Alexis Roland-Manuel (22 March 18911 November 1966) was a
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
composer and critic, remembered mainly for his criticism.
Biography
He was born Roland Alexis Manuel Lévy in Paris, to a family of
Belgian and
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
origins. He studied composition under
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 P ...
and
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 ...
. As a young man he befriended composer
Erik Satie
Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (, ; ; 17 May 18661 July 1925), who signed his name Erik Satie after 1884, was a French composer and pianist. He was the son of a French father and a British mother. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, but was an un ...
, who helped him to make numerous influential connections. In 1911, Satie introduced Roland-Manuel to
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 ...
, whose pupil, friend and biographer he soon became.
In 1947, he was appointed Professor of
Aesthetics
Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, Epistemology, knowledge, Ethics, values, Philosophy of ...
at the
Conservatoire de Paris
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 ...
, where he remained until his retirement in 1961, making many contributions to musical theory and criticism, even assisting
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...
by ghost-writing the theoretical work "The Poetics of Music". In addition to theoretical works, he wrote and composed various works for stage, especially
comic operas, and screen, developing a partnership with director
Jean Grémillon
Jean Grémillon (; 3 October 1901 – 25 November 1959)Note that, despite attempts at correction, thIMDb entry on the directorlists his date of birth erroneously as 4 March 1898. The correct date is given in his standard biography, by Geneviève S ...
, for five of whose films he composed the scores.
Roland-Manuel's criticism included several monographs on the music of Ravel from the perspective of a respectful pupil and a lifetime friend. The titles include "Ravel", "Ravel et son oeuvre" and "Ravel et son oeuvre dramatique".
Arthur Honegger
Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. A member of Les Six, his best known work is probably '' Antigone'', composed between 1924 and 1927 ...
dedicated ''
Pastorale d'été'' to Roland-Manuel.
Topeka Symphony
He died in Paris in 1966.
Selected works
Stage
*''Isabelle et Pantalon'' (1922)
* ''Canarie'' (1927; for the children's ballet '' L'éventail de Jeanne'', to which ten French composers each contributed a dance)
* ''Le Diable amoureux'' (1929), opera based on the novel '' The Devil in Love'' by Jacques Cazotte
Jacques Cazotte (; 17 October 1719 – 25 September 1792) was a French author.
Life
Born in Dijon, he was educated by the Jesuits. Cazotte then worked for the French Ministry of
the Marine and at the age of 27 he obtained a public office at Ma ...
* ''Canarie'' (1952: for the collaborative orchestral work '' La guirlande de Campra'')
* ''Jeanne d'Arc'' (1955)
Film scores
* '' Little Lise'' (1930)
* ''The Dream
A dream is an experience during sleep.
Dream, The Dream, Dreams, etc. may also refer to:
Art
Paintings
* ''Le Rêve'' (Detaille), an 1888 painting by Édouard Detaille
* ''Le Rêve'' (Picasso) (''The Dream'' in French), 1932 oil painting by ...
'' (1931)
* ''Partir'' ('' Departure'', 1931)
* '' The Brighton Twins'' (1936)
* '' The Strange Monsieur Victor'' (1938)
* ''Remorques'', ('' Stormy Waters'', 1941)
* ''Summer Light
"Summer Light" (stylized in all caps) is a song by Japanese singer-songwriter Rina Aiuchi. It was released on 22 July 2009 through Giza Studio, as a double A-side with " Story and the lead single from her second compilation album ''All Singles ...
'' (1943)
* ''Le Ciel est à vous'' ('' The Woman Who Dared'', 1944)
References
External links
*
*
Writers from Paris
1891 births
1966 deaths
20th-century classical composers
French male classical composers
French music critics
French ballet composers
French male non-fiction writers
20th-century French composers
20th-century French male musicians
20th-century French male writers
Ravel scholars
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