Marcel Mihalovici (

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, 22 October 1898 –

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, 12 August 1985) was a French composer born in Romania. He was discovered by

George Enescu George Enescu (; – 4 May 1955), known in France as Georges Enesco, was a Romanians, Romanian composer, violinist, pianist, conductor, teacher and statesman. He is regarded as one of the greatest musicians in Romanian history. Biography En ...

. He moved to

in 1919 (at age 21) to study under

Vincent d'Indy Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy (; 27 March 18512 December 1931) was a French composer and teacher. His influence as a teacher, in particular, was considerable. He was a co-founder of the Schola Cantorum de Paris and also taught at the Pa ...

. His works include his ''Sonata number 1 for violin and piano'' (1920), ''Mélusine'' opera (1920, libretto by Yvan Goll), his ''1st string quartet'' (1923), ''2nd string quartet'' (1931), ''Sonata number 2 for violin and piano'' (1941), ''Sonata for violin and cello'' (1944), ''Phèdre'' Opera (1949), ''Étude in two parts for piano and instrumental ensemble'' (1951) and ''Esercizio per archi'' (1960). Many of his piano works were first performed by his wife, the concert pianist Monique Haas. Mihalovici was the original composer for the music of

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

's radio play '' Cascando'' (1962). His ''Fifth Symphony'' features a soprano singing a setting of a Beckett poem, and he used ''

Krapp's Last Tape ''Krapp's Last Tape'' is a 1958 one-act play, in English, by Samuel Beckett. With a cast of one man, it was written for Northern Irish actor Patrick Magee (actor), Patrick Magee and first titled "Magee monologue". It was inspired by Beckett's e ...

'' as the basis for a small opera, Krapp, ou, La dernière bande. His memories of their friendship are recounted in the collected work ''Beckett at Sixty A Festschrift'' by John Calder, Calder and Boyars (1967). A strong proponent of

neoclassicism Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative arts, decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiq ...

, during his career Mihalovici embraced a variety of contemporary styles, with a harmonic language ranging from

chromaticism Chromaticism is a compositional technique interspersing the primary diatonic scale, diatonic pitch (music), pitches and chord (music), chords with other pitches of the chromatic scale. In simple terms, within each octave, diatonic music uses o ...

serialism In music, serialism is a method of composition using series of pitches, rhythms, dynamics, timbres or other musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, though some of his contemporaries were also ...

. Romanian folk music influenced his unconventional use of rhythmic variation and instrumental colour.

List of Works (by opus number)

(Works with "op. ??" are placed at the point in the list where they are presumed to have been composed) * op. 6 – Three Nocturnes; piano * op. 11 – Sonatine; piano * op. 12 – Dialogues; clarinet and piano * op. 13 – Sonatine; oboe or violin and piano * op. 18 – Chansons et Jeux (Romanian Poems); voice and piano * op. 19 – Impromptu Pieces; piano * op. ?? – Sonata no. 1; violin and piano * op. ?? – String Quartet no. 1 * op. 23 – Karagueuz; puppet ballet for orchestra or 4-hand piano * op. 25 - Trois romances de Victor Hugo, piano and voice, published 1932 * op. 26 – Fantaisie for orchestra (performed at the 1930 ISCM Festival in Liège) * op. 27 – The Intransigent Pluto, or, Orpheus in the Underworld; opera in one act * op. 28 – Chindia; radio-orchestra * op. 29 – Four Caprices; piano * op. 30 – Trio 'Serenade'; violin, viola, and cello * op. 31 – String Quartet no. 2 * op. 32 – Chanson, Pastorale, Rumanian Dance; piano * op. 33 – Concerto (Quasi una Fantasia); violin and orchestra * op. 35 – Sonata; clarinet trio (E-flat, A, and bass clarinet in B-flat) * op. 37 – Five Bagatelles; piano * op. 38 – Divertissement; small orchestra * op. 40 – Rhapsody Concertante; orchestra * op. 42 – Prelude and Invention; string orchestra * op. 44 – Toccata; piano and orchestra (or 2 pianos) * op. 45 – Sonata no. 2; violin and piano * op. 46 – Ricarcari, Variations; piano * op. 47 – Sonata; viola and piano * op. ?? – Sequences; orchestra * op. 50 – Sonata; violin and cello * op. 51 – Counter-Rhymes, 3 songs; voice and piano * op. 52 – String Quartet no. 3 * op. 54 – Variations; horns and strings * op. 58 – Phèdre; opera in five scenes * op. 59 – Sonata; solo violin * op. 60 – Sonata; solo cello * op. 61 – Ritournelles; orchestra * op. 62 – Four Pastorales; piano * op. 63 – Three Nocturnes; piano * op. 64 – Etude in Two Parties; piano, winds, brass, celeste, and percussion * op. 65 – Sinfonia giocosa (Symphony no. 1); orchestra * op. 66 – Sinfonia partita (Symphony no. 2); string orchestra * op. 67 – Two Poems by Agrippa D'Aubigne; SATB chorus * op. 68 – Memorial (Five Motets); chorus * op. ?? – Symphonies for Present Times; orchestra * op. 70 – The Homecoming; opera in one act * op. 71 – Trio; oboe, clarinet, and bassoon * op. 72 – Elegy; orchestra * op. 73 – Scenes from Thésée (Ballet); orchestra * op. 74 – Alternamenti (Ballet); orchestra * op. 75 – Evening Songs, Four Poems by Yvan Goll; voice and piano * op. 76 – Tragic Overture; orchestra * op. ?? – Sonata; bassoon and piano * op. 78 – Sonata; B-flat clarinet and piano * op. ?? – Scherzo-Waltz; B-flat trumpet and piano * op. ?? – Meditation; C or B-flat trumpet and piano * op. ?? – Novelette; bassoon and piano * op. ?? – Episode; Horn in F and piano * op. 80 – Exercise; string orchestra * op. 81 – Krapp's Last Tape (Beckett); opera * op. 82 – Sinfonia variata (Symphony no. 3); orchestra * op. 83 – Improvisations; percussion and piano * op. 84 – The Twins; opera in three acts * op. 87 – Musique Nocturne; clarinet and chamber orchestra * op. 88 – Sinfonia Cantata (Symphony no. 4); baritone, mixed chorus, and orchestra * op. 89 – Aubade; string orchestra * op. 90 – Sonata; piano * op. 92 – Dialogues; clarinet and piano * op. 93 – Périples; small orchestra * op. 94 – Symphony no. 5 (in memory of Hans Rosbaud) * op. 95 – Pretexts; oboe, bass clarinet, piano, percussion, and strings * op. 96 – Variantes; F horn and piano * op. 97 – Cantus Firmus; two pianos * op. 98 – Rondo; orchestra * op. 99 – Serioso; bass saxhorn and piano * op. 100 – Cantilène; mezzo-soprano and chamber orchestra * op. 101 – Recit; solo clarinet * op. 102 – Melopeia; oboe solo * op. 103 – Chant Premier (Sonata); tenor saxophone and orchestra * op. 104 – Texts; viola and piano * op. 105 – Passacaglia for One Hand; piano * op. 106 – Follia, Paraphrases; orchestra * op. 107 – Délié (Cantata); soprano and orchestra (or piano) * op. 108 – Sonata-Danse; cello and piano * op. 109 – Malinconia (Cantata); soprano, bass, string quartet, and orchestra * op. 110 – Sonata; viola solo * op. 111 – String Quartet no. 4 * op. 112 – Mirror of Songs; flute and piano * op. 113 – Torse (Meditation); violin solo * op. 114 – Elegy no. 2; violin and piano

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mihalovici, Marcel 20th-century French classical composers French male classical composers Romanian emigrants to France Musicians from Bucharest 1898 births 1985 deaths 20th-century French male musicians