Alexis Fernand Félix Jean Rivier (21 July 1896 – 6 November 1987) was a French composer of classical music in the neoclassical style. The son of Henri Rivier, a co-inventor of Armenian paper, he composed over two hundred works, including music for orchestra, chamber groups, chorus, piano, and solo instruments. Rivier served as Professor of Composition at the Paris Conservatory from 1948 until his retirement in 1966. During the period 1948–1962, he shared this position with famous composer

Darius Milhaud Darius Milhaud (; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions ...

. Three of his notable students at the Paris Conservatory were Gareth Walters, Pedro Ipuche Riva, and

Gerd Boder Gerd Boder (13 June 1933, Saarbrücken – 2 June 1992) was a German composer. He studied music at the Hochschule für Musik Saar, the Conservatoire à rayonnement régional de Poitiers, and the Conservatoire de Paris. Among his teachers were He ...

Quote from Tadlock's dissertation on Rivier

::"Jean Rivier (1896–1987), a twentieth-century French composer of the neo-classical school, is remembered primarily for his flute compositions. However, this prolific composer was extremely active in French musical circles from the period after World War I until his death. He composed over two hundred works, including symphonies, chamber music, concertos, choral music, piano works, music for solo instruments, and accompanied songs. For fourteen years, he shared with Darius Milhaud a position as Professor of Composition at the Paris Conservatory, and continued as sole professor from 1962 until his retirement in 1966. Rivier was a founding member of Triton, a musical society that promoted new music, and he was associated extensively with the French Radio (ORTF). Despite his successful career, Rivier's music was often eclipsed by the increasingly avant-garde compositions of more progressive French composers. ::Rivier's songs are best represented by his twenty-nine published melodies or poemes, notable for their brevity, attention to detail, and their lyrical melodies, tonal harmonies with creative dissonances, and carefully structured forms (especially ABA forms). With music set to poems by Guillaume Apollinaire, Henri Mahaut,

Arthur Rimbaud Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (, ; 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet known for his transgressive and surreal themes and for his influence on modern literature and arts, prefiguring surrealism. Born in Charleville, he sta ...

Pierre de Ronsard Pierre de Ronsard (; 11 September 1524 – 27 December 1585) was a French poet or, as his own generation in France called him, a " prince of poets". Early life Pierre de Ronsard was born at the Manoir de la Possonnière, in the village of ...

Clément Marot Clément Marot (23 November 1496 – 12 September 1544) was a French Renaissance poet. Biography Youth Marot was born at Cahors, the capital of the province of Quercy, some time during the winter of 1496–1497. His father, Jean Marot (c ...

Joachim du Bellay Joachim du Bellay (; – 1 January 1560) was a French poet, critic, and a founder of the Pléiade. He notably wrote the manifesto of the group: '' Défense et illustration de la langue française'', which aimed at promoting French as an ...

, Rene Chalupt, and Paul Gilson, the songs are characterized by quartal and quintal harmonies, modality, polychords, parallelism, contrasting moods, and expressive emotions." – David Michael Tadlock, ''The published songs of Jean Rivier'' (dissertatio

Compositions

*3 Points Seches for piano *4 Fantasmes for piano *4 Sequences Dialogues ''(need instrumentation)'' *Alternances for piano *Andante Espressivo Ed Allegro Burlesco (three movements) for clarinet and piano *Aria for

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standar ...

(or

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. ...

) and organ *Brillances for 2 trumpets, 2 French horns, 2 trombones and 1 tuba *Capriccio ''(need instrumentation)'' *Comme Une Tendre Berceuse for flute and piano *Concerto (arranged by Rene Decouais) ''(need instrumentation)'' *Concerto for alto saxophone,

and string

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

(1955) *Concerto for alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, 2 bassoons, trumpet,

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

*Concerto for bassoon and strings.

(1963) *Concerto for clarinet and string orchestra (1958) *Concerto for flute and

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...

*Concerto for oboe and orchestra (or piano) (1966) *Concerto for

and string

*Concerto #1 in C for

and orchestra (1940) *Concerto Brève for

and strings (1953) *Concertino for saxophone and orchestra (or

) *Concertino for

viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

and orchestra (1947) *Déjeuner sur l'herbe ''(need instrumentation)'' *''Doloroso et Giocoso'' for

and piano (1969) *Duo for flute and clarinet in Bb *Espagnole for violin and piano *Grave et Presto for saxophone quartet *''Nocturne'', his contribution to '' Variations sur le nom de Marguerite Long'' *''Le Petit Gondolier'' for piano *Les Trois "S" for clarinet *''Oiseau tendre'' for solo flute *Ouverture pour une opérette imaginaire

*3 Pastorales for Orchestra (1929) *Petite suite (for oboe, clarinet & bassoon, 1934) *Piece in D ''(Pièce en Ré pour contrebasse et piano, 1920)'' *''Pour Des Mains Amies'' for piano *Priere ''(need instrumentation)'' *''Quatuor A Cordes #1'' (string quartet #1) (1924) *''Quatuor A Cordes #2'' (string quartet #2) (1940) *Rapsodie for

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrat ...

and piano *Requiem ''(need instrumentation)'' *Sonate for piano *Stridences for piano *String Trio * Symphony #1 (1931) * Symphony #2 in C major for string orchestra (1937) * Symphony #3 in G major for string orchestra (1937) * Symphony #4 in B flat major for string orchestra (1947) * Symphony #5 in A minor (1950) * Symphony #6 in E minor "Les Présages" (1958) * Symphony #7 in F major "Les Contrastes" (1971) * Symphony #8 for string orchestra (1978) *Torrents for piano *Trois Mouvements for clarinet and piano *Virevoltes for flute His complete piano works have been published in one volume by Salabert.

Discography

*Concerto for Alto Saxophone, Trumpet and Orchestra appears on "French Saxophone Concertos", Naxos 8.225127 *Concerto for alto saxophone, trumpet and strings appears on "Virtuoso Saxophone Concertos" (Virtuose Saxophonkonzerte), Koch Schwann *''Oiseaux tendres'' appears on "WIESLER, Manuela: Flute Music" Naxos BIS-CD-689 *String Quartets No 1 and 2, Mandelring Quartet. Audite 97.710 (2021)Reviewed at ''MusicWeb International''
/ref> *Symphonies #3 in G, #4 in B♭, and #8 in __ (all for strings) Calmel Chamber Orchestra conducted by Bernard Calmel, on Pavane CD ADW 7328 (1994) (currently out of print)

References

External links

Abstract of dissertation on the songs of Jean Rivier by David Michael Tadlock

Quote from Tadlock's dissertation on Rivier

Compositions

Discography

References

External links

Further reading