Michel Paul Philippot (2 February 1925 – 28 July 1996) was a French composer,

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

, acoustician,

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some m ...

, aesthetician, broadcaster, and educator.

Life

Philippot was born in

Verzy Verzy () is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France. Champagne The village's vineyards are located in the Montagne de Reims subregion of Champagne, and are classified as Grand Cru (100%) in the Champagne vineyard classificati ...

. His studies of mathematics were interrupted by

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, after which he decided instead to study music, first at the of Reims, and then 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 ...

(1945–48), where he studied harmony 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 ...

. He also took private composition lessons from 1946 to 1950 with

René Leibowitz René Leibowitz (; 17 February 1913 – 29 August 1972) was a Polish, later naturalised French, composer, conductor, music theorist and teacher. He was historically significant in promoting the music of the Second Viennese School in Paris after ...

, who introduced him to the music of the Second Viennese School. In 1949 he began a career at ORTF in a position as a music producer. In 1959 he became assistant to

Pierre Schaeffer Pierre Henri Marie Schaeffer (English pronunciation: , ; 14 August 1910 – 19 August 1995) was a French composer, writer, broadcaster, engineer, musicologist, acoustician and founder of Groupe de Recherche de Musique Concrète (GRMC). His inno ...

in the

Groupe de Recherches Musicales A group is a military unit or a military formation that is most often associated with military aviation. Air and aviation groups The terms group and wing differ significantly from one country to another, as well as between different branches ...

, and later worked under Henri Barraud at the radio station

France Culture France Culture is a French public radio channel and part of Radio France Radio France is the French national public radio broadcaster. Stations Radio France offers seven national networks: * France Inter — Radio France's " generalist" sta ...

. From 1964 to 1972 he was in charge of music programs, then became a technical adviser to the Director General of

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 o ...

and to the President of the

Institut national de l'audiovisuel The (abbrev. INA), () is a repository of all French radio and television audiovisual archives. Additionally it provides free access to archives of countries such as Afghanistan and Cambodia. It has its headquarters in Bry-sur-Marne. Since 20 ...

(INA). From 1969 to 1976 he also taught musicology and aesthetics at the Universities of

Paris I Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and IV, and from 1970 was professor of composition at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique de Paris. In 1976 he moved to Brazil in order to create the department of music at

São Paulo State University São Paulo State University (UNESP, pt, Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho") is a public university run by the state government of São Paulo, Brazil. UNESP has a combined student body of over 45,000 spread among its 23 c ...

, as well as to take up a position as professor at the

Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro or University of Brazil (UFRJ; pt, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro or ') is a public research university located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest federal university in the ...

. Upon returning to France in 1983, he resumed his occupation as technical advisor to INA (until 1989) and his professorship at the Paris Conservatory (until 1990). He died at the age of 71 in

Vincennes Vincennes (, ) is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is next to but does not include the Château de Vincennes and Bois de Vincennes, which are attache ...

, Paris.

Music

Philippot's compositions are almost exclusively instrumental and forego literary titles. From the outset his works were marked by the discipline of the

twelve-tone technique 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 ...

. The austerity of his earlier compositions gave way after the 1950s to a more fluid style indebted in part to

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 ...

and in part to Schoenberg, particularly to his Variations, Op. 31. His essentially

contrapuntal In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...

textures adhere to the Schoenbergian principle of continuous variation. His honors include the Grand Prix national de la musique (1987), and the presidency of the Académie Charles Cros.

Compositions (selective list)

;Orchestra *Overture for chamber orchestra (1949) *''Composition No. 1'' for string orchestra (1959) *''Composition No. 2'' for strings, piano and harp (1974) *''Composition No. 4'' (1980) *''Carrés magiques'' (1983) *Concerto for violin and/or viola and orchestra (1984) ;Chamber and solo instrumental *Variations for 10 instruments (1957) *''Transformations triangulaires'' for flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, horn, trumpet, trombone, two percussionists, violin and cello (1963) *''Composition No. 1'' for violin (1965) *Sonata for organ (1971) *''Passacaille'' for 12 instruments (1973) *''Composition No. 2'' for violin (1975) *Octet for clarinet, bassoon, horn, string quartet and double bass (1975) *''Composition No. 3'' for violin (1976) *String Quartet No. 1 (1976) *Septet (1977) *String Quartet No. 2 (1982) *Quintet for flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano (1984) *String Quartet No. 3 (1985) *Quintet for piano, two violins, viola and cello (1986) *''Composition'' for bassoon and piano (1986) *''Composition No. 4'' for violin (1988) *String Quartet No. 4 (1988) *''Ludus sonoritatis'' for 8 instruments (1989) *''Contrapunctus X'' for 10 instruments (1994) *''Méditation'' for 12 instruments (1994) ;Tape *Etude No. 1 (1951) *Etude No. 2 (1957) *Etude No. 3 (1962) ;Piano *Piano Sonata No. 1 (1947) *Piano Sonata No. 2 (1973) *''Composition No. 4'' for piano (1975) *''Composition No. 5'' for piano (1976) *''Composition No. 6'' for piano (1977) ;Vocal *''Quatre mélodies'' for soprano and piano (1948); words by

Guillaume Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire) of the Wąż coat of arms. (; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, and art critic of Polish descent. Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of t ...

*''Romance d'Hallewyn'' for voice, brass, percussion, celesta and violas (1950) ;Film scores *''Cyrus le grand'' (1960); directed by Feri Farzaneh *''Concerto pour violoncelle'' (1962); written and directed by Monique Lepeuve

Writings (selective list)

A complete list and full French texts of many items: *1952. "L'école de Vienne." ''Revue du C.D.M.I.'' *1953. "Musique et Acoustique—ou a propos de l'art de combiner les sons." ''Cahiers M. Renaud Barrault'' *1962. "Métamorphoses Phénoménologiques." ''Critique. Revue Générale des Publications Françaises et Etrangères'', no. 186 (November 1962). English as "

Ansermet Ernest Alexandre Ansermet (; 11 November 1883 – 20 February 1969)"Ansermet, Ernest" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 435. was a Swiss conductor. Biography Ansermet ...

's Phenomenological Metamorphoses", translated by Edward Messinger. '' Perspectives of New Music'' 2, no. 2 (Spring–Summer 1964): 129–140. *1965. ''Igor Stravinsky''. Musiciens de tous les temps n°18. Paris: Seghers. *1975. "Arnold Schoenberg and the Language of Music." '' Perspectives of New Music'' 13, no. 2 (Spring–Summer): 17–29. *1976. "Ear, Heart, and Brain." ''Perspectives of New Music'' 14, no. 2 and 15, no. 1 (Spring–Summer and Fall–Winter): 45–60. *1978. "Musique du temps, musique d'un temps." ''

La Revue musicale ''La Revue musicale'' was a music magazine founded by Henry Prunières in 1920. ''La Revue musicale'' of Prunières was undoubtedly the first music publishing magazine giving as much attention to the quality of editing, iconography, and illustrat ...

'', no. 316–3:39ff. *1983. "Rameau, la lumière de la raison et la raison du coeur." ' (27 December). *1987. " Heitor Villa-Lobos et la France." ''Les Cahiers de la Guitare et de la Musique'', no. 23:17. *2001. ''Diabolus in Musica: Les Variations de Beethoven sur un Thème de Diabelli''. Paris: L’Harmattan. (on the

Diabelli Variations The ''33 Variations on a waltz by Anton Diabelli'', Op. 120, commonly known as the ''Diabelli Variations'', is a set of variations for the piano written between 1819 and 1823 by Ludwig van Beethoven on a waltz composed by Anton Diabelli. It f ...

)

References

Sources * *

External links