Pierre Gabaye (20 February 1930 – 1 November 2019) was 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 ...

. His musical education began at age seven on

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, which led him to pursue a career as a pianist and composer in both the classical and jazz spheres. He studied piano with Simone Plé-Caussade 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 ...

. He won the 1956

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 ...

, and was later appointed Director of Light Music at

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 ...

. He retired in 1986 and moved to

Chamonix Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (; ; (no longer in use)), more commonly known simply as Chamonix (), is a communes of France, commune in the departments of France, department in the regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It was the site of the f ...

, where he lived until his death in 2019 at age 89.Chronicals of Vezinet
/ref> Gabaye's compositional style can be described as a late example of French neo-classical tradition, in the mold of Poulenc and Saint-Saëns. Much of his music is light-hearted and written for

brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...

and wind instruments.

Selected works

*Boutade, for trumpet (1957) *Recréation (1958) *Two Pieces for Wind Instruments (1959) *Sonatina for clarinet and piano (1959) *Special, for trombone (1970)

References

External links

Gabaye Programme notes (inc. bio) from classicalnotes.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gabaye, Pierre 1930 births 2019 deaths Composers from Paris Conservatoire de Paris alumni 20th-century French composers French male composers Prix de Rome for composition 20th-century French male musicians