Philippe Alexandre Autexier (1954–1998) was a French

music historian Music history, sometimes called historical musicology, is a highly diverse subfield of the broader discipline of musicology that studies music from a historical point of view. In theory, "music history" could refer to the study of the history of ...

musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

, journalist and

Masonic Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

researcher, whose research on

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

and other Masonic composers is particularly significant.

Biography

Autexier's passion for music led him to become a musicologist and music historian. He spoke French, English, German and Italian. He taught at several conservatories and universities in France, Italy, Germany, United Kingdom and the United States. He wrote music reviews for various specialised journals, and a number of books on

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic period. With a diverse body of work spanning more than six decades, he is considered to be one of the most pro ...

, Bartók and other

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

musicians. He was director of the “” (Mozart and Freemason) exhibition in 1991 in

Cahors Cahors (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the western part of Southern France. It is the smallest prefecture among the 13 departments that constitute the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Region. The capital and main city of t ...

. He also participated in many radio programmes, such as

France Musique France Musique () is a French national public radio channel owned and operated by Radio France. It is devoted to the broadcasting of music, both live and recorded, with particular emphasis on classical music and jazz. History The channel was lau ...

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 ...

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, as well as

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and

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

channels. During more than 20 years, he worked on the subject of “” (Column of Harmony)—a research on the history of

Masonic music Masonic music has been defined as "music used in connection with the ritual and social functions of freemasonry." Two major types of music used in masonic lodges are lodge songs, played to keyboard accompaniment before or after meetings, or during ...

—which led him to study all the collections of Masonic archives in Europe (

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 ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

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Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Bayreuth Bayreuth ( or ; High Franconian German, Upper Franconian: Bareid, ) is a Town#Germany, town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtel Mountains. The town's roots date back to 11 ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, et cetera). The research results were published in his book . Among Autexier's publications, the only work written for the general public is , a richly

illustrated An illustration is a decoration, interpretation, or visual explanation of a text, concept, or process, designed for integration in print and digitally published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vi ...

pocket book belonging to the “

Découvertes Gallimard (, ; in United Kingdom: ''New Horizons'', in United States: ''Abrams Discoveries'') is an Collection (publishing), editorial collection of Book illustration, illustrated monographic books published by the Éditions Gallimard in Pocket edition, ...

”

collection Collection or Collections may refer to: Computing * Collection (abstract data type), the abstract concept of collections in computer science * Collection (linking), the act of linkage editing in computing * Garbage collection (computing), autom ...

, which has been translated into seven languages, including English. It is simple, concise and accessible to all, unlike the rest of his books which are specialist works.

Bibliography

* ''Béla Bartók : Musique de la vie'', Stock Musique, 1981 * ''Les oeuvres témoins de Mozart'', Éditions A. Leduc, 1982 * ''Mozart & Liszt sub Rosa'', Centre Mozart, 1984 * ''Mozart'', Honoré Champion, 1987 * ''Don Giovanni : Horizons mozartiens'', Philippe Olivier, 1990 * ''Beethoven : La force de l’absolu'', collection «

» (nº 106), série Arts. Éditions Gallimard, 1991, new edition in 2010 ** ''Beethoven: The Composer as Hero'', “

Abrams Discoveries Abrams may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Abrams (surname), a list of notable people with the surname Places United States * Abrams, Wisconsin, a town * Abrams (community), Wisconsin, an unincorporated community * Abrams Mountain, Colorado * Abr ...

” series. Harry N. Abrams, 1992. (U.S. edition) ** ''Beethoven: The Composer as Hero'', ‘

New Horizons ''New Horizons'' is an Interplanetary spaceflight, interplanetary space probe launched as a part of NASA's New Frontiers program. Engineered by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the Southwest Research Institut ...

’ series, Thames & Hudson, 1992. (UK edition) * ''La Lyre Maçonne : Mozart, Haydn, Spohr, Liszt'', Éditions Detrad aVs, 1991 * ''La Colonne d’Harmonie : Histoire, Théorie, Pratique'', Éditions Detrad aVs, 1991, new edition in 2013 * ''L’art de la planche : Théorie et pratique du morceau d’architecture et de la communication en loge'', Éditions Detrad aVs, 1996, new edition in 2005

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Autexier, Philippe A. 1954 births 1998 deaths French music historians 20th-century French musicologists 20th-century French writers 20th-century French historians 1998 suicides Suicides in France