André Marcel Charles Casanova (12 October 1919 – 7 March 2009) was a French composer. He was an early disciple of
René Leibowitz, a teacher and composer who maintained a strict adherence to the
dodecaphonic
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 ...
musical theories 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 ...
. Casanova later abandoned most of them in favour of a more classical style of composition. His published works, composed between 1944 and 1993, include orchestral, chamber and choral music, operas and songs.
Life and career
Casanova was born in Paris, and studied law there, while at the same time studying music with
Georges Dandelot
Georges Édouard Dandelot (2 December 1895 – 17 August 1975) was a French composer and teacher.
Biography
Dandelot was born in Paris. His father was Alfred Dandelot, and his mother was the daughter of a piano maker. Dandelot studied at the Pari ...
at the
École Normale de Musique de Paris.
[ In 1944 he became the first French pupil of René Leibowitz,][Bosseur, Jean-Yve]
"Casanova, André"
''Grove Music Online'', Oxford University Press, 2001, retrieved 10 May 2018 with whom he studied theory and composition.[ Leibowitz introduced him to dodecaphonic and serial composition. Together with other Leibowitz pupils, ]Serge Nigg
Serge Nigg (6 June 1924 – 12 November 2008) was a French composer, born in Paris.
Biography
After initial studies with Ginette Martenot, Nigg entered the Paris Conservatory in 1941 and studied harmony with Olivier Messiaen and counterpoint ...
, Antoine Duhamel
Antoine Duhamel (30 July 1925 – 11 September 2014) was a French composer, orchestra conductor and music teacher.
Life and career
Born in Valmondois in the Val-d'Oise département of France, Antoine Duhamel was one of the three sons of the Fre ...
and Jean Prodromidès, he gave the first performance of Leibowitz's ''Explications des Metaphors'', Op. 15, in Paris in 1948.[Martini, p. 443]
Thereafter, according to 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 theo ...
'', Casanova's concern was "to ally a romantic spirit with modernity of style".[ in the mid-1950s he abandoned dodecaphony, although he retained some of its ]chromatic
Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are most often used to characterize scales, and are also applied to musical instruments, intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony. They are very often used as a pair, ...
elements for harmonic purposes. After his avant-garde period, Casanova returned to what Grove calls "a more classical conception of both style and form".[ In 1959 his Concertino, for piano and chamber orchestra, was performed as a French contribution at the 33rd annual music festival of the International Society for Contemporary Music. In 1960 he received an award from the Queen Marie José Music Foundation for his ''Cavalier seul'', a chamber ]cantata
A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir.
The meaning of ...
for baritone
A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...
and string quartet
The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...
(later revised for voice and string orchestra),[ dedicated to Hans Werner Henze.
In the late 1940s there had been some hostility between adherents of Leibowitz and those of the teacher and composer ]Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex; harmonically ...
, but so far as Casanova was concerned any breach had healed sufficiently during the 1950s for Messiaen's partner Yvonne Loriod to play the solo part at the premiere of Casanova's piano concertino in 1959. He developed an interest in German Romantic literature and with Nietzsche's philosophy, which is reflected in his work.[ His Third Symphony (''Dithyrambes'', 1964) has a vocal part, with words by Nietzsche, taken from '' Dionysos-Dithyramben'' set in the original German.
In his later years Casanova lived at Louveciennes on the fringe of Paris, where he died on 7 March 2009, at the age of 89.
]
Works
Orchestral works
*Symphony No 1, 1949
*Symphony No 2, Op. 7, 1952 rev 1959
*Concertino for piano and chamber orchestra, Op. 8, 1952 rev 1958 and 1962
*Ballade for clarinet and chamber orchestra, Op. 9, 1955
*''Notturno'' for orchestra, Op. 13 ("In memoriam Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...
"), 1959
*Capriccio for oboe and strings, Op. 16, 1960
*''Anamorphoses'' for orchestra, Op. 17 (dedicated to the memory of Max Reger
Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, as a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University ...
), 1962
*Impromptus for orchestra, 1963
*Suite for strings, 1964
*Symphony No 3 ''Dithyrambes'', with tenor solo, 1964
*Concerto for violin and orchestra, 1963 (Dedicated to Gerd Albrecht)Ottorino Respighi
Ottorino Respighi ( , , ; 9 July 187918 April 1936) was an Italian composer, violinist, teacher, and musicologist and one of the leading Italian composers of the early 20th century. List of compositions by Ottorino Respighi, His compositions r ...
"), 1971
*Ephemeris. op. 81 ("À la mémoire d'Alexander Glazunov
Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov; ger, Glasunow (, 10 August 1865 – 21 March 1936) was a Russian composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Russian Romantic period. He was director of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory between 1905 ...
"), 1989
*Symphony No 4, 1992
*Symphony No 5, 1993
Chamber
*3 pieces for piano, 1944
*Trio for flute, viola and horn/bass clarinet, 1946
*Duo for clarinet and bassoon, 1950
*4 Bagatelles for wind quintet, 1955
*Elégie for piano trio, 1956
*Humoresque for flute and clarinet, 1957
*Trio for strings, 1966
*Serenata for flute and ensemble, Op. 26, 1966
*String Quartet No 1, Op. 27, 1967
*4 Intermezzi for piano, Op. 28, 1967
*3 momenti for brass quintet, Op. 37, 1968
*Quintet for piano and winds, Op. 39, 1970
*Trio for piano-violin-cello, Op.43, 1972
*5 Little Pieces for cello, Op.45, 1972
*Due canzoni for alto saxophone, clarinet, trumpet, percussion, organ and bass guitar, Op. 49, 1973
*Sextet for clarinet, string quartet and double bass, Op. 63, 1983
*Septet for clarinet, bassoon, horn, violin, viola, cello and double bass, Op. 72, 1985
*String Quartet No 2, 1985
*String Quartet No 3, Op. 73, 1985
*Piccolo studio for bassoon and piano, 1986
*Six évocations for flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano, Op. 76, 1987
*Quintet for strings, 1988
*Sonata for violin and piano, 1988
*String Quartet No 4, 1990
*String Quartet No 5, 1991
*String Quartet No 6, 1992
Choral and song
*3 mélodies, for soprano and piano, 1945
*Divertimento, Op 10, 1953
*''Cavalier seul'' for baritone and string quartet, 1959 (arr for baritone and string orchestra, 1964)
*''Redoutes'' for baritone and orchestra, 1962
*''Le livre de la foi jurée'', after ''La chanson de Roland'', for speaker, soprano, bariton and orchestra, 1964
*''Le chant d'Aude'' for soprano and string orchestra, 1965
*''Règnes'', for soprano and orchestra, Op. 29, "In memoriam Jean Cocteau", 1967
*3 poèmes de Rilke for chorus, 1968
*5 mélodies for tenor and chamber orchestra, 1968
*3 sonnets de Louise Labé, for soprano and piano, 1972
*''Rituels'', Op.46, for baritone and ensemble, 1972
*''Deux fragments d'Algabal de Stefan George'' for mezzo-soprano, clarinet, bassoon, vibraphone and cello, Op. 52, 1973
*''Sur les chemins d'acanthes noires'', cantata for reciter, baritone, male choir, and orchestraon solo choeur d'hommes et orchestre, Op. 55, 1974
*''Quatre dizains de la Délie de Scève'', Op. 61, 1978
*''Esquisses pour une tragédie'', Op. 64, 1979
*''Deutsche Gesänge'', 1980
Stage works
*''La clé d'argent'', conte lyrique, in one act. Text by Jean Moal after Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, 1965
*''Le livre de la foi juree'', geste lyrique, 1965
*''Le bonheur dans le crime'', opera in a prologue and three acts. Text by Bernard George after the novel by Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly, 1969
*''La coupe d'or'', opera in one act. Text by Jean Moal after Ludwig Tieck, 1970
*''Notturno'', ballet, 1972
Notes and sources
Notes
Sources
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Casanova, Andre
1919 births
2009 deaths
Musicians from Paris
École Normale de Musique de Paris alumni
French male classical composers
French opera composers
Male opera composers
20th-century French male musicians