Alain Louvier (born 13 September 1945) is a French composer of

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is Western art music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st-century classical music, 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 Modernism (music), post-tonal music after the death of ...

Biography

Born in Paris, Louvier studied from 1953 to 1967 at the headed by

Marcel Landowski Marcel François Paul Landowski (18 February 1915 – 23 December 1999) was a French composer, biographer and arts administrator. Biography Born at Pont-l'Abbé, Finistère, Brittany, he was the son of French sculptor Paul Landowski and gre ...

, then from 1967 to 1970 at the

Conservatoire de Paris 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 ...

with

Henriette Puig-Roget Henriette Marie Eulalie Puig-Roget (9 January 1910 – 24 November 1992) was a French pianist, organist and music educator. Biography Born in Bastia, she began her musical studies at the Conservatoire de Paris in 1919. She won 6 first prizes ...

Olivier 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 ...

Tony Aubin Tony Louis Alexandre Aubin (; 8 December 1907 – 21 September 1981) was a French composer. Life and Career Aubin was born in Paris on 8 December 1907. From 1925 to 1930, he studied at the Paris Conservatory under Samuel Rousseau (music theory ...

, Robert Veyron-Lacroix,

Norbert Dufourcq Norbert Stéphane Jean-Marie Dufourcq (21 September 1904 – 19 December 1990) was a French organist, music educator, musicologist and musicographer. Biography Norbert Dufourcq was born in 1904 in Saint-Jean-de-Braye in the Loiret department ...

and

Manuel Rosenthal Manuel Rosenthal (18 June 1904 – 5 June 2003) was a French composer and conductor who held leading positions with musical organizations in France and the United States. He was friends with many contemporary composers, and despite a considerab ...

. As a student in 1968, he won the 161st and last annual Prix de Rome for musical composition. Louvier headed the École Nationale de Musique of

Boulogne-Billancourt Boulogne-Billancourt (; often colloquially called simply Boulogne, until 1924 Boulogne-sur-Seine, ) is a wealthy and prestigious Communes of France, commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France, located from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris ...

from 1972 to 1986. From 1986 to 1991, he was the director of the Conservatoire de Paris. From 1991 to 2009, he taught

music analysis Musical analysis is the study of musical structure in either compositions or performances. According to music theorist Ian Bent, music analysis "is the means of answering directly the question 'How does it work?'". The method employed to answ ...

and

orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...

at the CNSMDP (Conservatoire) in Paris. From 2009 until 2013, he was again director of the Boulogne-Billancourt Conservatory (the École Nationale de Musique de Boulogne-Billancourt). Louvier has composed pieces for piano,

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

and orchestra. He is particularly known for his invention of a new piano technique (also used on organ and harpsichord) centered around the "aggressors": the 10 fingers, 2 palms, 2 fists and 2 forearms, treated individually. He forged a precise gestural vocabulary, and an adapted graphic syntax, involving these different elements.

Works

* ''Études pour agresseurs'' I (1964), II (1967) for piano * ''Études pour agresseurs'' III (1969) for modern harpsichord * ''Études pour agresseurs'' IV (1967–1972) for two pianos * ''Études pour agresseurs'' V (1972) for harpsichord, loudspeaker and strings * ''Quintette de cuivres'' (Brass Quintet) * Sonata (1966) for two pianos * ''Chant des limbes'' (1969) for orchestra * ''Quatre Préludes pour cordes'' (1970) for one or several pianos * ''Chimère'' (1973) for harp, premiered in 1975 * ''Sempre più alto'' (1981) for viola and piano * ''Concerto pour orchestres'' (1982) for orchestra and computer synthesized soundtrack * ''Envols d'écailles'' (1986) for flute, viola and harp * Concerto (1996) for viola and orchestra * ''Solstices'', 5 short pieces for high voices and piano, composed in 2004 and premiered on May 20, 2008

References

Sources *

Centre de documentation de la musique contemporaine The Centre de documentation de la musique contemporaine (Cdmc) is a French association based in Paris. Founded in 1977, it is an important resource centre for contemporary music. Introduction The Centre is a public documentation centre for cont ...

(Cdmc) * , Alain Louvier: ''Études pour agresseurs'', book 1, étude 4 {{DEFAULTSORT:Louvier, Alain 1945 births Living people Composers from Paris French classical composers French male classical composers 20th-century French composers 21st-century French musicians Prix de Rome for composition Conservatoire de Paris alumni Academic staff of the Conservatoire de Paris Directors of the Conservatoire de Paris 20th-century French male musicians 21st-century French male musicians

Biography

Works

References

Further reading

External links