Michel Decoust
Encyclopedia
Michel Decoust is a French
composer
and conductor.
Decoust studied from 1956 to 1965 with Jean Rivier
and Darius Milhaud
at the Paris Conservatoire, as well as at the Cologne Courses for New Music in 1964–65, with Pierre Boulez
and Karlheinz Stockhausen
. He also studied orchestral conducting in 1965 with Boulez in Basle.
In 1967 he taught composition at the Dartington College Summer Courses. He served as regional musical organizer for the Orchestre Philharmonique des Pays de la Loire from 1967 to 1970, and from 1970 to 1972 directed musical activities at the Maison de la Culture of Rennes and Nevers. He founded and directed the Pantin Conservatoire Municipal de Musique from 1972 to 1976, and was director of education at IRCAM
from 1976 to 1979. He was vice-chair of the symphonic music committee of the French composer's union SACEM from 1979 to 1992.
He has been awarded the Prix de Rome
, the Ambron International Composition Prize, and a Besançon International Competition conducting prize.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and conductor.
Decoust studied from 1956 to 1965 with Jean Rivier
Jean Rivier
Jean Rivier was a French composer of classical music.He composed over two hundred works, including music for orchestra, chamber groups, chorus, piano, and solo instruments....
and Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud was a French composer and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as The Group of Six—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions are influenced by jazz and make use of polytonality...
at the Paris Conservatoire, as well as at the Cologne Courses for New Music in 1964–65, with Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez is a French composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a conductor.-Early years:Boulez was born in Montbrison, Loire, France. As a child he began piano lessons and demonstrated aptitude in both music and mathematics...
and Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Another critic calls him "one of the great visionaries of 20th-century music"...
. He also studied orchestral conducting in 1965 with Boulez in Basle.
In 1967 he taught composition at the Dartington College Summer Courses. He served as regional musical organizer for the Orchestre Philharmonique des Pays de la Loire from 1967 to 1970, and from 1970 to 1972 directed musical activities at the Maison de la Culture of Rennes and Nevers. He founded and directed the Pantin Conservatoire Municipal de Musique from 1972 to 1976, and was director of education at IRCAM
IRCAM
IRCAM is a European institute for science about music and sound and avant garde electro-acoustical art music. It is situated next to, and is organizationally linked with, the Centre Pompidou in Paris...
from 1976 to 1979. He was vice-chair of the symphonic music committee of the French composer's union SACEM from 1979 to 1992.
He has been awarded the Prix de Rome
Prix de Rome
The Prix de Rome was a scholarship for arts students, principally of painting, sculpture, and architecture. It was created, initially for painters and sculptors, in 1663 in France during the reign of Louis XIV. It was an annual bursary for promising artists having proved their talents by...
, the Ambron International Composition Prize, and a Besançon International Competition conducting prize.
Compositions (selective list)
- Horizon remarquable (René CharRené CharRené Char was a 20th century French poet.-Biography:Char was born in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue in the Vaucluse department of France, the youngest of four children of Emile Char and Marie-Therese Rouget, where his father was mayor and managing director of the Vaucluse plasterworks...
), for soprano and orchestra (1964) - Distorsion, for 3 flutes (1965)
- Mobile, for percussion (1965)
- Polymorphie, for orchestra (1967)
- Et/ou, for from 1–44 pianos (1972)
- 7.854.693.286, for 8-track tape (1972)
- L'application des lectrices aux champs, for soprano and orchestra (1977)
- Onde, for brass quintet (1982)
- Olos, for tenor saxophone and electronics (1983)
- Les galeries de pierres, for solo viola (1984)
- Sun for solo viola (or violin) and 12 string instruments (1971)
- Symétrie, for winds and percussion (1986)
- Marbres, for 4-track tape (1986)
- Sept chansons érotiques, for soprano and piano (1986)
- Le temps d'écrite, for piano (1988–92)
- A jamais d'ombre, for voice and string quartet (1996)
- Cent phrases pour éventail (Paul ClaudelPaul ClaudelPaul Claudel was a French poet, dramatist and diplomat, and the younger brother of the sculptor Camille Claudel. He was most famous for his verse dramas, which often convey his devout Catholicism.-Life:...
), for six voices and instrumental ensemble (1996)