Paul Xavier Desenne Hable (7 December 1959 – 20 May 2023) was a Venezuelan cellist and composer.
[Javier A. Montilla]
"THE FLUTE MUSIC OF PAUL DESENNE: A COMPARATIVE ANALYTICAL STUDY OF REPRESENTATIVE WORKS"
Doctoral document, University of Nebraska
Biography
Desenne was born on 7 December 1959, in
Caracas
Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...
, where he was also raised. In 1977, he was a founding member of the
Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra
Simon may refer to:
People
* Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon
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* Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...
, for whom he later became the resident composer. He studied composition for 11 years in Paris.
Desenne's main instrument is the
cello.
He won first prize in cello performance at the
Conservatoire National Supérieur 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 ...
.
[Paul Desenne, 2010–2011 Rieman and Baketel Fellow for Music]
Radcliffe Institute After returning from Paris, Desenne joined the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra and was
El Sistema's resident composer.
In 2002, Desenne took a sabbatical from teaching and performance to concentrate on composition.
Desenne's works have been performed in major venues around the world, including
Alice Tully Hall at the
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...
and Joan and Sanford I. Weill Recital Hall at
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...
.
On 4 September 2016, Desenne's work ''Hipnosis mariposa'' was premiered at
The Proms by
Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra
The Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela ( es, Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar de Venezuela) is a Venezuelan orchestra. Named after the Venezuelan national hero Simón Bolívar, it is the apex of the nation's system of youth orch ...
conducted by
Gustavo Dudamel.
In 2006, Desenne became a Fellow at Civitella Ranieri Center in Umbria, Italy, and was awarded a
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...
in 2009.
From 2010 to 2011 he was a Fellow at the
Radcliffe Institute
The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University—also known as the Harvard Radcliffe Institute—is a part of Harvard University that fosters interdisciplinary research across the humanities, sciences, social sciences, arts, a ...
at Harvard University.
Desenne was resident composer with FESNOJIV (''
El Sistema'') in Venezuela. He wrote a weekly column on music for the Venezuelan national newspaper ''
El Nacional''.
In 2015-2016, he was Composer in Residence with the
Alabama Symphony Orchestra.
On 20 May 2023, Desenne died from a heart attack in
Boston, Massachusetts, at the age of 63.
His widow Carmen Liliana Rojas Marulanda survives him.
Works
Desenne wrote instrumental music for cello, flute, and combinations of instruments, and wrote an opera based on the story of coffee cultivation.
His works include:
* ''Gurrufío'' for flute orchestra (1997)
* Solo Flute Sonata (2001)
* "Jaguar Songs" (2002),
a sonata for solo cello
[Rondón, Tulio Jose]
"Cultural hybridization in the music of Paul Desenne: An integration of Latin American folk, pop and indigenous music with Western classical traditions"
University of Arizona Campus Repository, 2005.
* "The Two Seasons of the Caribbean Tropics" (2003),
a violin concerto
* ''Guasa Macabra'' for flute and clarinet (2003)
* ''Sinfonía Burocratica ed’Amazzonica'' (2004), a "tropical symphony in five movements"
* ''Palenkumbé'' (2007), an overture incorporating Latin rhythms and folk songs
* ''Gran Cacelorazo'' (2010), a piece for piano, percussion, and strings
* ''La Revoltosa'', two chamber works for clarinet
* ''Hipnosis Mariposa'' (2014)
* "Life of Benjamin: a Monkey Symphony" (2015)
* Symphony No. 5 (2016)
*''Guasamacabra'' for orchestra (2018)
References
External links
Paul Desenne page.*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Desenne, Paul
1959 births
2023 deaths
21st-century classical composers
Venezuelan composers
Cellists
21st-century cellists
Musicians from Caracas