Philippe Capdenat
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Philippe Capdenat (born 17 July 1934) is a French composer and academic teacher. First a mining engineer, he started composing
avant-garde music Avant-garde music is music that is considered to be at the forefront of innovation in its field, with the term "avant-garde" implying a critique of existing aesthetic conventions, rejection of the status quo in favor of unique or original elem ...
, but turned to chamber music, music for the stage (opera, ballet, play music) and vocal music, using traditional instruments. He has been a teacher at several French universities and conservatories.


Career

Born in
Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...
, Capdenat attended special courses in mathematics in addition to his schooling, took piano lessons and conducted a youth choir. From 1954 to 1958 he studied mining engineering at the ''École Nationale Supérieure des Mines'' in
Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...
, where he also took classes in piano and composition at the conservatory. He served in the military in Algeria for two years. From 1960 to 1967, he worked in Paris as an engineer, but also continued to study music, with
Max Deutsch Max Deutsch (17 November 1892 – 22 November 1982) was an Austrian-French composer, conductor, and academic teacher. He studied with Arnold Schoenberg and was his assistant. Teaching at the Sorbonne and the École Normale de Musique de Paris, he ...
at the
École Normale École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...
. He was the leader of the ''Chorale Jéricho'' and the chamber orchestra ''Orchestre de Chambre Philippe Capdenat''. In 1967 he toured Denmark, conducting the radio orchestra of
Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (after Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2025, the city proper had a population of 185,480 while Odense Municipality had a population of 210, ...
. In 1968–69 he collaborated with
Maurice Béjart Maurice Béjart (; 1 January 1927 – 22 November 2007) was a French dancer, choreographer and Theatre director, opera director who ran the Béjart Ballet Lausanne in Switzerland. He developed a popular expressionistic form of modern ballet, tac ...
in
Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
on the ballet ''Je fus cet enfant-là''. In 1971, he was awarded the Hervé Dugardin Prize of the
Société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique The Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers of Music or SACEM () is a French professional association collecting payments of artists’ rights and distributing the rights to the original songwriters, composers, and music publisher A mus ...
(SACEM), and he decided to concentrate on music in 1978. He composed on commissions from
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 ...
, the French Ministry of Culture, the Orchestre nationale de Lille and
Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...
, and the ''Grand Théâtre'' in Tours. He collaborated with ensembles including Ensemble Ars Nova,
Domaine musical The Domaine musical was a concert society established by Pierre Boulez and Suzanne Tézenas in Paris, which was active from 1954 to 1973. Composers represented at its concerts included Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Olivier Messiaen, Luciano Berio ...
and
Ensemble l'Itinéraire The ''Ensemble l’Itinéraire'' is one of the main European ensembles dedicated to the performance of contemporary music, known in particular for its performances of spectral music works. Spectral music alters “timbres by assembling orchestral m ...
, with conductors such as
Serge Baudo Serge Baudo (born 16 July 1927) is a French conductor, the son of the oboist Étienne Baudo. He is the nephew of the cellist Paul Tortelier. Baudo was conductor of the Orchestra of Radio Nice from 1959 to 1962. He then served as permanent conduct ...
,
Jean-Claude Casadesus Jean-Claude Probst (born 7 December 1935), known professionally as Jean-Claude Casadesus, is a French Conducting, conductor. Biography Casadesus was born in Paris on 7 December 1935, the son of actress Gisèle Casadesus and her husband Lucien Pa ...
,
Patrick Fournillier Patrick Fournillier (born 26 December 1954 in Neuilly-sur-Seine) is a French conductor, particularly associated with opera and with the works of Jules Massenet. He studied in Paris with Louis Fourestier and Pierre Dervaux, then in Strasbourg ...
and with
Pascal Verrot Pascal Verrot is a French-born orchestra conductor who holds the post of principal conductor of the Sendai Philharmonic (Japan) and former musical director of Picardy Orchestra in France. Prior to that, he was music director of the Quebec Symphon ...
, and with soloists including
Jean-Paul Fouchécourt 2015 Jean-Paul Fouchécourt is a French tenor, mostly as an opera singer. He was born on 30 August 1958 at Blanzy in the Burgundy region. He is best known for singing French Baroque music, especially the parts called in French ''haute-contre'', ...
, Sylvio Gualda,
Christian Ivaldi Christian Ivaldi (born 2 September 1938) is a French pianist. Ivaldi was born in Paris. He studied at the Paris Conservatory with Jacques Février and took a Premier Prix in piano performance, as well as in chamber music, counterpoint, and a ...
and
Mady Mesplé Mady Mesplé (7 March 1931 – 30 May 2020) was a French opera singer who was considered the leading coloratura soprano of her generation in France, and sometimes heralded as the successor to Mado Robin, with ''Lakmé'' by Delibes becoming her si ...
. From 1981 to 1991 he lectured at the Sorbonne, teaching analysis, composition, harmony and counterpoint, and also at
Lyon University The University of Lyon ( , or UdL) is a university system ( ''ComUE'') based in Lyon, France. It comprises 12 members and 9 associated institutions. The 3 main constituent universities in this center are: Claude Bernard University Lyon 1, which f ...
and Tours University ( fr). In 1992, Capdenat was appointed professor of
musical analysis Musical analysis is the study of musical structure in either compositions or performances. According to music theorist Ian Bent, music analysis "is the means of answering directly the question 'How does it work?'". The method employed to ans ...
and composition at the ''École Nationale de Musique et de Danse'' in
Montreuil Montreuil is a French place name derived from Medieval Latin , "Little Monastery". It most often refers to Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis (aka Montreuil-sous-Bois), a French commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, Seine-St-Denis department. It ma ...
. From 1995 to 2001 he was director of the department of contemporary music at the ''Conservatoire Nadia et Lili Boulanger'' in Paris. Among his students is
Mansoor Hosseini Mansoor Hosseini (; born 1967) is an Iranian-Swedish percussionist and composer of classical music, born in Iran, who studied in Paris and Brussels. His works comprise chamber music and orchestral pieces. He founded the Ensemble Themus in Gothen ...
. He then became president of the association for contemporary music ''Opus Open'' and continued in that post until 2010. In 1990, he was awarded a prize for composers from SACEM, and in 1996 won a prize from the
Académie des Beaux-Arts The (; ) is a French learned society based in Paris. It is one of the five academies of the . The current president of the academy (2021) is Alain-Charles Perrot, a French architect. Background The academy was created in 1816 in Paris as a me ...
. In 2001, his opera ''Une Carmen'', loosely based on Bizet's
Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...
, re-imagined the topic in Arab-Andalusian style, with Carmen relocated to Morocco and instruments such as the
oud The oud ( ; , ) is a Middle Eastern short-neck lute-type, pear-shaped, fretless stringed instrument (a chordophone in the Hornbostel–Sachs classification of instruments), usually with 11 strings grouped in six courses, but some models have ...
,
tablah The goblet drum (also chalice drum, tarabuka, tarabaki, darbuka, darabuka, derbake, debuka, doumbek, dumbec, dumbeg, dumbelek, toumperleki, tumbak, or zerbaghali; / Romanized: ) is a single-head membranophone with a goblet-shaped body. It is ...
, and quanun, played by Moroccan musicians. Directed by , the ''Opéra Éclaté'' performed it at the ''Les Excentrés'' festival in Gap and on a national tour. In 2011, Capdenat's ''Variations'' received the first prize in the competition of the ' (ONHJ, National youth orchestra), which inviting European composers to write a piece for performance.


Work

Capdenat expressed his goal as "music open to the acquisitions of contemporary language yet retaining the desire to be clear and lyrical and avoiding both demagogy and neo-romanticism". He composed music in genres from chamber music to opera, including
aleatoric music Aleatoric music (also aleatory music or chance music; from the Latin language, Latin word ''alea'', meaning "dice") is music in which some Aspect of music, element of the composition is left to Randomness, chance, and/or some primary element of a ...
,
electroacoustics Acoustical engineering (also known as acoustic engineering) is the branch of engineering dealing with sound and vibration. It includes the application of acoustics, the science of sound and vibration, in technology. Acoustical engineers are typical ...
,
repetitive music Repetition is important in music, where sounds or sequences are often repeated. It may be called restatement, such as the restatement of a theme. While it plays a role in all music, with noise and musical tones lying along a spectrum from irregu ...
and
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 ...
. After works which were then "avant-garde", he turned to more lyrical music. He composed ''Croce e delizia'' for Mady Mesplé, the opera ''Sébastien en martyr'' for the Tours Opera, his ''Requiem'' for the ''Festival d’art sacré'' at
Dax The DAX (''Deutscher Aktienindex'' (German stock index); ) is a stock market index consisting of the 40 major German blue chip companies trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. It is a total return index. Prices are taken from the Xetra t ...
, and ''Le condamné à mort'' and ''Une Carmen'' for the ''Opéra Éclaté''.


Selected works

The Union Nationale des Compositeurs de Musique offers a list of his works including precise scoring and durations. * ''Prélude & fugue'' for organ Op.0 (1956) * ''Irradiations'' for nine strings Op.1 (1964) * ''Batteries'' for prepared piano Op.2 (1967) * ''Concerto italien'' for prepared piano. celesta, electronic organ, vocal ensemble and orchestra Op.3 (1970) * ''Haute surveillance'', music for a play, for tape (1970) * ''Pentacle'' for harp, ''Psalterium'' and string trio Op.5 (1971) * ''Note d'espace'' for electric cello and tape Op.6 (1972) * ''Chrysos'', ballet music for tape (1972) * ''Wahazzin'' for solo percussion, three marimbas and a large orchestra Op.4 (1972) * ''Croce e delizia'' for soprano, flute, clarinet, violin, cello and prepared piano Op.7 (1973) * ''Symphonèmes'' for orchestra Op.8 (1973) * ''Lysis'', music for a play, for tape (1973) * ''Stimuli'' for sounds and instruments Op.9 (1974) * ''Rituale per Cenci'' for bass, organ-synthesizer, wind quintet and two percussionists Op.10 (1974) * ''Tahar'' for twelve strings Op.11 (1975) * ''Cérémonie secrète'', music for a ballet, for tape (1975) * ''Opéra solo'' for actor pantomime (1975) * ''Le silence de l'oiseau de la paix'' for five winds and orchestra Op.12 (1975) * ''Sonata di continuo'' for electronic cello, prepared piano and tape Op.14 (1978) * ''Cassation'' for two chamber orchestras Op.15 (1979) * ''Simple-Double-Triple'' for ondes martenot, piano, percussion and three orchestras Op.16 (1980) * ''I Cenci'', opera after
Antonin Artaud Antoine Maria Joseph Paul Artaud (; ; 4September 18964March 1948), better known as Antonin Artaud, was a French artist who worked across a variety of media. He is best known for his writings, as well as his work in the theatre and cinema. Widely ...
Op.13 (1981) * ''Sinfonia sui Cenci'' for orchestra Op.17 (1981) * ''Palindrome I'', Baroque suite for lute and oboe Op.18 (1980) * ''Palindrome II'' for string quartet Op.19 (1981) * ''Palindrome III'', piano sonata Op.20 (1981) * ''Palindrome en Chaconne I'' for organ Op.21 (1982) * ''Palindrome en Chaconne II'' for orchestra Op.22 (1983) * ''Palindrome en Chaconne III'' for string sextet Op.23 (1983) * ''Nadira'' for soprano, speaker, choir and orchestra Op.24 (1983) * ''Batteries II'' for two prepared pianos Op.25 (1984) * ''Erta a tre'' for wind trio Op.26 (1984) * ''Pantoum'' for mezzo-soprano and piano Op.27 (1983) * ''Palindrome en Chaconne IV'' for piano quintet Op.28 (1988) * ''Palindrome en Chaconne VI'' for twelve strings Op.29 (1986) * ''Serenata'' for double bass and prepared piano Op.30 (1985) * ''Six études en variations'' for two violins Op.31 (1986) * ''Sébastien en martyr'', chamber opera Op.32 (1986) * ''Le Sébastien de Mantegna'' for baritone and piano Op.32b (1986) * ''Flèche de tout bois'' for clarinet and piano Op.33 (1989) * ''Sérénade'' for double bass quartet Op.34 (1986) * ''Le assonanze'', trio for ondes Martenot, piano and percussion Op.35 (1987) * ''Sade'', opera Op.36 (1989) * ''Pyramis'' for piano and two string trios Op.37 (1991) * ''Sur le nom de Sade'' for piano Op.38 (1991) * ''Badinerie'' for harpsichord Op.39 (1991) * ''Le chasseur égaré'' for choir Op.40 (1993) * ''Requiem'' for soprano, baritone, small and large choir, choir organ, grand organ, piano and percussion Op.41 (1993) * ''Le sirop d'Eros'' for soprano, clarinet and piano Op.42 (1993) * ''Le sirop d'Eros'' for soprano, clarinet, horn and string quartet Op.42b (1998) * ''Air dodécatonique'' for baritone, alto saxophone and piano Op.44 (1993) * ''Va-t'en, go!'', Tango for soprano, clarinet, piano, violin, viola and cello Op.45 (1996) * ''Galatée'', ''ekloge'' for string quartet Op.46 (1999) * ''Après une lecture de Pétrarque'', madrigal for mixed choir a cappella Op.47 (1999) * ''Prose brisée'' for soprano, baritone and piano Op.47a (1998) * ''Sonnet CCLXXIX de Pétrarque'' for voice and piano Op.48 (1999) * ''Vocalise sur les onomatopées'' for voice and piano Op.48a (1999) * ''Sarabande'' for cello solo Op.49 (1999) * ''Palindrome en Chaconne V'' for wind and string quintet Op.43 (2001) * ''Alerte'' for trumpet solo Op.50 (2000) * ''Fanfare'' for wind quintet Op.51 (2000) * ''Le condamné à mort'', monodrama for baritone, akkordeon and instrumental ensemble Op.52 (2000) * ''...après une lecture de Pétrarque'', madrigal for soprano, tenor and string sextet Op.54 (2003) * ''Maris Stella'' for clarinet and winds Op. 55 (2003) * ''Trois danses'' for alto saxophone and harp Op.56 (2004) * ''2ème quatuor à cordes ("le condamné à mort")'' for string quartet Op.57 (2005)


References


External links

*
L' oeuvre de Philippe Capdenat

Opéra Éclaté
{{DEFAULTSORT:Capdenat, Philippe 20th-century French classical composers 21st-century French classical composers 21st-century French male composers French opera composers French male opera composers 1934 births Living people Musicians from Bordeaux Academic staff of the University of Lyon Mines Paris - PSL alumni 20th-century French male musicians