Pierre Villette (; 7 February 1926 – 6 March 1998) was a French composer of choral and instrumental music. Villette was born into a musical family in 1926 at

Duclair Duclair () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. The Duclair duck is named after the town, of which pressed duck (''canard à la presse'') is invented. Geography Duclair is a farming and lig ...

, Normandy. He studied with

Maurice Duruflé Maurice Gustave Duruflé (; 11 January 1902 – 16 June 1986) was a French composer, organist, musicologist, and teacher. Life and career Duruflé was born in Louviers, Eure in 1902. He attended Rouen Cathedral Choir School from 1912 to 1918, ...

before attending the

Paris Conservatoire The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 19255 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war contemporary classical music. Born in Montb ...

was a fellow student but their careers followed very different paths. In 1957, Villette was appointed director of the Conservatoire in

Besançon Besançon (, ; , ; archaic ; ) is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerland. Capi ...

, the capital of the

Franche-Comté Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou dialect, Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; ; also ; ; all ) is a cultural and Provinces of France, historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of France, departments of Doub ...

region. He was dogged by ill health and had a lung removed while still in his twenties. His bad health forced him to move from mountainous Besançon to a warmer climate, and he became director of the Academy at

Aix en Provence Aix-en-Provence, or simply Aix, is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. A former capital of Provence, it is the subprefecture of the arrondissement of Aix-en-Provence, in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône, in the ...

in 1967. He held this position until he retired in 1987, and he continued to live in

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

until his death in 1998. Villette's music is a product of a French musical heritage that includes Fauré and

Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

as well as Poulenc and

Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithology, ornithologist. One of the major composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th century, he was also an ou ...

, and a French cultural legacy that includes

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and the

Order of Saint Benedict The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

. Villette was not interested in the avant-garde direction taken by Boulez's circle, and instead his music drew on influences as eclectic as

Gregorian Chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek language, Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed main ...

medieval music Medieval music encompasses the sacred music, sacred and secular music of Western Europe during the Middle Ages, from approximately the 6th to 15th centuries. It is the Dates of classical music eras, first and longest major era of Western class ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

(he composed an orchestral piece titled "Blues"), and

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of ...

. His catalogue has eighty-one opus numbers, (full list vi
this link
and he wrote chamber and orchestral music as well as better-known choral works. Villette's compositions are performed around the world. His choral music was championed in England by Dr Donald Hunt in the 1970s when he was director of

Worcester Cathedral Choir Worcester Cathedral Choir is an English Anglican choir based at Worcester Cathedral in Worcester, England. It is directed by Samuel Hudson , Organist and Director of Music at the cathedral. The choir was founded in medieval times. Famous organist ...

, and Villette's "Hymne à la Vierge", which is probably his best-known work, has been performed in the annual Service of Nine Lessons and Carols at

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

. Choirs in the US, Japan, and Germany are also familiar with Villette's compositions.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Villette, Pierre French male classical composers 20th-century French classical composers 1926 births 1998 deaths Conservatoire de Paris alumni People from Seine-Maritime Musicians from Normandy Prix de Rome for composition 20th-century French male musicians