Pierre Capdevielle (1 February 1906 – 9 July 1969) was a French

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 ...

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

music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...

. In 1938 he was awarded the

Prix Blumenthal The Prix Blumenthal (or ''Blumenthal Prize'') was a grant or stipend awarded through the philanthropy of Florence Meyer Blumenthal (1875–1930) – and the foundation she created, ''Fondation franco-américaine Florence Blumenthal (Franco-Am ...

and in 1948 he founded the Centre de documentation de musique internationale. For many years he was President of France's chapter of the

International Society for Contemporary Music The International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) is a music organization that promotes contemporary classical music. The organization was established in Salzburg in 1922 as Internationale Gesellschaft für Neue Musik (IGNM) following the ...

. He also served on the music council of

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

. In 1961 he was made a Chevalier of the Order of the Légion d'honneur.

Life and career

Born in Paris, Capdevielle studied at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

from 1924 to 1926. While there he was a pupil of

Armand Ferté Armand refer to: People * Armand (name), list of people with this name *Armand (photographer) (1901–1963), Armenian photographer *Armand (singer) (1946–2015), Dutch protest singer *Sean Armand (born 1991), American basketball player *Armand, ...

(piano),

André Gedalge André Gedalge (27 December 1856 – 5 February 1926) was a French composer and teacher. Biography André Gedalge was born at 75 rue des Saints-Pères in Paris where he first worked as a bookseller and editor, specialising in ''livres de prix' ...

(

counterpoint In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. The term originates from the Latin ...

and

fugue In classical music, a fugue (, from Latin ''fuga'', meaning "flight" or "escape""Fugue, ''n''." ''The Concise Oxford English Dictionary'', eleventh edition, revised, ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson (Oxford and New York: Oxford Universit ...

Isidor Philipp Isidor Edmond Philipp (first name sometimes spelled Isidore) (2 September 1863 – 20 February 1958) was a French pianist, composer, and pedagogue of Jewish Hungarian descent. He was born in Budapest and died in Paris. Biography Isidor Philipp ...

(piano), and

Paul Vidal Paul Antonin Vidal (16 June 1863 – 9 April 1931) was a French composer, conductor and music teacher mainly active in Paris.Charlton D. Paul Vidal. In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.'' Macmillan, London and New York, 1997. Life and caree ...

(

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography * Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...

). After leaving the conservatoire he studied privately with

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 ...

. During the 1930s, Capdevielle began working as an

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

conductor with theatres in the French provinces. He also worked as a music critic for '' Monde musicale'' and '' Revue musicale''. In 1942 he became a professor of

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

at the Conservatoire de Paris and also served on the school's jury of examiners. In 1944 he was appointed the

Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (; RTF; "French Radio and Television Broadcasting") was the French national public broadcaster television organization established on 9 February 1949 to replace the post-war "''Radiodiffusion Française''" ...

's director of the chamber music. He formed a special chamber orchestra at the RTF in 1952 with whom he conducted concerts on tour throughout Europe up through 1964. He died in Bordeaux at the age of 63.

Music

His entry in ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and t ...

'' describes his music as "the expression of a stormy, romantic temperament, moderated somewhat in the manner of

Albert Roussel Albert Charles Paul Marie Roussel (; 5 April 1869 – 23 August 1937) was a French composer. He spent seven years as a midshipman, turned to music as an adult, and became one of the most prominent French composers of the interwar period. His ...

", noting his like for literary allusions, as in the rhythmically complex overture ''Le pédant joue'' of 1943 which calls on both orchestral and local percussion instruments to evoke the subject matter of the comedy by

Cyrano de Bergerac Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac ( , ; 6 March 1619 – 28 July 1655) was a French novelist, playwright, epistolarian, and duelist. A bold and innovative author, his work was part of the libertine literature of the first half of the 17th ce ...

. His ''Concerto del dispetto'' of 1959 integrates

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 ...

and

polytonality Polytonality (also polyharmony) is the musical use of more than one key (music), key simultaneity (music), simultaneously. Bitonality is the use of only two different keys at the same time. Polyvalence or polyvalency is the use of more than one di ...

Works

Operas

* ''Les Amants captifs'', a mythe lyrique with a

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

Paul Guth Paul Guth (5 March 1910 – 29 October 1997) was a French humorist, journalist and writer, and the President of the ''Académie des provinces françaises''. A novelist, essayist, columnist, memoirist, historian, pamphleteer, he distinguished ...

* ''Fille de l'Homme'', tragédie lyrique, Paris, Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française, 9 November 1967

Orchestral

* ''Incantation pour la mort d'un Jeune Spartiate'' (1931; revised 1939) * ''3 symphonies'' (1936; 1942; ''da camera'' 1952-1953) * ''Ouverture pour le pédant joué'' (1943) * ''Epaves retrouvées'', (composed 1952-1956) * ''Moliera'', suite symphonique (1947) * ''Concerto del dispetto'' for piano and orchestra (1959)

Chamber music

* ''Trois pièces brèves'' for violin and piano (1948) * ''Sonata da camera'' for violin and cello (1952) * ''Élégie de Duino'' for Horn and Piano (1960) * ''Sonate pour alto et piano'' * ''Sonatina pastorale'' for flute and viola (1964)

Choral and vocal music

* ''De profundis'' for tenor and organ (1939) * ''La Tragédie de Pérégrinos'' for narrator, chorus and orchestra on a text by Charles Exbrayat (1941) inspired by the pamphlet Lucian, created for Concerts Pasdeloup * ''L'ile Rouge'', cantata (composed 1945-1946) * ''Cantate de la France retrouvée'', for tenor, male chorus and wind instruments (1946) * Various songs, including settings of

Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire (; ; born Kostrowicki; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist and art critic of Polish descent. Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of the early ...

Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet, essayist, translator and art critic. His poems are described as exhibiting mastery of rhythm and rhyme, containing an exoticism inherited from the Romantics, an ...

Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), known as Rainer Maria Rilke, was an Austrian poet and novelist. Acclaimed as an idiosyncratic and expressive poet, he is widely recognized as a significant ...

, etc

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Capdevielle, Pierre 1906 births 1969 deaths Knights of the Legion of Honour French male conductors (music) French music critics French music educators French opera composers French male opera composers Pupils of Vincent d'Indy 20th-century French conductors (music) 20th-century French classical composers French male non-fiction writers 20th-century French male musicians 20th-century French male writers