Antoine Goléa (real name Siegfried Goldman) (30 August 1906 in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

– 12 October 1980 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

) was a French musicologist of Romanian origin. He was one of the founding members of the Académie Charles-Cros.

Biography

Having been pushed by his father to become a violinist, Antoine Goléa entered the Conservatory of Bucharest at the age of nine, and studied violin under the guidance of Cecilia Nitzulescu, a brilliant and despotic "failed violinist", who initially believed in his talent. But, after nine years of study, they both have to face the facts: he was not made to be a virtuoso violinist, despite his undeniable gifts, in particular that of the " absolute pitch", and despite the first violin prize which crowned his long years of study. He was then eighteen years old. After three years at the French high school in Bucharest, his parents decided to send him to France to complete his secondary education. He arrived in Montpellier towards the end of the summer of 1928 and, having obtained his bachelor's degree in philosophy and a certificate of higher studies in German, he moved to Paris in October 1929, where he settled for the rest of his life. Goléa was one of the first participants of the famous radio talk ' by

Armand Panigel Armand Panigel (15 October 1920 in Bursa, Ottoman Empire – 28 December 1995 in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence aged 75) was a French musicologist and film critic. He was also a historical figure of French radio and television in the fields of classical m ...

, launched in 1947 on RTF (and later on

France Musique France Musique is a French national public radio channel owned and operated by Radio France. It is devoted to the broadcasting of music, both live and recorded, with particular emphasis on classical music and jazz. History The channel was launch ...

), alongside

Claude Rostand Claude Rostand (3 December 1912 – 9 October 1970) was a French musicologist, musicographer and music critic. Biography While studying literature and law at the Sorbonne, Rostand studied piano, harmony, counterpoint and musical compositio ...

, José Bruyr, and Henri Jacques. Other eminent critics later joined this ''Tribune'', in particular Jacques Bourgeois and Jean Roy. A columnist at ''

Télérama ''Télérama'' is a weekly French cultural and television magazine published in Paris, France. The name is a contraction of its earlier title: ''Télévision-Radio-Cinéma''. Fabienne Pascaud is currently managing editor. Ludovic Desautez is de ...

'' '' Diapason'', and ', he was one of the most important critics of contemporary music, known for his uncompromising stance and passionate defence of

serial music In music, serialism is a method of composition using series of pitches, rhythms, dynamics, timbres or other musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, though some of his contemporaries were als ...

, which he has long considered to be the only contemporary music worthy of interest. He also wrote a ''Histoire du ballet'' (1967). Towards the end of his life, however, Goléa was led to somewhat soften his positions. In the last published work of his lifetime (''La Musique de la nuit des temps aux aurores nouvelles''.), he must recognize that "an even more serious phenomenon has occurred: serial music died of his beautiful death..." However, Goléa has always been an ardent defender of the music of

Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

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; harmonicall ...

, Schoenberg and

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 ...

, whom he considered to be the true creators of contemporary music, whereas, when asked what a Richard Strauss meant in the evolution of contemporary music, his answer was astounding: "Nothing, very exactly! He was married to singer Colette Herzog. They are both buried at

Cimetière parisien de Bagneux Cimetière parisien de Bagneux is one of the three Parisien cemeteries ''extra muros'', located in Bagneux. The cemetery has a large Jewish section (many of the divisions have exclusively Jewish graves) and is sometimes known as the '' Jewish ce ...

Quote

Excerpt from an article published in the journal ''Musica'' in 1956, and included in his biography ''Je suis un violoniste raté'':

Publications

*1954: ''Esthétique de la musique contemporaine'',

PUF PUF may refer to: * Physical unclonable function, in computer security, a physically-implemented secure identifier * The University Presses of France *Permanent University Fund, for Texas public universities * Pau Pyrénées Airport in France (I ...

*1958: ''Georges Auric'', éditions Ventadour *1959: ''Rencontres avec Pierre Boulez'', éditions Julliard *1960: ''La Musique dans la société européenne, du Moyen Âge à nos jours'',''La Musique dans la société européenne, du Moyen Âge à nos jours'' on WorldCat
/ref> Bibliothèque de l'homme d'action *1961: ''Rencontres avec Olivier Messiaen'', éditions Julliard *1962: ''20 ans de musique contemporaine. De Messiaen à Boulez. De Boulez à l'inconnu'', 2 vol. *1965: ''Richard Strauss'', Flammarion *1967: ''Entretiens avec Wieland Wagner'', éditions Belfond *1967: ''Histoire du ballet'', éd. Rencontres *1968: ''Claude Debussy'', Seghers *1969: ''Marcel Landowski'', Seghers, 1969 *1977: ''La Musique, de la nuit des temps aux aurores nouvelles'', éditions Alphonse Leduc, 2 vol. *1980: ''Georges Enesco, un grand inconnu'', éditions Salabert, 1980 *1981: ''Je suis un violoniste raté'', éditions Julliard; reissued Belfond, followed by ''Et après'' by Jérôme Spycket * Important chapters in the following collective works: ''Wagner, Bach, Mozart, Liszt, Berlioz, Debussy,'' all published in the series ''Génies et Réalités'', éditions Réalités-Hachette

References

External links

Radioscopie d'Antoine Goléa
(20 January 1978) on INA.fr
''La tribune des critiques de disques. Armand Panigel, Antoine Goléa, Jacques Bourgeois.''
on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Golea, Antoine 20th-century French musicologists 1906 births Writers from Vienna 1980 deaths Messiaen scholars