Denis Levaillant (born 3 August 1952) is a French

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

and writer based in Paris, France. He has

orchestrated 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 ...

more than twenty

musical show Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

s including ' and composed more than 120 musical works worldwide. Levaillant has been recognized for his improvisation and orchestration work and his ability to synthesize in his art several antagonistic genres such as composition/improvisation, classical/jazz, classical/popular and acoustic/electro.

Early life

Levaillant was born in Paris to Raymonde and Jean Levaillant. He is the grandson of the French poet and critic, . He started playing piano at an early age of five. He began

harmony In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...

counterpoint In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. The term originates from the Latin ...

and composition training at the age of twelve, under French music professor, Magdeleine Mangin in 1964, in

Nancy, France Nancy is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the northeastern Departments of France, French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle. It was the capital of the Duchy of Lorraine, which was Lorraine and Barrois, annexed by France under King Louis X ...

. Levaillant first spent his teenage years in Nancy, then in Paris, where he studied composition and

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

. In 1974, he received his Master's degree in philosophy from the

University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

. Later, he attended

Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse 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 ...

, where he received training in music composition, orchestration and analysis under

Gérard Grisey Gérard Henri Grisey (; ; 17 June 1946 – 11 November 1998) was a twentieth-century French composer of contemporary classical music. His work is often associated with the Spectralist Movement in music, of which he was a major pioneer. Biograp ...

Marius Constant Marius Constant (7 February 192515 May 2004) was a Romanian-born French composer and conductor. Although known in the classical world primarily for his ballet scores, his most widely known music was the iconic guitar theme for ''The Twilight Zon ...

and

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

Career

Levaillant started his professional career in the early 1970s. In 1973, he collaborated with

Radio France Radio France () is the French national public radio broadcaster. Stations Radio France offers seven national networks: *France Inter — Radio France's "generalist media, generalist" station, featuring entertaining and informative talk mixed wi ...

and composed ''Circus Virus'', a musical piece for

France Culture France Culture () is a French public radio channel and part of Radio France Radio France () is the French national public radio broadcaster. Stations Radio France offers seven national networks: *France Inter — Radio France's "generalist ...

. His first music had inspirations from his adolescence heroes, such as

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 ...

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

and

Ornette Coleman Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, trumpeter, violinist, and composer. He is best known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Ja ...

. Through the 1970s and 1980s, Levaillant released seven more albums and published a book on music improvisation and compositions, ''L'improvisation musicale'', published by Éditions Lattès in 1980. He collaborated with and and composed music for multiple musical shows and feature films during these years. He collaborated with and composed music for various French and international

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 ...

musicians such as , Didier Levallet,

Mino Cinélu Mino Cinélu (born 10 March 1957) is a French musician. He plays multiple instruments. He is a composer, programmer and producer; and is primarily associated with his work as a jazz percussionist. Biography Cinelu was born in Saint-Cloud, Hauts- ...

Jean-Louis Chautemps Jean-Louis Chautemps (6 August 1931 – 25 May 2022) was a French jazz saxophonist. Career Born in Paris, Chautemps initially studied medicine and law, and began playing saxophone at age 16. His first major gig was with Jef Gilson in 1950. In 19 ...

, Pierre Favre,

Bernard Lubat Bernard Lubat (born July 12, 1945, Uzeste) is a French jazz drummer, pianist, singer, percussionist, vibraphone, vibraphonist, and accordionist. Early life and career Lubat grew up in a musical family (his father played trumpet) and he receive ...

Tony Coe Anthony George Coe (29 November 1934 – 16 March 2023) was an English jazz musician who played clarinet, bass clarinet, and flute as well as soprano, alto, and tenor saxophones. Career Born in Canterbury, Kent, England, Coe started out on cla ...

Kenny Wheeler Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, Order of Canada, OC (14 January 1930 – 18 September 2014) was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards. Most of his performances were rooted in jazz, but he w ...

Jean-François Jenny-Clark Jean-François "J.F." Jenny-Clark (12 July 1944 in Toulouse, France – 6 October 1998 in Paris) was a French double bass player. He was estimated as one of the most important bass players of European jazz. Allmusic credits/ref> Together with drum ...

Michel Portal Michel Portal (born 27 November 1935) is a French composer, saxophonist, and clarinetist. He plays both jazz and classical music and is considered to be "one of the architects of modern European jazz". Early life Portal was born in Bayonne on 27 ...

Barry Altschul Barry Altschul (born January 6, 1943, in New York City) is a free jazz and hard bop drummer who first came to notice in the late 1960s for performing with pianists Paul Bley and Chick Corea. Biography Altschul is of Russian Jewish heritage, ...

and

Barre Phillips Barre Phillips (October 27, 1934 – December 28, 2024) was an American jazz double bass, bassist. A professional musician since 1960, he moved to New York City in 1962, then to Europe in 1967. From 1972 he was based in southern France, where in ...

. In 1980, at the age of 26, Levaillant began composing

ballet music Ballet as a music form progressed from simply a complement to dance, to a concrete compositional form that often had as much value as the dance that went along with it. The dance form, originating in France during the 17th century, began as a thea ...

for the

Paris Opera The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...

. In 1981, he founded ''Bleu 17'', a music institution that focused on producing musical shows. From 1983 to 2006, Levaillant created nearly 20 musical shows and operas that were performed around Europe. He collaborated with

and

to compose ''Les Passagers du delta'' in 1986. Levaillant created the opera ''O.P.A Mia'' in collaboration with

Enki Bilal Enki Bilal (born Enes Bilal; born 7 October 1951) is a French comic book creator and film director. Biography Early life Bilal was born in Belgrade, PR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia, to a Czech mother, Ana, who came to Belgrade as child from Karlovy ...

during the

Festival d'Avignon The ''Festival d'Avignon'', or Avignon Festival (), is an annual arts festival held in the France, French city of Avignon every summer in July in the courtyard of the Palais des Papes as well as in other locations of the city. Founded in 1947 by ...

in 1990. He collaborated with Dominique Bagouet, Stéphanie Aubin, Brigitte Lefèvre, Dominique Petit and Caroline Marcadé for more than 30 live shows. In the early 1980s, Levaillant participated in Institut national de l'audiovisuel and

Groupe de Recherches Musicales A group is a military unit or a military formation that is most often associated with military aviation. Air and aviation groups The terms group and wing differ significantly from one country to another, as well as between different branches ...

's digital sound processing initiative, which inspired him to compose ''Piano Transit'', a piano composition with electronic fusion, in 1983. In 1988, Levaillant was awarded with

Prix Italia The Prix Italia is an international television, radio-broadcasting and web award. It was established in 1948 by RAI – Radiotelevisione Italiana (in 1948, RAI had the denomination RAI – Radio Audizioni Italiane) in Capri and is honoured with th ...

RAI (), commercially styled as since 2000 and known until 1954 as (RAI), is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terrestrial and subscription television channels a ...

for his work, in the category ''Speakers''. In 1995, Levaillant was commissioned by Ensemble InterContemporain and

Musée du Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

for creating music for

Fritz Lang Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), better known as Fritz Lang (), was an Austrian-born film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety Obituari ...

's last

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

, ''

Woman in the Moon ''Woman in the Moon'' (German language, German ''Frau im Mond'') is a German science fiction silent film that premiered 15 October 1929 at the UFA-Palast am Zoo cinema in Berlin to an audience of 2,000. It is often considered to be one of the f ...

''. Later that year, he co-founded the ''Cabinet de Musique Généraliste (CMG)'' with , an initiative aimed towards promoting contemporary music in the audiovisual world. Over the years, prominent composers and musicians like

Philippe Hersant Philippe Hersant (born 21 June 1948 in Rome) is a French composer. He studied at the Conservatoire de Paris. Selected works :: Hersant's works are largely published by Éditions Durand. ;Stage * ''Le Château des Carpathes (opera), Le Châtea ...

Allain Gaussin Allain Gaussin (born 6 November 1943) is a noted French composer. Gaussin was born in Saint-Sever-Calvados, Normandy. He is a laureate of the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris (CNSMDP) where he studied with Olivier ...

, , , ,

Christian Zanési Christian Zanési (born 22 May 1952) is a French people, French composer. Biography Born in Lourdes, Zanési studied with Guy Maneveau and Marie-Françoise Lacaze at the Pau University (South of France) (1974–1975), and with Pierre Schaeffer ...

, , , Calin Ioachimescu and

Doina Rotaru Marilena Doinița Rotaru (known as Doina, also Nemţeanu-Rotaru; born 14 September 1951, Bucharest) is a Romanian composer best known for her orchestral and chamber works. She has won prizes from the Romanian Composers' Union seven times, and was ...

became part of the ''Cabinet de Musique Généraliste''. In the late 1990s, Levaillant performed live at various festivals and composed several works such as ''Echo de Narcisse'', ''Le Clair'', ''l'Obscur pour quatuor à cordes'', ''Paysages de Conte'' and ''Tombeau de Gesualdo''. In 2004, Lavaillant composed music for Enki Bilal's science fiction film, ''

Immortal Immortality is the ability to live forever, or eternal life. Immortal or Immortality may also refer to: Film * ''The Immortals'' (1995 film), an American crime film * ''Immortality'', an alternate title for the 1998 British film '' The Wisdom of ...

''. In 2002, Levaillant composed the ballet ''La Petite danseuse de Degas'' produced by the

. It was premiered in 2003 at

Opéra-Garnier The (, Garnier Palace), also known as (, Garnier Opera), is a historic 1,979-seatBeauvert 1996, p. 102. opera house at the Place de l'Opéra in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was built for the Paris Opera from 1861 to 1875 at the ...

and was performed again in 2005 and 2010.

France 2 France 2 () is a French free-to-air public television channel. The flagship channel of France Télévisions, it broadcasts generalist programming including news, entertainment (such as dramas, films, and game shows), factual programmes, and sp ...

filmed the performance and

Arthaus Arthaus is a major German producer of art films and classical music DVDs founded in 1994. Arthaus is a brand of Kinowelt Home Entertainment Gmbh, which is now owned by Studiocanal. Arthaus acquired the video back-catalogue of Filmverlag der Autor ...

released the DVD. In 2005, l'Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France commissioned him to compose music for the children's book ' by

Jacques Prévert Jacques Prévert (; 4 February 1900 – 11 April 1977) was a French poet and screenwriter. His poems became and remain popular in the French-speaking world, particularly in schools. His best-regarded films formed part of the Poetic realism, poetic ...

. In 2014, Levaillant wrote ''Panchamama Symphony'', a composition for

concert band A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind instrument, woodwind, brass ...

s. The

Andean music Andean music is a group of styles of music from the Andes region in South America. Original chants and melodies come from the general area inhabited by Quechua people, Quechuas (originally from Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile), Aymara people, Aymar ...

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

inspired ''Panchamama Symphony''. In 2014, 15 universities in the United States invited Levaillant for the

master class ''Master Class'' is a 1995 play by American playwright Terrence McNally, presented as a fictional master class by opera singer Maria Callas near the end of her life, in the 1970s. The play features incidental vocal music by Giuseppe Verdi, Giac ...

es and concerts.

Personal life

Apart from being a musician, Levaillant is a

mountaineer Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports ...

. He has climbed in

Oisans L'Oisans () is a region in the French Alps, located in the départements of l'Isère and Hautes-Alpes, and corresponding to the drainage basin of the River Romanche and its tributaries (Eau d'Olle, Lignarre, Sarenne, Vénéon and Ferrand). Betw ...

alongside

Jean-Michel Cambon Jean-Michel Cambon (5 January 1952 — 12 March 2020) was a French climber. Biography Teacher at Saint-Martin-d%27H%C3%A8res near Grenoble, Jean-Michel Cambom has dedicated the other half of his life to the mountains. Cambon was known for navig ...

and Bernard Francou. Levaillant has also climbed new challenging routes in Bolivia with the French climber, Alain Mesili. Levaillant was married in 1972, to Christine Rigaud. The couple has two children, Julie and Fabien, and three grandchildren, Marilou, Elise and Andréa.

Awards and recognition

* 1983 : Laureate of the

Villa Médicis The Villa Medici () is a sixteenth-century Italian Mannerist villa and an architectural complex with 7-hectare Italian garden, contiguous with the more extensive Borghese gardens, on the Pincian Hill next to Trinità dei Monti in the historic c ...

(New York) * 1987 : Prix Tendance * 1988 :

, in the category ''Speakers''

Discography

Albums and singles

* 1973 : ''Son dernier Tango'' * 1975 : ''Attention l'armée,'' * 1978 : ''Instable,'' * 1979 : ''Trans-Musiques,'' * 1983 : ''Direct'' * 1984 : ''Six séquences pour Alfred Hitchcock'' * 1984 : ''Barium Circus'' * 1986 : ''Passages'' * 1990 : ''Musiques pour le théâtre'' * 1991 : ''Musiques pour le piano'' * 1991 : ''Musiques pour la danse'' * 1992 : ''Musiques pour les voix'' * 1993 : ''NEXT'' * 1995 : ''Génériques potentiels'' * 1996 : ''Théâtres'' * 1997 : ''Shorts !'' * 1998 : ''L'Etrange'' * 1999 : ''Out The/Ailleurs'' * 2000 : ''Direct'' * 2001 : ''Figures'' * 2002 : ''Dark Textures & Drones'' * 2003 : ''Documentary line'' * 2006 : ''Paysages avec piano'' * 2007 : ''Drone Music'' * 2008 : ''Modern Acoustic Sketches'' * 2009 : ''Music Is The Film'' * 2012 : ''The Fear Factory'' * 2014 : ''Cinematic Edge Vol.1'' * 2015 : ''City organix'' * 2018 : ''HAYDN Early and late Sonatas'' * 2019 : ''Aurora Borealis'' * 2019 : ''Cinematic Orchestral Music: Volume 1'' * 2019 : ''Cinematic Orchestral Music: Volume 2'' * 2020 : ''Electro Space Piano,'' *Reference
Denis Levaillant – Discographie : CDs / LPs
denislevaillant.net

Compositions for films

* 1978 : ''La petite Annonce'' * 1979 : ''74 rue de Boissy'' * 1981 '': Adieu Pyrénées'' * 1984 : ''Elektra'' * 1985 : ''Trombone en coulisses'' * 1986 : ''Mot à mot'' * 1987 : ''L'eau en formes'' * 1988 : ''Mother Goose'' * 1989 : ''Vidéopérette,'' * 1993 : ''Next'' * 1995 : ''La Femme sur la Lune'' * 2003 : ''Dark'' * 2006 : ''Paysages avec piano'' * 2006 : ''Drones'' * 2008 : ''Blindspot'' * 2012 : ''The Fear Factory'' * 2015 : ''City Organix'' *Reference
Denis Levaillant – Music for films
denislevaillant.net

Bibliography

* 1974 : ''Musique, Idéologie, Politique, mémoire de maîtrise de Philosophie'' * 1978 : ''Interdit d'antenne'' * 1980 : ''L'improvisation musicale'' * 1983/1984 : ''Eloge de l'outil'' * 1986 : ''Le Piano'' * 1990 : ''Un bout de tuyau avec quelques trous'' * 1990 : ''Auteur de musique'' * 1991 : ''Enki Bilal, un décorateur ?'' * 1991 : ''Trois motifs pour le jazz'' * 1992 : ''Pour une musique nouvelle'' * 1994 : ''La Femme sur la Lune, réflexion sur la relation musique et image'' * 2006 : ''O.P.A. MIA, Livre-DVD Illustré, broché,'' * 2006 : ''En lisant, en jouant, en écrivant (1)'' * 2008 : ''L'Opéra de la Lune'' * 2008 : ''Cent ans de bonheur'' * 2008 : ''A quoi l'art pense-t-il ?'' * 2008 : ''En lisant, en jouant, en écrivant'' * 2010 : ''La Petite danseuse de Degas'' (on Degas' ''

Little Dancer of Fourteen Years ''The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer'' (French: ') is a sculpture begun c. 1880 by Edgar Degas of a young student of the Paris Opera Ballet dance school, a Belgian named Marie van Goethem. Description The sculpture is two-thirds life size a ...

'') * 2011 : ''Les Musiciens de Brême'' * 2012 : ''Eloge du musical'' * 2012 : ''Paysages de conte'' * 2013 : ''Les Passagers du delta'' * 2014 : ''Manhattan Rhapsody'' * 2015 : ''L'Art de l'improvisation au piano'' * 2017 : ''O.P.A. MIA (My Tender Bid)'' *Reference
Denis Levaillant – Bibliography – Book CDs
denislevaillant.net

Operas and shows

* 1974 : ''L'oreille bée'' * 1976 : ''Le Baigneur'' * 1978 : ''Embellie fixe'' * 1979 : ''Le jardin du sanglier'' * 1980 : ''Piano Check-up'', ''La Chevauchée'' * 1981 : ''Portrait de l'artiste'' * 1981 : ''Grand Corridor'' * 1982 : ''Dérive'' * 1982 : ''D.D.Blue Gold Digger,'' * 1983 : ''Inside'' * 1983 : ''Aranzaquil'' * 1983 : ''Deux pièces à louer'', ''Piano check-up'' & ''Le Baigneur'' * 1983 : ''Les Pas Perdus'' * 1984 : ''The Blue Street'' * 1984 : ''Rythm'n'shoes'' * 1986': ''Eaux-fortes'' * 1986 : ''Le Dernier Pèlerinage'' * 1986 : ''Les Passagers du delta'' * 1987 : ''Les heures défaites'' * 1987 : ''Solo piano solo'' * 1989 : ''O.P.A MIA'' * 1989 : ''Passage de l'heure bleue'' * 1992 : ''Lettres de Georgie, Ballet'' * 1993 : ''Piano Circus'' * 1994 : ''Poètes et burlesques'', Spectacle musical, pièces pour piano accompagnant un programme de films Pathé des années 1910. * 1995 : ''Passions'', ''Les Pierres noires'', ''Sunny Cash passion'', ''Compassion'', ''Madrigaux de guerre'' & ''Tombeau de Gesualdo''. * 1995 : ''La Femme sur la Lune'' * 1998/1999 : ''Techno Space Piano'' * 1999/2000 : ''Eloge de la radio'' * 2003 : ''La Petite danseuse'' * 2005/2006 : ''Un petit rien-du-tout'' * 2009/2010 : ''Les Musiciens de Brême'' * Reference
Denis Levaillant – Operas and shows
denislevaillant.net

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Levaillant, Denis French composers 20th-century French male pianists French writers French music arrangers Musicians from Paris 1952 births Living people