Marcel Just Théodore Marie Couraud (20 October 1912 in Limoges – 14 September 1986 in

Loches Loches () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department, central France. It is situated southeast of Tours by road, on the left bank of the river Indre. History Loches (the Roman ''Leucae'') grew up around a monastery founded about 500 by St. ...

) was a French orchestral and choral conductor and organist.

Biography

Couraud studied organ with

André Marchal André Louis Marchal (6 February 1894 – 27 August 1980) was a French organist and organ teacher. He was one of the great initiators of the twentieth-century organ revival in France and one of the cofounders of the ''Association des amis de l'orgu ...

in Paris where he attended the Ecole Normale de Musique. He also took courses in composition with Nadia Boulanger and conducting with Charles Munch. In 1944 he founded the ''Ensemble Vocal Marcel-Couraud'', with whom he performed chansons and madrigals of the Renaissance period (including Orlando di Lasso and

Claudio Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is considered ...

) as well as works by contemporary composers such as ''Trois Petites Liturgies de la présence divine'' by

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 ...

. He led the ensemble and also served as the choral director of the Maîtrise de Radio France until 1954 and then conducted the Bach Choir and Bach Orchestra Stuttgart. He also commissioned '' Epithalame'' in 1953, a vocal chamber piece by André Jolivet. From 1967, he was director of the choir of the broadcaster ORTF of Paris. From its members, he formed in the following year the ''Groupe Vocal de France'', with whom he performed contemporary works such as ''Cinq Rechants'' by Messiaen, the ''Dodécaméron'' by

Ivo Malec Ivo Malec (30 March 1925, in Zagreb – 14 August 2019, in Paris) was a Croatian-born French composer, music educator and conductor. One of the earliest Yugoslav composers to obtain high international regard, his works have been performed by sy ...

, ''Récitatif, air et variations'' of Gilbert Amy, ''Nuits'' by Iannis Xenakis and the ''Sonata à douze'' by Betsy Jolas. Marcel Couraud

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Couraud, Marcel 1912 births 1986 deaths People from Limoges French choral conductors French male conductors (music) 20th-century French conductors (music) 20th-century French male musicians