Emmanuel Nunes (31 August 1941 – 2 September 2012) was a Portuguese composer who lived and worked in Paris from 1964.
Biography
Nunes was born in
Lisbon
Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
, where he studied composition, first from 1959 to 1963 at the Academia de Amadores de Música with Francine Benoit, and then with
Fernando Lopes-Graça at the university (1962–64). He then attended courses at the
Darmstädter Ferienkurse
Darmstädter Ferienkurse ("Darmstadt Summer Course") is a regular summer event of contemporary classical music in Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany. It was founded in 1946, under the name "Ferienkurse für Internationale Neue Musik Darmstadt" (Vacation Co ...
(1963–65), and in 1964 moved to
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. A year later he moved to
Cologne
Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
and enrolled at the
Hochschule für Musik Köln, and studied composition with
Henri Pousseur, electronic music with
Jaap Spek, and
phonetics
Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds or, in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians ...
with
Georg Heike, while also taking courses with
Karlheinz Stockhausen at the third and fourth Cologne Courses for New Music in 1965–66 and 1966–67.
In 1971 he was awarded the Premier Prix d´Esthetique Musicale in the class of Marcel Beaufils at the
Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris, in 1999 won the UNESCO Composition Prize, and in 2000 was the winner of the
Pessoa Prize.
From the 1980s he took on teaching roles, amongst other places at the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon,
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
in the US, at the
Conservatoire de Paris, and at the Darmstadt Summer Courses. From 1986 to 1992 he held a professorship in composition at the New Music Institute of the
Hochschule für Musik Freiburg
The Hochschule für Musik Freiburg ("University of Music Freiburg or Freiburg Conservatory of Music") is a public music academy subsidized by the State of Baden-Württemberg for academic research and artistic and pedagogical training in music.
...
. Nunes was named an Officer of the French Order of Arts and Letters in 1986, and in 1991 was appointed Comendador da
Ordem de Santiago da Espada by the President of Portugal. From 1992 until 2006 Nunes was Professor of Composition at the Paris Conservatory.
Nunes died in Paris, two days after his seventy-first birthday.
Selected compositions
;Opera
* ''Das Märchen'', Opera in a prologue and 2 acts (2007); libretto after
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...
;Orchestral music
* ''Fermata'' for orchestra and tape (1973)
* ''Ruf'' for orchestra and tape (1977)
* ''Chessed I'' for 4 instrumental ensembles (1979)
* ''Chessed II'' for 16 instrumental soloists and orchestra (1979)
* ''Sequencias'' for clarinet, 2 vibraphones, violin and orchestra (1982/1983–1988)
* ''Quodlibet'' for 28 instruments, 6 percussionists and orchestra, led by 2 conductors (1990–1991)
* ''Chessed IV'' for string quartet and orchestra (1992)
;Chamber music
* ''Impromptu pour un voyage I'' for trumpet, flute, viola and harp (1973)
* ''Impromptu pour un voyage II'' for flute, viola and harp (1974–1975)
* ''Wandlungen'' for ensemble and live electronics (1986)
* ''Clivages I and II'' for 6 percussionists (1987–1988)
* ''Versus III'' for alto flute and viola (1987–1990)
* ''Lichtung I'' for clarinet, horn, trombone, tuba, 4 percussionists and cello (1988–1991)
* ''Chessed III'' for string quartet (1990–1991)
* ''La Main noire'' for 3 violas (2006–2007); after the opera ''Das Märchen''
;Solo instrumental
* ''Litanies du feu et de la mer I'' for piano (1969)
* ''Litanies du feu et de la mer II'' for piano (1971)
* ''Einspielung I'' for solo violin (1979)
* ''Einspielung II'' for solo violoncello (1980)
* ''Einspielung III'' for solo viola (1981)
* ''Ludi concertati No. 1'' for solo bass flute (1985)
* ''Aura'' for solo flute (1983–1989)
* ''Improvisation II: Portrait'' for viola solo (2002)
;Vocal music
* ''Machina Mundi'' for 4 instrumental soloists, choir, orchestra and tape (1991–1992)
Bibliography
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Footnotes
External links
Publisher's website: Emmanuel Nunes at Ricordi Berlin*
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ttp://www.musiquecontemporaine.fr/en/search?disp=all&query=Nunes&exp_bio=on&so=dd Online biographies of Emmanuel Nunes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nunes, Emmanuel
1941 births
2012 deaths
Harvard University staff
Portuguese musicians
20th-century Portuguese classical composers
Portuguese opera composers
Musicians from Lisbon
Pessoa Prize winners
Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg
Pupils of Karlheinz Stockhausen
Portuguese male classical composers
Conservatoire de Paris alumni
Academic staff of the Conservatoire de Paris
Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Commanders of the Order of Saint James of the Sword
20th-century Portuguese male musicians