Alain Louvier (born 13 September 1945) is a French composer of
contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included se ...
.
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 g ...
, then from 1967 to 1970 at the
Conservatoire de Paris
The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as 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 ...
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 ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex; harmonical ...
,
Tony Aubin
Tony Louis Alexandre Aubin (8 December 1907 – 21 September 1981) was a French composer.
Career
Aubin was born in Paris. From 1925 to 1930, he studied at the Paris Conservatory under Samuel Rousseau (music theory), Noel Gallon (counterpoint), ...
,
Robert Veyron-Lacroix
Robert Veyron-Lacroix (13 December 1922 in Paris – 2 April 1991 in Garches (Hauts-de-Seine)) was a French harpsichordist and pianistPâris, Alain. Robert Veyron-Lacroix. In: ''Dictionnaire des interprètes''. Éditions Robert Laffont, Paris, ...
,
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 conducting, conductor who held leading positions with musical organizations in France and America. He was friends with many contemporary composers, and despite a considerabl ...
. In 1968, he won the 161st and last annual
Prix de Rome for musical composition. He then 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 commune in the Parisian area, located from its centre. It is a subprefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department an ...
. 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 answer ...
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", or ...
at the CNSMDP (Conservatoire) in Paris. From 2009 until 2013, he was again director of the Boulogne-Billancourt Conservatory
Louvier has composed pieces for piano,
harpsichord
A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a ...
,
chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small num ...
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
*
Further reading
* "Entretien avec Alain Louvier", in Remy Campos, ''Le Conservatoire de Paris et son histoire, une institution en questions'', Paris,
L'Œil d'or
''L'Œil d'or, le prix du documentaire'' — Cannes (, "The Golden Eye, The Documentary Prize — Cannes") is a documentary film award created in 2015. It is awarded to the best documentary presented in one of the sections of the Cannes Film Festi ...
, 2016,
External links
*
Scores, BabelScores
"Alain Louvier" ''Encyclopedia Universalis''
*
"70 bougies pour Alain Louvier" ''ResMusica''
"Louvier Alain (1945)" 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
Musicians 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