René Leibowitz (; 17 February 1913 – 29 August 1972) was a Polish, later naturalised French, composer, conductor, music theorist and teacher. He was historically significant in promoting the music of the

Second Viennese School The Second Viennese School (german: Zweite Wiener Schule, Neue Wiener Schule) was the group of composers that comprised Arnold Schoenberg and his pupils, particularly Alban Berg and Anton Webern, and close associates in early 20th-century Vienna ...

in Paris after the Second World War, and teaching a new generation of serialist composers. Leibowitz remained firmly committed to the musical aesthetic of

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

, and was to some extent sidelined among the French avant-garde in the 1950s, when, under the influence of Leibowitz's former student,

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 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 Western classical music. Born in Mon ...

and others, the music of Schoenberg's pupil

Anton Webern Anton Friedrich Wilhelm von Webern (3 December 188315 September 1945), better known as Anton Webern (), was an Austrian composer and conductor whose music was among the most radical of its milieu in its sheer concision, even aphorism, and ste ...

was adopted as the orthodox model by younger composers. Although his compositional ideas remained strictly serialist, as a conductor Leibowitz had broad sympathies, performing works by composers as diverse as

Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire, he ga ...

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...

, Offenbach and

Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...

, and his repertory extended to include pieces by Gershwin,

Puccini Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long li ...

Sullivan Sullivan may refer to: People Characters * Chloe Sullivan, from the television series ''Smallville'' * Colin Sullivan, a character in the film ''The Departed'', played by Matt Damon * Harry Sullivan (''Doctor Who''), from the British science f ...

and Johann Strauss.

Life and career

Early years

The facts about Leibowitz's early years are problematical, complicated by his practice of reinventing his history,Radcliffe, David. ''

American Record Guide The ''American Record Guide'' (''ARG'') is a classical music magazine. It has reviewed classical music recordings since 1935. History and profile The magazine was founded by Peter Hugh Reed in May 1935 as the ''American Music Lover''. It chang ...

'', vol. 68, issue 4, July/August 2005, p. 264 but it is known that he was born in Warsaw.Meine, Sabine
"Leibowitz, René"
''Grove Music Online'', Oxford University Press, 2001, retrieved 4 May 2018 According to his pupil and translator, Jan Maguire, who wrote two studies of him for ''

Tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...

'' magazine in the late 1970s, Leibowitz was of Russian Jewish parentage; his father was an art historian.Maguire, Jan. "Rene Leibowitz (1913–1972)", ''

'', December 1979, pp. 6–10 During the First World War the family was obliged to move from Warsaw to Berlin, where, Maguire writes, Leibowitz began a career as a concert violinist at the age of ten. That career was interrupted when the family moved to Paris three years later. By Maguire's account Leibowitz taught himself "the fundamentals of harmony, counterpoint and score-reading" while in high school, and took his

Baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

when he was seventeen. At this point, his history becomes unclear. By his own account, credited by Maguire and others, he then went to Vienna to study with

. By other accounts he studied with

. Hopkins, G. W., and Paul Griffiths
"Boulez, Pierre"
''

Grove Music Online ''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 the ...

'', Oxford University Press, 2001, retrieved 4 May. 2018 Neither is now believed to be correct: Sabine Meine wrote in the ''

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 the ...

'' in 2001, "Leibowitz's claims of having met Schoenberg and studied with Webern in the early 1930s remain unsubstantiated", and in 2012 Nicole Gagné wrote in the ''Historical Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Classical Music'', "despite his claims to the contrary, he never studied with Arnold Schoenberg or Anton Webern". Other claims about Leibowitz's teachers – that he studied composition with

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...

and conducting with

Pierre Monteux Pierre Benjamin Monteux (; 4 April 18751 July 1964) was a French (later American) conducting, conductor. After violin and viola studies, and a decade as an orchestral player and occasional conductor, he began to receive regular conducting enga ...

– have been discounted by some writers in the present century, although as recently as 2010 in a study mainly focused on American composers Deborah Fillerup Weagel repeated the statement that Leibowitz was a pupil of Webern and Ravel. There is no mention of Leibowitz in the biographies of Ravel by

Arbie Orenstein Arbie Orenstein (born 1937) is an American musicologist, author, academic and pianist, known as a scholar of the life and works of the composer Maurice Ravel and, more generally, as an expert on Jewish music. Life and career Orenstein was born in ...

(1991) and Roger Nichols (2011) or of Monteux by John Canarina (2003).

Paris

In Paris, according to Maguire, Leibowitz earned his living as a jazz pianist and composed constantly. In his early twenties he married an artist from an illustrious French family and settled down in Paris, eventually taking French nationality. During the early 1930s he was introduced to Schoenberg's

twelve-note technique The twelve-tone technique—also known as dodecaphony, twelve-tone serialism, and (in British usage) twelve-note composition—is a method of musical composition first devised by Austrian composer Josef Matthias Hauer, who published his "law o ...

by the German pianist and composer Erich Itor Kahn. Maguire writes that Leibowitz easily fitted into "the ebullient intellectual and artistic climate of Paris in the pre-war years". His aesthetic interests were not confined to music, and he became friendly with leading figures from the world of modern art, notably

André Masson André-Aimé-René Masson (4 January 1896 – 28 October 1987) was a French artist. Biography Masson was born in Balagny-sur-Thérain, Oise, but when he was eight his father's work took the family first briefly to Lille and then to Brusse ...

and

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th century, he is ...

, and with literary figures including

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialist, existentialism (and Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter ...

Simone de Beauvoir Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir (, ; ; 9 January 1908 – 14 April 1986) was a French existentialist philosopher, writer, social theorist, and feminist activist. Though she did not consider herself a philosopher, and even ...

and

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( , ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, and journalist. He was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature The 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded the French writer Alb ...

. For Leibowitz, according to Maguire, composing was his most regular activity, and the one he thought most important, although he was known more for his commentaries, his critical and analytical writings, his conducting, and his teaching, all of which he considered secondary.Maguire, Jan. "René Leibowitz", ''

Perspectives of New Music ''Perspectives of New Music'' (PNM) is a peer-reviewed academic journal specializing in music theory and analysis. It was established in 1962 by Arthur Berger and Benjamin Boretz (who were its initial editors-in-chief). ''Perspectives'' was fir ...

'', vol. 21, no. 1/2 (Autumn 1982 – Summer 1983), pp. 241–256 When the Germans invaded France in the Second World War, Leibowitz was interned as an alien for a time. He did not succeed in emigrating, but, as the musicologist Reinhard Kapp puts it, "managed to survive somehow, partly hidden by eorgesBataille in Paris, at other times with his family in the Unoccupied Zone". While in wartime Paris he clandestinely taught students from the

Paris Conservatoire The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as 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 ...

. Peyser, Joan. "Rene Leibowitz (1913–1972)", ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', 10 September 1972, p. D26 In 1944, just before the liberation of Paris, there was a party at the Left Bank apartment of the Swiss artist

Balthus Balthasar Klossowski de Rola (February 29, 1908 – February 18, 2001), known as Balthus, was a Polish-French modern artist. He is known for his erotically charged images of pubescent girls, but also for the refined, dreamlike quality of his image ...

attended by artistic opponents of the Nazis, such as Picasso and others; Leibowitz provided the music.

Post-war

After the liberation Leibowitz resumed his interrupted career, teaching, conducting and writing, drawing on the extensive material he had produced during his enforced wartime seclusion. In 1947–48 and again in 1950 he visited Los Angeles to meet Schoenberg, whose cantata '' A Survivor from Warsaw'' he transcribed into full score. Many of the works of the

were first heard in France at the International Festival of Chamber Music established by Leibowitz in Paris in 1947. Leibowitz was highly influential in promoting the reputation of the School, both through teaching in Paris after the war and through his book ''Schoenberg et son école'', published in 1947 and translated by

Dika Newlin Dika Newlin (November 22, 1923 – July 22, 2006) was a composer, pianist, professor, musicologist, and punk rock singer. She received a Ph.D. from Columbia University at the age of 22. She was one of the last living students of Arnold Schoenberg ...

as ''Schoenberg and his School'' (US and UK editions 1949). The book was among the earliest theoretical treatises on Schoenberg's twelve-tone method of composition; Leibowitz (like

Humphrey Searle Humphrey Searle (26 August 1915 – 12 May 1982) was an English composer and writer on music. His music combines aspects of late Romanticism and modernist serialism, particularly reminiscent of his primary influences, Franz Liszt, Arnold Scho ...

) was among the first theorists to promulgate the term "serialism". The book attracted hostile criticism from composers on various points of the modernist continuum.

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later a conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as "the Dean of American Com ...

condemned its "dogmatic and fanatical" tone, and

Milton Babbitt Milton Byron Babbitt (May 10, 1916 – January 29, 2011) was an American composer, music theorist, mathematician, and teacher. He is particularly noted for his serial and electronic music. Biography Babbitt was born in Philadelphia to Albert E ...

felt that its musical discussions were superficial, with misleading analogies between tonal and dodecaphonic music, but it was well received by the musical public. Leibowitz's advocacy of the Schoenberg school was taken further by two of his pupils,

and Jacques-Louis Monod, each taking different paths in promoting the music of Schoenberg, Webern and the development of serialism. Meine writes in ''Grove'' that during the 1950s Leibowitz's writings came under attack from some of the younger generation: Boulez and others accused him of "dogmatic orthodoxy and academicism". In the view of another pupil, Maguire, Boulez, having learned the twelve-tone technique from Leibowitz, "proceeded to apply it indiscriminately to every musical element, disregarding the most fundamental qualities, the essence of music". Leibowitz warned his former student, "But the public has not yet assimilated Schoenberg", and tried, unsuccessfully, to avoid a rancorous falling out. Although Leibowitz composed continually, he seldom pressed to have his works performed. When he died, leaving an oeuvre of nearly a hundred pieces, the magazine ''

Esprit Esprit or L'Esprit may refer to: * the French for Spirit; as a loanword: ** Enthusiasm, intense interest or motivation ** Morale, motivation and readiness ** Geist "mind/spirit; intellect" * Esprit (name), a given name and surname * ''Esprit'' (m ...

'' commented, "Modest, perhaps too modest, he never spoke of his works, unless obliged to do so, doing nothing to get them played. It is certainly no exaggeration to say that at least three quarters of his scores have never been heard." Since his death a representative sample of his works have been recorded. A 2013 CD set from the Divox label contains recordings of 22 of Leibowitz's works: 6 Mélodies, Op. 6; Flute Sonata, Op. 12b; ''Explanation of Metaphors'', Op. 15; Duo for Cello and Piano, Op. 23; 5 Pieces for clarinet and piano, Op. 29; Sérénade, Op. 38; 3 Poèmes, Op. 46; Violin Concerto, Op. 50; ''Marijuana variations non sérieuses'', Op. 54; Toccata, Op. 62; 3 Caprices, Op. 70; 2 Settings, Op. 71; 3 Poèmes, Op. 73; ''Motifs'', Op. 74; Petite suite, Op. 75; 2 poèmes, Op. 76a; ''Chanson dada'', Op. 76b; Suite, Op. 81; 4 Lieder, Op. 86; 3 Intermezzi, Op. 87; ''Laboratoire central'', Op. 88; and 3 Poèmes, Op. 92. Although Leibowitz was receptive to a wide range of musical styles, he could not bear the music of Sibelius, and published a pamphlet about him under the title of ''Sibelius: the Worst Composer in the World''; he also severely criticised Bartók for writing music that was too accessible: Leibowitz felt that by failing to adopt dodecaphony in his later works Bartók was pandering to popular taste rather than helping to move music away from tonality in accordance with Leibowitz's notions of historical inevitability and composers' duty. For Leibowitz, to write a popular work like Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra was a betrayal of modernism. ''Grove'' has articles on thirty-two composers who studied with Leibowitz in Paris or attended his sessions at

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...

or elsewhere: as well as Boulez and Monod, they include

Vinko Globokar Vinko Globokar (born 7 July 1934) is a French-Slovenian avant-garde composer and trombonist. Globokar's music uses unconventional and extended techniques, places great emphasis on spontaneity and creativity, and often relies on improvisation. ...

; Hans Werner Henze;

Diego Masson Diego Masson (born 21 June 1935) is a French conductor, composer, and percussionist. The son of artist André Masson and brother of the singer and actor Luís Masson, Diego Masson was born in Tossa de Mar, Spain. He studied piano and composi ...

; Serge Nigg; and

Bernd Alois Zimmermann Bernd Alois Zimmermann (20 March 1918 – 10 August 1970) was a German composer. He is perhaps best known for his opera '' Die Soldaten'', which is regarded as one of the most important German operas of the 20th century, after those of Berg. As ...

. The writer Joan Peyser summed up Leibowitz's career: Leibowitz's obituarist in ''

'' dismissed this as simplistic: Leibowitz died suddenly in Paris on 29 August 1972, at the age of 59.

Recordings

In the early LP era, in the 1950s, Leibowitz conducted complete recordings of seven operas, which were generally well received, and have mostly been reissued on CD. They were

Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', which has become on ...

's ''

Les Pêcheurs de perles ' (''The Pearl Fishers'') is an opera in three acts by the French composer Georges Bizet, to a libretto by Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré. It was premiered on 30 September 1863 at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris, and was given 18 performances ...

'';

's '' Alceste'' and '' L'ivrogne corrigé'';

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

's ''

Zaïde ''Zaide'' (originally, ''Das Serail'') is an unfinished German-language opera, K. 344, written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1780. Emperor Joseph II, in 1778, was in the process of setting up an opera company for the purpose of performin ...

''; Offenbach's ''

La Belle Hélène ''La belle Hélène'' (, ''The Beautiful Helen'') is an opéra bouffe in three acts, with music by Jacques Offenbach and words by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. The piece parodies the story of Helen's elopement with Paris, which set off the ...

'' and '' Orphée aux enfers''; and

's ''

L'Heure espagnole ''L'heure espagnole'' is a French one-act opera from 1911, described as a ''comédie musicale'', with music by Maurice Ravel to a French libretto by Franc-Nohain, based on Franc-Nohain's 1904 play ('comédie-bouffe') of the same nameStoullig E. ' ...

''. A set of Ravel's orchestral works was less well reviewed, but Leibowitz received qualified praise for his set of Schoenberg's '' Gurre-Lieder'' ("Leibowitz makes a serious attempt to produce a convincing performance; his slow tempi find justification in Schoenberg's markings, but his artists cannot persuade us that ''Gurre-Lieder'' is other than an historical curiosity"). In 1961 Leibowitz conducted the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...

in a set of Beethoven's symphonies made by Decca for ''

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his w ...

'';Stuart, Philip
''Decca Classical 1929–2009''
accessed 5 May 2018. it was among the first to attempt to follow Beethoven's

metronome A metronome, from ancient Greek μέτρον (''métron'', "measure") and νομός (nomós, "custom", "melody") is a device that produces an audible click or other sound at a regular interval that can be set by the user, typically in beats pe ...

markings, following the pioneering set made in Vienna three years earlier, conducted by Hermann Scherchen. Reviewers observed that although Scherchen had achieved tempos more closely approaching the composer's markings, Leibowitz, at speeds not much slower, had secured better ensemble than the earlier set achieved. Initially the set was poorly received. '' The Stereo Record Guide'' called the performances "slack", "perfunctory" and "insensitive"; on its reissue in the 1980s a '' Gramphone'' reviewer thought much of the set "light-weight" and "lacking in ''gravitas''", although he found the performance of the Seventh Symphony "magnificent". In 1995

Richard Taruskin Richard Filler Taruskin (April 2, 1945 – July 1, 2022) was an American musicologist and music critic who was among the leading and most prominent music historians of his generation. The breadth of his scrutiny into source material as well as ...

, analysing a selection of Beethoven recordings, concluded that Leibowitz, like Scherchen, delivered performances that were musically and musicologically superior to more recent attempts by "authentic" conductors such as

Christopher Hogwood Christopher Jarvis Haley Hogwood (10 September 194124 September 2014) was an English conductor, harpsichordist, writer, and musicologist. Founder of the early music ensemble the Academy of Ancient Music, he was an authority on historically info ...

. By the 21st century the performances had come to seem old-fashioned, in the view of a critic in ''

Fanfare A fanfare (or fanfarade or flourish) is a short musical flourish which is typically played by trumpets, French horns or other brass instruments, often accompanied by percussion. It is a "brief improvised introduction to an instrumental perfo ...

'', who found them more akin to those by

Herbert von Karajan Herbert von Karajan (; born Heribert Ritter von Karajan; 5 April 1908 – 16 July 1989) was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 34 years. During the Nazi era, he debuted at the Salzburg Festival, wi ...

than to those by specialist authenticists such as

Roger Norrington Sir Roger Arthur Carver Norrington (born 16 March 1934) is an English conductor. He is known for historically informed performances of Baroque, Classical and Romantic music. In November 2021 Norrington announced his retirement. Life Norr ...

and

John Eliot Gardiner Sir John Eliot Gardiner (born 20 April 1943) is an English conductor, particularly known for his performances of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach. Life and career Born in Fontmell Magna, Dorset, son of Rolf Gardiner and Marabel Hodgkin, Ga ...

.Bayley, Lynn René. "Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 1–9. Egmont Overture. Leonore Overture No. 3", ''

''; September/October 2014), pp. 125–127 With the Decca team, Leibowitz recorded eleven more albums between 1959 and 1962. They included large-scale works such as ''The Rite of Spring'', symphonies by Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, and concertos by Grieg, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Prokofiev, as well as short pieces by more than thirty composers ranging from

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

to Gershwin, from

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

and Johann Strauss.

Works

*Piano Sonata op.1 (1939) *10 Canons for wind trio op.2 (1939) *String Quartet no.1 op.3 (1940) *Symphony op.4 (1941) *Double concerto for violin, piano and 17 instruments op.5 (1942) *6 Songs for bass and piano op.6 (1942) *''Tourist Death'', concert aria for soprano and chamber orchestra (T: Archibald MacLeish) op.7 (1943) *4 Piano Pieces op.8 (1943) *3 Songs for soprano and piano (T:

) op.9 (1943) *Chamber Concerto for nine instruments op.10 (1944) *Wind Quintet op.11 (1944) *Sonata for violin and piano op.12a (1944) *Sonata for flute and piano op.12b (1944) *''Empedokles'' for mixed a cappella chorus (T:

Friedrich Hölderlin Johann Christian Friedrich Hölderlin (, ; ; 20 March 1770 – 7 June 1843) was a German poet and philosopher. Described by Norbert von Hellingrath as "the most German of Germans", Hölderlin was a key figure of German Romanticism. Pa ...

) op.13 (1944/45) *Variations for orchestra op.14 (1945) *''L'explication des métaphores/Explanation of Metaphors'' (T:

Raymond Queneau Raymond Queneau (; 21 February 1903 – 25 October 1976) was a French novelist, poet, critic, editor and co-founder and president of Oulipo (''Ouvroir de littérature potentielle Oulipo (, short for french: Ouvroir de littérature potentiell ...

) op.15 (1947) *Chamber Symphony ("Kammersymphonie") for 12 instruments op.16 (1948) *''La Nuit close'', music drama in three acts (T: Georges Limbour) op.17 (1947–50) *4 Songs for soprano and piano (T: Michel Leiris) op.18 (1949) *3 Piano Pieces op.19 (1949) *Piano Trio op.20 (1950) *''L'Emprise du Donné'' op.21 (1950) *String Quartet no.2 op.22 (1950) *Duo for cello and piano op.23 (1951) *''Perpetuum Mobile: The City – A Dramatic Symphony for Narrator and Orchestra'' (T:

William Carlos Williams William Carlos Williams (September 17, 1883 – March 4, 1963) was an American poet, writer, and physician closely associated with modernism and imagism. In addition to his writing, Williams had a long career as a physician practicing both ped ...

) op.24 (1951) *5 Songs for soprano and piano op.25 (1951) *String Quartet no.3 op.26 (1951) *Fantasy for piano op.27 (1952) *6 Short Piano Pieces op.28 (1952) *5 Pieces for clarinet and piano op.29 (1952) *''La Circulaire de minuit'', opera in three acts (T: Georges Limbour) op.30 (1953) *6 Orchestral Pieces op.31 (1954) *Concerto for piano and orchestra op.32 (1954) *''Träume vom Tod und vom Leben – Eine Symphonie für Soli, Sprecher, gemischten Chor und Orchester'' (T:

Hans Arp Hans Peter Wilhelm Arp (16 September 1886 – 7 June 1966), better known as Jean Arp in English, was a German-French sculptor, painter, and poet. He was known as a Dadaist and an abstract artist. Early life Arp was born in Straßburg (now Str ...

) op.33 (1954–55) *4 Songs for soprano and piano (T:

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the Modernism, modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important ...

) op.34 (1954) *''Concertino'' for viola and chamber orchestra op.35 (1954) *''Rhapsodie Concertante'' for violin and piano op.36 (1955) *''La notte'' (T: Angelo Poliziano), ''Epigramma'' (T:

Torquato Tasso Torquato Tasso ( , also , ; 11 March 154425 April 1595) was an Italian poet of the 16th century, known for his 1591 poem ''Gerusalemme liberata'' ( Jerusalem Delivered), in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between ...

) and ''A se stesso'' (T:

Giacomo Leopardi Count Giacomo Taldegardo Francesco di Sales Saverio Pietro Leopardi (, ; 29 June 1798 – 14 June 1837) was an Italian philosopher, poet, essayist, and philologist. He is considered the greatest Italian poet of the nineteenth century and one o ...

) for mixed chorus op.37 (1955) *''Serenade'' for baritone and eight instruments (T: Friedrich Hölderlin,

Clemens Brentano Clemens Wenzeslaus Brentano (also Klemens; pseudonym: Clemens Maria Brentano ; ; 9 September 1778 – 28 July 1842) was a German poet and novelist, and a major figure of German Romanticism. He was the uncle, via his brother Christian, of Franz a ...

) op.38 (1955) *Symphonic Fantasy for orchestra op.39 (1956) *''The Renegade'' for mixed chorus and instruments (T: Lionel Abel) op.40 (1956) *''Capriccio'' for high soprano and nine instruments (T: Friedrich Hölderlin) op.41 (1956) *String Trio op.42 (1956) *''Sonata quasi una fantasia'' for piano op.43 (1957) *''Humoresque'' for six percussionists op.44 (1957) *String Quartet no.4 op.45 (1958) *''Trois Poèmes de Georges Limbour'' for soprano and six instruments (T: Georges Limbour) op.46 (1958) *''Concertino'' for piano duet op.47 (1958) *Overture for orchestra op.48 (1958) *''Damocles'', song cycle for soprano and piano (T: Michel Leiris) op.49 (1958) *Concerto for violin and orchestra op.50 'dedicated to Ivry Gitlis' (1958) *3 Bagatelles for string orchestra op.51 (1958) *''Art for Art's Sake – A Fantasia for Jazz Orchestra'' op.52 (1959) *''Concertino'' for trombone and orchestra op.53 (1960) *''Marijuana – Variations non sérieuses op.54 (1960) *''Sinfonietta da Camera'' op.55 (1961) *Fantasy for violin solo op.56 (1961) *Introduction, Funeral March and Fanfare op.57 (1961) *Concerto for cello and orchestra op.58 (1962) *String Quartet no.5 op.59 (1963) *''Les Espagnols à Venise – Opera buffa'' in one act (T: Georges Limbour) op.60 (1964) *''Quatre bagatelles'' for trombone and piano op.61 (1963) *''Toccata pour piano'' op.62 (1964) *Symphonic Rhapsody for orchestra op.63 (1965) *''Trois Études miniatures'' for piano op.64 (1965) *String Quartet no.6 op.65 (1965) *''Suite'' for violin and piano op.66 (1965) *2 Songs for soprano and piano (T: Aimé Cesaire) op.67 (1965) *''A Prayer – A Symphonic Cantata'' for mezzo-soprano, male chorus and orchestra (T: James Joyce) op.68 (1965) *''Sonatina'' for flute, viola and harp op.69 (1966) *''Trois Caprices'' for vibraphone op.70 (1966) *''Two Settings after William Blake'' for mixed chorus (T:

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

) op.71 (1966) *String Quartet no.7 op.72 (1966) *''Trois Poèmes de Georges Bataille'' for bass and piano (T: Georges Bataille) op.73 (1966) *''Motifs'' for speaker and instruments (T: Georges Limbour) op.74 (1967) *''Petite Suite'' for piano op.75 (1966) *''Deux Poèmes'' for soprano and piano (T: Michel Leiris) op.76a (1966) *''Chanson Dada'', three melodramas for treble and instruments (T:

Tristan Tzara Tristan Tzara (; ; born Samuel or Samy Rosenstock, also known as S. Samyro; – 25 December 1963) was a Romanian and French avant-garde poet, essayist and performance artist. Also active as a journalist, playwright, literary and art critic, comp ...

) op.76b (1966) *''Sonnet'' for soprano and five instruments (T: E. E. Cummings) op.77 (1967) *''Rondo capriccioso'' for piano op.78 (1967) *''Capriccio'' for flute and strings op.79 (1967) *4 Songs for bass and piano (T: Carl Einstein) op.80 (1967) *''Suite'' for nine instruments op.81 (1967) *''Legend'' for soprano, piano and orchestra (T:

Hart Crane Harold Hart Crane (July 21, 1899 – April 27, 1932) was an American poet. Provoked and inspired by T. S. Eliot, Crane wrote modernist poetry that was difficult, highly stylized, and ambitious in its scope. In his most ambitious work, ''The Bridge ...

) op.82 (1968) *String Quartet no.8 op.83 (1968) *Saxophone Quartet op.84 (1969) *''Labyrinthe'', music drama in one act (T: René Leibowitz after

Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticism inherited ...

) op.85 (1969) *4 Songs for bass and piano (T: Paul Celan) op.86 (1969) *''Tre Intermezzi per pianoforte'' op.87 (1970) *''Laboratoire Central – Short Cantata'' for speaker, female chorus and instruments (T:

Max Jacob Max Jacob (; 12 July 1876 – 5 March 1944) was a French poet, painter, writer, and critic. Life and career After spending his childhood in Quimper, Brittany, he enrolled in the Paris Colonial School, which he left in 1897 for an artistic ca ...

) op.88 (1970) *''Scene and Aria'' for soprano and orchestra (T:

Georg Heym Georg Theodor Franz Artur Heym (30 October 1887 – 16 January 1912) was a German writer. He is particularly known for his poetry, representative of early Expressionism. Biography Heym was born in Hirschberg, Lower Silesia, in 1887 to He ...

) op.89 (1970) *Clarinet Sextet op.90 (1970) *''Todos Caeràn'', opera in 2 acts and 5 tableaux (T: René Leibowitz) op.91 (1971) *''Trois Poèmes de Pierre Reverdy'' for vocal quartet and piano (T:

Pierre Reverdy Pierre Reverdy (; 13 September 1889 – 17 June 1960) was a French poet whose works were inspired by and subsequently proceeded to influence the provocative art movements of the day, Surrealism, Dadaism and Cubism. The loneliness and spiritual ap ...

) op.92 (1971) *String Quartet no.9 op.93 (1972)

Discography (incomplete)

As conductor

Mono recordings

: ''

''. Mattiwilda Dobbs, Enzo Seri, Jean Borthayre; Paris Philharmonic Chorus and Orchestra. Preiser (CD) *

: '' Alceste'' – Semser, Seri, Demigny, Mollien, Hoffmann, Lindenfelder, Chœur et Orch Phil de Paris,

Jean-Pierre Rampal Jean-Pierre Louis Rampal (7 January 1922 – 20 May 2000) was a French flautist. He has been personally "credited with returning to the flute the popularity as a solo classical instrument it had not held since the 18th century." Biography Ea ...

, Orchestre Philharmonique de Paris (1950) * Gluck: '' L'ivrogne corrigé'': Jean-Christophe Benoît, Bernard Demigny, Claudine Collart, Freda Betti and Jean Hoffmann. (Nixa, 1951) * Massenet &

: ''A Portrait of Manon'' –

Anna Moffo Anna Moffo (June 27, 1932 – March 9, 2006) was an American opera singer, television personality, and actress. One of the leading lyric-coloratura sopranos of her generation, she possessed a warm and radiant voice of considerable range and agili ...

, Giuseppe di Stefano, Flaviano Labo, Robert Kerns – RCA Italiana Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Testament (CD) * Offenbach: ''

''. Paris Philharmonic Chorus and Orchestra. Regis (CD) * Offenbach: '' Orphée aux enfers'' – Paris Opera Chorus and Orchestra. Regis (CD), also Preiser (CD) * Ravel: ''

'' – Janine Linda, André Dran, Jean Mollien, Jean Hoffmann, Lucien Mans, Orch Radio-Symph de Paris (Vox PL7880) * Rossini: overtures to ''L'Italiana in Algeri'', ''La gazza ladra'', ''Guillaume Tell'', ''Semiramide'' – Pasdeloup Orchestra (Urania-USD-1014) * Roussel: ''

Le Festin de l'Araignée ''The Spider's Feast'' (''Le Festin de l'araignée''), Op. 17, is a 1912 "ballet-pantomime" with music by the French composer Albert Roussel (1869–1937) to a scenario by Gilbert de Voisins. The ballet The ballet depicts insect life in a garden ...

'' suite (1912) & ''Le Marchand de sable qui passe'' – Paris Philharmonic Orch (Counterpoint-Esoteric LP 5511) * Schoenberg: '' Gurre-Lieder''. Ethel Semser, Nell Tangeman, John Riley, Richard Lewis,

Ferry Gruber Ferry Gruber (28 September 1926 – 23 July 2004) was an Austrian-German tenor in opera and operetta. A member of both the Bavarian State Opera and Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich for half a century, he focused on roles of the buffo gen ...

, Morris Gesell, Chœurs et Orchestre de la Nouvelle Association Symphonique de Paris. * Schoenberg: Piano Concerto Op. 42. Claude Helffer (piano), Orchestre Radio-Symphonique de Paris. Counterpoint (LP) * Schoenberg: '' Pierrot lunaire''. Ethel Semser, The Virtuoso Chamber Ensemble. Argo/Westminster (LP)

Stereo recordings

*May 1959 **International Symphony Orchestra ***Schumann Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Op. 97 "Rhenish" ***Liszt Mephisto Waltz No. 1 S110/2 *June 1959 **"London Festival Orchestra" (New Symphony Orchestra of London) ***Stravinsky ''The Rite of Spring'' ***Debussy ''Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune'' *June 1960 **Malcolm Frager (piano) **Paris Conservatoire Orchestra ***Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor Op. 16 *June 1960 **Paris Conservatoire Orchestra ***Offenbach ''Orphée aux enfers'': Overture ***Debussy ''Petite Suite'': En bateau ***Ravel ''Bolero'' ***Ravel ''La valse'' ***Gounod ''Faust'': Ballet Music ***Gounod ''Funeral March of a Marionette'' ***Saint-Saëns ''Danse Macabre'' Op. 40 ***Pierné ''Marche des petits soldats de plomb'' ***Borodin ''Prince Igor'': Overture & Polovtsian Dances ***Dukas ''L'apprenti sorcier'' ***Bizet ''Carmen'': Suite ***Auber ''Les diamants de la couronne'': Overture ***Offenbach ''Les contes d'Hoffmann'': Barcarolle ***Puccini ''Manon Lescaut'': Intermezzo ***Mozart ''Le nozze di Figaro'' K492: Overture *February 1961 **"London Festival Orchestra" ***Chopin Polonaise in A-flat Op. 53 ***Gade ''Jealousy'' ***Delibes ''La Source'': Intermezzo ***Waldteufel ''Les Patineurs'' – Waltz Op. 183 ***Dinicu ''Hora Staccato'' ***Dvořák ''Humoresque'' Op. 101/7 B187/7 ***Ippolitov-Ivanov ''Procession of the Sadar'' Op. 10 ***Bizet ''Carmen'': Habañera ***Bach-Gounod ''Ave Maria'' ***Franck ''Panis Angelicus'' ***Trad. ''Londonderry Air'' & ''Greensleeves'' ***J. Strauss II ''Die Fledermaus'': Overture ***Falla ''El Amor Brujo'': Ritual Fire Dance ***Gershwin ''Porgy and Bess'': Excerpts ***Boccherini String Quintet in E G275: Minuet ***Sullivan ''HMS Pinafore'': Overture ***Rimsky-Korsakov ''Tsar Saltan'': Flight of the Bumble Bee ***Beethoven ''Die Ruinen von Athen'', Op. 113: Turkish March *April, May and June 1961 ** Inge Borkh (soprano), Ruth Siewert (contralto), Richard Lewis (tenor), Ludwig Weber (bass), Royal Philharmonic Chorus; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra ***Beethoven: Symphonies 1–9 *January and February 1962 **Royal Philharmonic Orchestra ***Mozart Symphony No. 41 in C, K551 "Jupiter" ***Wagner ''Tannhäuser'': Overture ***Bach-Leibowitz Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor BWV 582 ***Schubert Symphony No. 9 in C, D944 "Great" ***Offenbach-Leibowitz ''La vie parisienne'' *February 1962 **Royal Philharmonic Orchestra ***Musorgsky-Ravel ''Pictures at an Exhibition'' ***Mendelssohn ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' Overture Op. 21 ***Mendelssohn Octet in E-flat Op. 20: Scherzo ***Mussorgsky-Leibowitz ''Night on the Bare Mountain'' ***Beethoven ''Leonore'' Overture No. 3, Op. 72a ***Wagner ''Die Meistersinger'': Prelude to act 1 *October 1962 **Hyman Bress (violin) **Earl Wild (piano) **Royal Philharmonic Orchestra ***Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor Op. 64 ***Grieg Piano Concerto in A minor Op. 16 ***Beethoven ''Egmont'' Op. 84: Overture *December 1962 **Royal Philharmonic Orchestra ***Weber ''Der Freischütz'' J277: Overture ***Schumann ''Manfred'' Op. 115: Overture *March 1963 **Leonard Pennario (piano) **London Symphony Orchestra ***Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat S124 ***Liszt Piano Concerto No. 2 in A S125

Publications by Leibowitz

* 1947 ''Schoenberg et son école: l'étape contemporaine du langage musical''. aris J.B. Janin. (English edition, as ''Schoenberg and His School: The Contemporary Stage in the Language of Music''. Translated by Dika Newlin. New York: Philosophical Library, 1949). *1948. ''Qu'est-ce que la musique de douze sons? Le Concerto pour neuf instruments, op. 24, d'Anton Webern''. Liège: Éditions Dynamo. *1949. ''Introduction à la musique de douze sons. Les variations pour orchestre op. 31, d'Arnold Schoenberg''. Paris: L'Arche. *1950. ''L'artiste et sa conscience: esquisse d'une dialectique de la conscience artistique''. Préf. de

. Paris: L'Arche. *1950. ''Scènes de la vie musicale américaine''. Liège: Éditions Dynamo. *1950. ''Arnold Schoenberg ou Sisyphe dans la musique contemporaine''. Liège: Éditions Dynamo. *1951. ''L'évolution de la musique, de Bach à Schoenberg''. Paris: Éditions Corrêa. *1957. ''Histoire de l'opéra''. Paris: Buchet Chastel. *1969. ''Schoenberg''. Paris: Éditions du Seuil. *1971. ''Le compositeur et son double: essais sur l'interprétation musicale''. Paris: Gallimard. (Ed. augm., version définitive. Paris: Gallimard, 1986.) *1972. ''Les fantômes de l'opéra: essais sur le théâtre lyrique''. Paris: Gallimard.

Notes, references and sources

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Leibowitz, Rene 1913 births 1972 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century French conductors (music) 20th-century French musicologists French male conductors (music) French classical composers French male classical composers Jewish classical composers Polish emigrants to France Second Viennese School Twelve-tone and serial composers 20th-century French composers 20th-century French male musicians