Claude Ballif (22 May 1924 – 24 July 2004) was a French composer, writer, and

pedagogue Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

. He worked at a number of institutions throughout more than 40 years of teaching, one of which he had attended as a student. Among his pupils were

Raynald Arseneault Raynald Arseneault (9 June 1945 – 27 January 1995) was a Canadian composer and organist. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre, his compositional output consists of more than 50 works. His style was particularly influenced by Ivan Wysc ...

Nicolas Bacri Nicolas Bacri (born 23 November 1961) is a French composer who has written more than one hundred works, including symphonies, string quartets, and violin concertos. Career Nicolas Bacri was born in Paris, France. His musical studies began wit ...

, Gérard Buquet, Joseph-François Kremer,

Philippe Manoury Philippe Manoury (born 19 June 1952) is a French composer. Biography Manoury was born in Tulle and began composition studies at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris with Gérard Condé and Max Deutsch. He continued his studies from 1974 to 1 ...

, Serge Provost, Mehmet Okonsar, Simon Bertrand,

Alexandre Desplat Alexandre Michel Gérard Desplat (; born 23 August 1961) is a French film composer and conductor. He has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and two Grammy Awards. Desplat was m ...

, and Claude Abromont. He was described as a French modernist and as "the product of the exciting and turbulent post World War II years of the Western

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

" alongside composers

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 ...

and

Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...

Biography

Ballif was born in Paris on 22 May 1924, the fifth of ten children. He grew up in a bourgeois family but did not recognize the privilege of his childhood as a rarity until much later. His mother Odette was from the Festugière family, forgemasters and owners of the Château de Poissons in

George Desvallières George Desvallières (; 1861–1950) was a French painter. A native of Paris, Desvallières was a great-grandson of academician Gabriel-Marie Legouvé, and received a religion, religious upbringing. He studied at the Académie Julian with Tony ...

. Ballif's father, Colonel Laurent Ballif, was a senior military officer who served in the Tibesti War,

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Laurent was of Swiss descent. Ballif started music at an early age; though the piano was his first love, he was told piano was for girls and that his fingers would never be able to make the right positions, so he learned violin. When Ballif was 13, his father was assigned to a base in

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

and the family moved to

Antananarivo Antananarivo (Malagasy language, Malagasy: ; French language, French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known ...

. While in Madagascar, "Captain Durand," an artillery director on base, taught Ballif music theory; he took violin lessons from a beggar. He also learned the play the

djembe A djembe or jembe ( ; from Maninka language, Malinke ''jembe'' , N'Ko script, N'Ko: ) is a rope-tuned skin-covered goblet drum played with bare hands, originally from West Africa. According to the Bambara people in Mali, the name of the djembe ...

, the

valiha The valiha is a tube zither from Madagascar made from a species of Valiha diffusa, local bamboo; it is considered the "List of national instruments (music), national instrument" of Madagascar. The term is also used to describe a number of re ...

, and the

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

. The family returned to France while Ballif was still in high school and he started at the Conservatoire de Bordeaux in 1942 at 18. He left in 1948 to attend 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 Aubin 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 ...

as his teachers and Alain Weber, Michel Fano, and

Jean-Michel Defaye Jean-Michel Defaye (18 September 1932 – 1 January 2025) was a French pianist, composer, arranger and conductor known for his collaboration with French poet and singer-songwriter Léo Ferré. Life and career Defaye was born in Saint-Mandé, V ...

as his classmates. He dropped out in 1951 before finishing his degree because he did not feel that he could properly express himself with the academic constraints on the students' music. In 1954, he was awarded a

German Academic Exchange Service The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD; ), founded in 1925, is a joint organization of German universities and student bodies to foster their international relations. Since 1 January 2020, the president has been Joybrato Mukherjee. Organisa ...

(DAAD) grant that allowed him to study at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin. Blacher and Rufer were among his teachers. He spent three summers in Germany, particularly 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 ...

, where he met

Luciano Berio Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental music, experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia (Berio), Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled ''Seque ...

Bruno Maderna Bruno Maderna (born Bruno Grossato, 21 April 1920 – 13 November 1973) was an Italian composer, conductor and academic teacher. Life Maderna was born Bruno Grossato in Venice but later decided to take the name of his mother, Caterina Carolina M ...

Luigi Nono Luigi Nono (; 29 January 1924 – 8 May 1990) was an Italian avant-garde composer of classical music. Biography Early years Nono, born in Venice, was a member of a wealthy artistic family; his grandfather was a notable painter. Nono bega ...

, and

. He also interpreted the Darmstadt Summer Courses for

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...

, who did not speak German. He performed the music for film advertisements for a while and in 1959 started at the Groupe de Recherche Musicale with

Pierre Schaeffer Pierre Henri Marie Schaeffer (English pronunciation: , ; 14 August 1910 – 19 August 1995) was a French composer, writer, broadcaster, engineer, musicologist, acoustician and founder of Groupe de Recherche de Musique Concrète (GRMC). His inno ...

. Ballif's friend Hélène Boschi worked at

École Normale de Musique de Paris The École Normale de Musique de Paris "Alfred Cortot" (ENMP) is a leading conservatoire located in the 17th arrondissement of Paris. The school was founded in 1919 by Auguste Mangeot and Alfred Cortot. The term ''école normale'' (English: no ...

and told him of an opening for a teacher of music history, analysis, and pedagogy. Not long after, he married Elisabeth, the daughter of an army general. In 1965, he helped establish the music department at

Paris 8 University Vincennes-Saint-Denis Paris 8 University (), or usually the University of Vincennes in Saint-Denis or Paris 8, is a public university in the Greater Paris, France. Once part of the historic University of Paris, it is now an autonomous public institution. It is base ...

and in 1971 was appointed to succeed Messaien, his former teacher, at the Conservatoire de Paris. He also taught at the and as a visiting professor at

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

in Montréal. He left the Conservatoire de Paris in 1990. He subsequently taught in

Sevran Sevran () is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, French department of Seine-Saint-Denis, northeastern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. History The current Hôtel d ...

for ten years before visiting Venezuela with Williams Montesinos and Austin Marianu in July 2000. What was intended to be a short trip stretched out for months and Ballif settled there because he was "able to do what I dreamed of when I was 16... just be a composer". He taught lessons on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, and spent the rest of his time at his piano. During his career, he published the following books: ''Introduction à la métatonalité'' (1956), ''Berlioz'' (1969), ''Voyage de mon oreille'' (1979), ''Souhaits etre Symboles'' (1988; published only in Canada), and ''L'Habitant du labyrinthe : entretiens avec Alain Galliari'' (1992). He also founded the Ivan Wyschegradsky Association in 1983. Ballif spent the final years of his life living in

Haute-Marne Haute-Marne (; English: Upper Marne) is a department in the Grand Est region of Northeastern France. Named after the river Marne, its prefecture is Chaumont. In 2019, it had a population of 172,512.Saint-Dizier Saint-Dizier () is a subprefecture of the Haute-Marne department in north-eastern France. It has a population of 23,382 (2018 figure) and is a subprefecture of the department. Although Saint-Dizier is marginally the most populous commune in Hau ...

and is buried in

Poissons Poissons () is a commune in the Haute-Marne department in north-eastern France. Demographics See also *Communes of the Haute-Marne department The following is a list of the 426 communes in the French department of Haute-Marne. The comm ...

. His mother died two days later, age 104.

Metatonality

Metatonality, "a fusion of diatonic scales with the

chromatic Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are used to characterize scales. The terms are also applied to musical instruments, intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony. They are very often used as a pair, es ...

one, which form an 11-element metatonal scale", was invented by Ballif in 1949. He struggled in his early years of music study with balancing his need for independent creation and the university's regimented music lessons. This is what led him to leave the

without a completed degree in 1951. Ballif published his first book about metatonality (''Introduction à la métatonalité'') in 1956. He credits his "deep friendship" with

Jean Wahl Jean André Wahl (; 25 May 1888 – 19 June 1974) was a French philosopher. Early career Wahl was educated at the École Normale Supérieure. He was a professor at the Sorbonne from 1936 to 1967, broken by World War II. He was in the United Sta ...

Josef Rufer Josef Rufer (1893–1985) was an Austrian-born musicologist. He is regarded as a significant figure mainly on account of his association with and writings on Arnold Schoenberg. Rufer was a pupil of Alexander von Zemlinsky and Schoenberg in Vi ...

, Andréas Rónaï, and

for solidifying the concept and practice of metatonality very early on. He added referential and orient concepts to his theory as well. He became interested in microtonal theory after meeting

Ivan Wyschnegradsky Ivan Alexandrovich Wyschnegradsky ( ; September 29, 1979), was a Russian composer primarily known for his microtonal compositions. For most of his life, from 1920 onwards, Wyschnegradsky lived in Paris. Life Ivan Wyschnegradsky was born in Sai ...

for the first time; Wyschnegradsky and

Alois Hába Alois Hába (21 June 1893 – 18 November 1973) was a Czech composer, music theorist and teacher. He belongs to the important discoverers in modern classical music, and to the major composers of microtonal music, especially using the quarter-to ...

"launched iminto the ultrachromatic universe." Ballif wrote his doctoral dissertation on metatonality. His music was also deeply influenced by his staunch Catholicism.

Awards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ballif, Claude 1924 births 2004 deaths 20th-century French classical composers 20th-century French male musicians Academic staff of the Conservatoire de Paris Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Commanders of the Ordre national du Mérite Conservatoire de Bordeaux alumni Conservatoire de Paris alumni French male classical composers Microtonal composers Composers from Paris Sociétaires of the Comédie-Française Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin alumni Academic staff of the École Normale de Musique de Paris Academic staff of McGill University People from Haute-Marne Educators from Paris