Michel Decoust (born 19 November 1936) 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 ...

and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

Biography

Decoust was born in born

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 ...

on 19 November 1936. He studied from 1956 to 1965 with Jean Rivier and

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 composition ...

at the Paris Conservatoire, as well as at the Cologne Courses for New Music in 1964–65, with

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 ...

. He also studied orchestral conducting in 1965 with Boulez in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

. In 1967 he taught composition at the Dartington College Summer Courses. He served as regional musical organizer for the Orchestre Philharmonique des Pays de la Loire from 1967 to 1970, and from 1970 to 1972 directed musical activities at the Maison de la Culture of Rennes and Nevers. He founded and directed the Pantin Conservatoire Municipal de Musique from 1972 to 1976, and was director of education at

IRCAM IRCAM (French: ''Ircam, '', English: Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music) is a French institute dedicated to the research of music and sound, especially in the fields of Avant-garde music, avant garde and Electroacoustic ...

from 1976 to 1979. He was vice-chair of the symphonic music committee of the French composer's union SACEM from 1979 to 1992. He has been awarded the

Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

, the Ambron International Composition Prize, and a Besançon International Competition conducting prize.

Compositions (selective list)

*''Horizon remarquable'' (

René Char René Émile Char (; 14 June 1907 – 19 February 1988) was a French poet and member of the French Resistance. Biography Char was born in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue in the Vaucluse department of France, the youngest of the four children of Emile ...

), for soprano and orchestra (1964) *''Distorsion'', for 3 flutes (1965) *''Mobile'', for percussion (1965) *''Polymorphie'', for orchestra (1967) *''Et/ou'', for from 1–44 pianos (1972) *''7.854.693.286'', for 8-track tape (1972) *''L'application des lectrices aux champs'', for soprano and orchestra (1977) *''Onde'', for brass quintet (1982) *''Olos'', for tenor saxophone and electronics (1983) *''Les galeries de pierres'', for solo viola (1984) *''Sun'' for solo viola (or violin) and 12 string instruments (1971) *''Symétrie'', for winds and percussion (1986) *''Marbres'', for 4-track tape (1986) *''Sept chansons érotiques'', for soprano and piano (1986) *''Le temps d'écrite'', for piano (1988–92) *''A jamais d'ombre'', for voice and string quartet (1996) *''Cent phrases pour éventail'' (

Paul Claudel Paul Claudel (; 6 August 1868 – 23 February 1955) was a French poet, dramatist and diplomat, and the younger brother of the sculptor Camille Claudel. He was most famous for his verse dramas, which often convey his devout Catholicism. Early lif ...

), for six voices and instrumental ensemble (1996)

Biography

Compositions (selective list)

References

Further reading