Pierre Strauch (born 1958) is a French

cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...

, composer and conductor. Strauch studied cello with

Jean Deplace Jean Lucien Deplace (12 July 1944 – 30 November 2015) was a French cello, cellist. Many well-known cellists studied with Deplace. Deplace studied with Maurice Maréchal and won first prize for cello in 1963 at the Paris Conservatory. Deplace ...

. Strauch won fourth prize at the Rostropovitch Cello Competition in 1977. In 1978 Strauch joined the

ensemble intercontemporain The Ensemble intercontemporain (EIC) is a French music ensemble, based in Paris, that is dedicated to contemporary music. Pierre Boulez founded the EIC in 1976 for this purpose, the first permanent organization of its type in the world. Organi ...

, a French

chamber orchestra Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numbe ...

of 31 soloists founded in 1976 by

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 ...

. In 1994, Strauch, along with composers Diogenes Rivas and Antonio Pileggi, founded the Festival Atempo 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 ...

, Venezuela. The festival includes concerts of contemporary music, classical music, jazz and folk music. Strauch participates actively in educational programs conducted by the ensemble intercontemporain and also teaches at the Academy of

Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...

."Pierre Strauch: L'écriture en jeu"
interview (extract) by Antoine Pecqueur, ''Accents'' no. 39, September–December 2009 (in French) Strauch taught sporadically at Paris conservatories. Strauch is a strong proponent of contemporary music, playing about 80% contemporary music and 20% "classical" music. Strauch has performed, premiered and recorded many 20th century works by composers such as

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 ...

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 ...

Bernd Alois Zimmermann Bernd Alois Zimmermann (20 March 1918 – 10 August 1970) was a German composer. He is perhaps best known for his opera ''Die Soldaten'', which is regarded as one of the most important German operas of the 20th century, after those of Berg. As a ...

and

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 ...

. Strauch gave the Parisian premiere of Time and Motion Study II by

Brian Ferneyhough Brian John Peter Ferneyhough (; born 16 January 1943) is an English composer. Ferneyhough is typically considered the central figure of the New Complexity movement. Ferneyhough has taught composition at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg and ...

and Ritorno degli Snovidenia by Luciano Berio. Strauch has composed works for the cello, other solo instruments and chamber ensembles. His works include: ''La Folie de Jocelin'', ''Preludio imaginario'', ''Faute d’un royaume'' for solo violin and seven instruments, ''Deux Portraits'' for five violas, ''Trois Odes Funèbres'' for five instruments, and ''Quatre miniatures'' for cello and piano. He has also composed works for voice: ''Impromptu acrostiche'' for mezzo and three instruments, and l''a Beauté (Excès)'' for three female voices and eight instruments. The ensemble intercontemporain commissioned a work for fifteen instruments, ''La Escalera del dragón (In memoriam

Julio Cortázar Julio Florencio Cortázar (26 August 1914 – 12 February 1984; ) was an Argentine, nationalized French novelist, short story writer, essayist, and translator. Known as one of the founders of the Latin American Boom, Cortázar influenced an ent ...

)'', which was premiered in 2004. Strauch says his compositional language is inspired by extra-musical elements such as drawings and literature. Strauch says performers should not seek to "understand" a piece of music. Rather, music should be seen as a vector of meaning, evoking reactions in the listener. Strauch's activities as a conductor are sporadic, usually entailing a few projects per year.

References

External links

"Du violoncelle à l’écriture, entretien avec Pierre Strauch"
interview with Véronique Brindeau, 15 January 1997, from ''Accent'' no. 1, January–March 1997 (in French)
Articles about Pierre Strauch

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Strauch, Pierre 1958 births French classical cellists French classical composers French male classical composers French male conductors (music) Living people 21st-century French conductors (music) 21st-century French male musicians 21st-century cellists