Jean-Michel Damase

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Jean-Michel Damase
Born(1928-01-27)27 January 1928
Bordeaux, France
Died21 April 2013(2013-04-21) (aged 85)
Paris, France
Occupationpianist, composer
Alma materConservatoire de Paris
Notable awardsGrand Prix de Rome
RelativesMicheline Kahn (mother)

Jean-Michel Damase (27 January 1928 – 21 April 2013)[1] was a French pianist, conductor and composer of classical music.

Career[edit]

Damase was born in Bordeaux, the son of harpist Micheline Kahn.[2] He was studying piano and solfège with Marcel Samuel-Rousseau at the age of five and composing by age nine.[3] His first work (at the age of nine) was a setting of some poems by Colette, whom he had met at a Parisian salon.[1] In 1940, Damase began studying studying piano with Alfred Cortot at the École Normale de Musique.[4] The next year, he was admitted to the Conservatoire de Paris, entering Armand Ferté’s piano classes[4] and winning first prize for piano in 1943,[3] afterwards studying with Henri Büsser, Marcel Dupré and Claude Delvincourt for composition[3] and winning first prize for composition in 1947 for his Quintet for flute, harp, violin, viola, and cello.[4] In the same year, he won the Grand Prix de Rome[5] for his cantata Et la belle se réveilla.[4] Meanwhile, he appeared as a piano soloist in the Colonne and Conservatoire concerts, and with the Orchestre National of the ORTF.[4]

He made the first complete recording of Gabriel Fauré's nocturnes and barcarolles, for which he received the Grand Prix du Disque.[6]

Selected compositions[edit]

Orchestral
  • Symphony (1952)[7]
  • Serenade for strings (1959)[7]
Orchestrations
Concertante
  • Concerto for harpsichord or harp and small orchestra (1984)[8]
  • Concerto for viola, harp and string orchestra (1990)
Chamber music
  • Trio for flute, cello and harp (1947)[9]
  • Trio for flute, viola and harp (1947)[9]
  • Quintet for flute, harp and string trio, op. 2 (1948)[9]
  • Aria for cello (or viola, or alto saxophone) and piano, op. 7 (1949)
  • 17 variations for wind quintet, op. 22 (1951)
  • Sonate en concert for flute, piano and cello (ad libitum), op. 17 (1952)[9]
  • Trio for flute, oboe and piano (1961)
  • String Trio (1965)[9]
  • Sonata for clarinet and harp (1984)[9]
  • Vacances for alto saxophone and piano (1990)
  • Intermède for viola and piano (1990)
  • Épigraphe for viola and piano (1991)
  • Ostinato for viola and piano (1991)
  • Prélude, élégie et final for bass trombone (or tuba) and piano (1993)
  • Trio for oboe, horn, and piano (1993)
  • Trio for two flutes and piano (1997)
  • Sonata for cello and harp (2002)[9]
  • Hallucinations for viola and harp
  • Berceuse for horn and piano
  • Pavane variée for horn and piano
Operas
  • La tendre Eléonore (1958, premiered 1962 Marseilles, libretto L. Masson)[4][10]
  • Colombe (1958, premiered 1961 Bordeaux, libretto Jean Anouilh with Maria Murano)[4][10]
  • Eugène le mystérieux (1963, premiered 1964 Paris, libretto Marcel Achard after Eugène Sue)[4][10]
  • Le matin de Faust (1965, premiered 1966 Nice, libretto Y. Gautier and F. Dereyne)[4][10]
  • Madame de ... (1969, premiered 1970 Monte Carlo, libretto Jean Anouilh after L. de Vilmorin)[4][10]
  • Eurydice (1972, premiered 1972 Bordeaux, libretto Jean Anouilh)[4][10]
  • L'héritière (1974, premiered 1974 Nancy, libretto L. Durcreux after adaptation by R. and A. Goetz of H. James: Washington Square)[4][10]
Film scores

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b see Bruneau-Boulmier, Rodolphe"Radio France Musique, "Dépêches notes"". Archived from the original on 2013-05-23.
  2. ^ see Greene, p. 1512; Lasser
  3. ^ a b c Greene, op. cit.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Girardot, Anne. "Damase, Jean-Michel." Grove Music Online. 2001. https://www-oxfordmusiconline-com.ezproxynec.flo.org/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000007115.
  5. ^ Lebrecht, Norman (1996). The Companion to 20th-Century Music at Google Books. Da Capo Press. page 86. ISBN 0-306-80734-3.
  6. ^ "Jean-Michel Damase: Emblematic Composer". Henry Lemoine. Archived from the original on 2008-11-15. Retrieved 2008-12-26.
  7. ^ a b Lasser, "Chez DAMASE: Catalogue, Orchestral Works". Archived from the original on 2011-07-08.
  8. ^ a b c Lasser, "Chez DAMASE: Catalogue, Stage & Film Works". Archived from the original on 2011-07-08.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Lasser, "Chez DAMASE: Catalogue, Chamber Works". Archived from the original on 2011-07-08.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g "Stanford Opera-Web D-Composers". Retrieved 2008-12-26.

Sources[edit]