilleux has always refused to be associated with any school. While he has always paid attention to the developments of contemporary music and has incorporated some serialist techniques into his own compositions, he has also denounced the more radical and intolerant aspects of the movement. His attitude towards Serialism is more problematic. ![]() His students include French composers Gérard Grisey and Francis Bayer and Canadian composer Jacques Hétu.ĭutilleux's music extends the legacies of earlier French composers like Debussy and Ravel but is also clearly influenced by Béla Bartók and Igor Stravinsky. He was appointed to the staff of the Paris Conservatoire in 1970. He served as Professor of Composition at the École Normale de Musique de Paris from 1961 to 1970. ![]() He worked for a year as a medical orderly in the army and then came back to Paris in 1940 where he worked as a pianist, arranger and music teacher and in 1942 conducted the choir of the Paris Opera.ĭutilleux worked as Head of Music Production for French Radio from 1945 to 1963. ![]() There from 1933 to 1938 he attended the classes of Jean and Noël Gallon (harmony and counterpoint), Henri-Paul Busser (composition) and Maurice Emmanuel (history of music) at the Paris Conservatoire.ĭutilleux won the Prix de Rome in 1938 for his cantata L'Anneau du Roi but did not complete the entire residency in Rome due to the outbreak of World War II. Although his output is relatively small, its high quality and originality have won international praise.Īs a young man, Dutilleux studied harmony, counterpoint and piano with Victor Gallois at the Douai Conservatory before leaving for Paris. Henri Dutilleux (born Januin Angers, France) is one of the most important French composers of the second half of the 20th century, producing work in the tradition of Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy, and Albert Roussel, but in a style distinctly his own.
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