Claude Samuel (23 June 1931 – 14 June 2020) was a French music critic and radio personality.

Biography

Born in Paris, after medical studies and graduating as a dental surgeon, Samuel chose to devote himself to classical music journalism. He was a regular contributor to various newspapers of the daily press (''

Paris-Presse ''Paris-Presse'' was a French newspaper published in Paris between 1944 and 1970. It was created by Philippe Barres (1896-1975), with Ève Curie (1904-2007), daughter of Marie Curie. They ran the newspaper until 1949.Claude Bellanger, ''Histoire ...

'', from 1961 to 1970; ''

Le Matin de Paris ''Le Matin de Paris'' was a French daily newspaper, founded on 1 March 1977 by Claude Perdriel, and disappearing in 1987 ("dépôt de bilan" on 6 May). Its foundation is the subject of the documentary ''Numéros zéro'' by Raymond Depardon. His ...

'', from 1977 to 1987), of the weekly press (''

L’Express ''L'Express'' () is a French weekly news magazine headquartered in Paris. The weekly stands at the political centre in the French media landscape, and has a lifestyle supplement, ''L'Express Styles'', and a job supplement, ''Réussir''. History ...

'' in 1959 and 1960; '' Le Nouveau Candide'' from 1961 to 1967; ''

Le Point ''Le Point'' () is a French weekly political and news magazine published in Paris. History and profile ''Le Point'' was founded in September 1972 by a group of journalists who had, one year earlier, left the editorial team of '' L'Express'', w ...

'', from 1974 to 1989), the monthly press (Revue ''Réalités'', and discs collection ''Philips-Réalités'' from 1957 to 1960) and the music press (''Harmonie'', ''Le Panorama de la Musique'', ''Musiques'', '' La Lettre du musicien'', '' Diapason'', where he has been responsible for the "Ce jour-là" column since 2001). He also commented on cultural news since 2007 until November 2018 in a weekly blog. A producer of programs at the R.T.F. then at the O.R.T.F. (more than a thousand broadcasts from 1957 to 2007 for

France Culture France Culture is a French public radio channel and part of Radio France. Its programming encompasses a wide variety of features on historical, philosophical, sociopolitical, and scientific themes (including debates, discussions, and documentari ...

and

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 European classical music, classical music and jazz. Hist ...

), he was Director of Music (appointed under the presidency of

Jean Maheu Jean Maheu (24 January 1931 – 9 January 2022) was a French government official. Life and career Maheu was the son of Director-General of UNESCO René Maheu and Inès Allafort du Verger. He studied at the Lycée Claude Bernard in Paris and at ...

) from 1989 to 1996; in this capacity, he was vice-president of the

Théâtre des Champs-Élysées The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées () is an entertainment venue standing at 15 avenue Montaigne in Paris. It is situated near Avenue des Champs-Élysées, from which it takes its name. Its eponymous main hall may seat up to 1,905 people, while th ...

. Devoting an important part of his activity, in different forms, to contemporary creation, he was responsible for the programming of the

Royan Festival The Royan Festival (or more fully in French the ''Festival international d'art contemporain de Royan'') was held in Royan, in the department of Charente-Maritime in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwest France from 1964 to 1977. It was a multi ...

from 1965 to 1972 and then, after a dispute with the Royan authorities, he continued this work in

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. With ...

from 1973 to 1977. Creator of the "Centre Acanthes", an annual educational session for young composers and performers held successively at the Conservatoire d'Aix-en-Provence (1977–1986), at the Chartreuse de Villeneuve-lez-Avignon (1987–2003) and then at the

Arsenal de Metz The Arsenal Concert Hall is a cultural venue dedicated specially to classical and art music and located near the Esplanade garden in Metz, capital of the Lorraine region, France. The Arsenal is home to the Orchestre National de Lorraine and al ...

(2004–2011), he has invited a number of leading figures of contemporary music to attend: (

Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) 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. He is known for his groun ...

Iannis Xenakis Giannis Klearchou Xenakis (also spelled for professional purposes as Yannis or Iannis Xenakis; el, Γιάννης "Ιωάννης" Κλέαρχου Ξενάκης, ; 29 May 1922 – 4 February 2001) was a Romanian-born Greek-French avant-garde ...

György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde composers in the latter half of the twentieth century" ...

Henri Dutilleux Henri Paul Julien Dutilleux (; 22 January 1916 – 22 May 2013) was a French composer active mainly in the second half of the 20th century. His small body of published work, which garnered international acclaim, followed in the tradition of ...

Witold Lutosławski Witold Roman Lutosławski (; 25 January 1913 – 7 February 1994) was a Polish composer and conductor. Among the major composers of 20th-century classical music, he is "generally regarded as the most significant Polish composer since Szyman ...

Mauricio Kagel Mauricio Raúl Kagel (; 24 December 1931 – 18 September 2008) was an Argentine-German composer. Biography Kagel was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, into an Ashkenazi Jewish family that had fled from Russia in the 1920s . He studied music, his ...

Pierre Henry Henry at his home (January 2008) Pierre Georges Albert François Henry (; 9 December 1927 – 5 July 2017) was a French composer and pioneer of musique concrète. Biography Henry was born in Paris, France, and began experimenting at the age of ...

Luciano Berio Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled ''Sequenza''), and for his pioneering work ...

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 ...

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 Mont ...

Luigi Nono Luigi Nono (; 29 January 1924 – 8 May 1990) was an Italian avant-garde composer of classical music. Biography Early years Nono, born in Venice, was a member of a wealthy artistic family; his grandfather was a notable painter. Nono beg ...

Tōru Takemitsu was a Japanese composer and writer on aesthetics and music theory. Largely self-taught, Takemitsu was admired for the subtle manipulation of instrumental and orchestral timbre. He is known for combining elements of oriental and occidental phil ...

Elliott Carter Elliott Cook Carter Jr. (December 11, 1908 – November 5, 2012) was an American modernist composer. One of the most respected composers of the second half of the 20th century, he combined elements of European modernism and American "ultra- ...

Sofia Gubaidulina Sofia Asgatovna Gubaidulina (russian: Софи́я Асгáтовна Губaйду́лина, link=no , tt-Cyrl, София Әсгать кызы Гобәйдуллина; born 24 October 1931) is a Soviet-Russian composer and an established ...

Helmut Lachenmann Helmut Friedrich Lachenmann (born 27 November 1935) is a German composer of contemporary classical music. His work has been associated with "instrumental musique concrète". Life and works Lachenmann was born in Stuttgart and after the end of ...

György Kurtág György Kurtág (; born 19 February 1926) is a Hungarian classical composer and pianist. He was an academic teacher of piano at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music from 1967, later also of chamber music, and taught until 1993. Biography György ...

Péter Eötvös Péter Eötvös ( hu, Eötvös Péter, ; born 2 January 1944) is a Hungarian composer, conductor and teacher. Eötvös was born in Székelyudvarhely, Transylvania, then part of Hungary, now Romania. He studied composition in Budapest and Colog ...

Wolfgang Rihm Wolfgang Rihm (born 13 March 1952) is a German composer and academic teacher. He is musical director of the Institute of New Music and Media at the University of Music Karlsruhe and has been composer in residence at the Lucerne Festival and the Sa ...

). At

Radio France Radio France is the French national public radio broadcaster. Stations Radio France offers seven national networks: *France Inter — Radio France's "generalist" station, featuring entertaining and informative talk mixed with a wide variety of ...

, he created and directed the from 1991 to 1997. Very committed in the field of musical competitions, Claude Samuel created and directed the

Olivier Messiaen Competition The Olivier Messiaen Competition is an international contemporary piano competition organized by the City of Paris in homage to the French composer Olivier Messiaen. The first edition took place in 2000. Laureates of the competition See also ...

for contemporary piano (1977–2007) and the

Concours de violoncelle Rostropovitch The Concours de violoncelle Rostropovitch, (Cello Competition Mstislav Rostropovich), is an international cello competition established in 1977 by the city of Paris. See also * List of classical music competitions European Classical music ...

(1977–2009). Samuel has directed the "Concours de la Ville de Paris" from 1990 to 2014 (flute competition

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 ...

, trumpet competition

Maurice André Maurice André (21 May 1933 – 25 February 2012) was a French trumpeter, active in the classical music field. He was professor of trumpet at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris where he introduced the teaching of the pic ...

, piano-jazz competition

Martial Solal Martial Solal (born August 23, 1927) is a French jazz pianist and composer. Biography Solal was born in Algiers, French Algeria, to Algerian Jewish parents. He was persuaded to study clarinet, saxophone, and piano by his mother, who was an opera ...

, luthiery and arcèterie competition Étienne Vatelot).

Awards

* Officier of the Légion d’honneur (1985) * Officier des Arts et des Lettres * Officier of the Order of Merit (1993).

Works

* (ed. reworked and extended) * ''Panorama de l’art musical contemporain'',

Éditions Gallimard Éditions Gallimard (), formerly Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue Française (1911–1919) and Librairie Gallimard (1919–1961), is one of the leading French book publishers. In 2003 it and its subsidiaries published 1,418 titles. Founded by Ga ...

(1962) * ''Entretiens avec

'', Éditions Belfond (1967) * Expanded edition under the title ''Olivier Messiaen – Musique et couleur'' * ''Olivier Messiaen, nouveaux entretiens, Belfond, (1986)'' * ''Permanences d’Olivier Messiaen - dialogues et commentaires,''

Actes Sud Actes Sud is a French publishing house based in Arles. It was founded in 1978 by author Hubert Nyssen. By 2013, the company, then headed by Nyssen's daughter, Françoise Nyssen, had an annual turnover of 60 million euros and 60 staff members. ...

(1999) * Olivier Messiaen/Le livre du Centenaire (in coll. with Anik Lesure),Anik Lesure
/ref> Symétrie (2008) * ''Le Grand Macabre de Ligeti,'' Hubschmid and Bouret (1981) * ''Éclats/

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 ...

'', Ed. du Centre Georges Pompidou (1986) * ''

/Eclats 2002'', Ed. Mémoire du Livre (2002) * ''Interviews with

Mstislav Rostropovitch Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, (27 March 192727 April 2007) was a Russian cellist and conductor. He is considered by many to be the greatest cellist of the 20th century. In addition to his interpretations and technique, he was wel ...

and

Galina Vishnevskaya Galina Pavlovna Vishnevskaya (russian: links=no, Галина Павловна Вишневская, Ivanova, Иванова; 25 October 192611 December 2012) was a Russian soprano opera singer and recitalist who was named a People's Artist o ...

'',

Éditions Robert Laffont Éditions Robert Laffont is a book publishing company in France founded in 1941 by Robert Laffont. Its publications are distributed in almost all francophone countries, but mainly in France, Canada and in Belgium. It is considered one of the most ...

(1983) * '' Clara S./Les secrets d’une passion,''

Éditions Flammarion Groupe Flammarion () is a French publishing group, comprising many units, including its namesake, founded in 1876 by Ernest Flammarion, as well as units in distribution, sales, printing and bookshops (La Hune and Flammarion Center). Flammarion b ...

(2006)

References

External links

Claude Samuel
(symetrie.com)
Olivier Messiaen, compositeur ornithologue
(2012)
Le regard de Claude Samuel
(qobuz.com) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Samuel, Claude 1931 births 2020 deaths Writers from Paris French male non-fiction writers 20th-century French journalists 20th-century French musicologists Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite French music critics Classical music critics