Pascal Dusapin
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Pascal Georges Dusapin (born 29 May 1955) is a French composer. His music is marked by its
microtonality Microtonal music or microtonality is the use in music of microtones—interval (music), intervals smaller than a semitone, also called "microintervals". It may also be extended to include any music using intervals not found in the customary Wes ...
, tension, and energy. A pupil of
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 ...
and
Franco Donatoni Franco Donatoni (9 June 1927 – 17 August 2000) was an Italian composer. Biography Born in Verona, Donatoni started studying violin at the age of seven, and frequented the local music academy. Later, he studied at the Milan Conservatory ...
and an admirer of Varèse, Dusapin studied at the
University of Paris I A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...
and Paris VIII during the 1970s. His music is full of "romantic constraint". Despite being a pianist, he refused to compose for the piano until 1997. His melodies have a vocal quality, even in purely instrumental works. Dusapin has composed solo, chamber, orchestral, vocal, and choral works, as well as several operas, and has been honored with numerous prizes and awards.


Education and influences

Dusapin, born in Nancy, studied musicology, plastic arts, and art sciences at the University of Paris I and Paris VIII in the early 1970s. He felt a certain "shock" upon hearing
Edgard Varèse Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse (; also spelled Edgar; December 22, 1883 – November 6, 1965) was a French-born composer who spent the greater part of his career in the United States. Varèse's music emphasizes timbre and rhythm; he coined ...
’s '' Arcana'' (1927), and a similar shock when he attended
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 ...
’s multimedia performance ''Polytope de Cluny'' in 1972, yet he felt "une proximité plus grande" ("a greater closeness") to the latter composer. Because of his attraction to Xenakis's music, Dusapin studied with the composer at the
Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...
in Paris, where he remained a student from 1974 to 1978. His classes with Xenakis included such subjects as aesthetics and science. Dusapin also studied with Italian composer
Franco Donatoni Franco Donatoni (9 June 1927 – 17 August 2000) was an Italian composer. Biography Born in Verona, Donatoni started studying violin at the age of seven, and frequented the local music academy. Later, he studied at the Milan Conservatory ...
, who was invited to the University of Vincennes (Paris VIII) in 1976. While Dusapin's studies with these composers formed a foundation for his compositional studies—particularly for his understanding of
sound mass In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...
es—he developed his own musical language. According to I. Stoïnova, "Though attached to ... Varèse, Xenakis, Donatoni, Dusapin is nevertheless completely solitary because he is not only aware of his legacy, but also of the distance which separates him from his mentors: a creative distance of an aesthetic order and sensibility, a way of existing in sounds". He absorbed styles and ideas from these composers, then transformed them to fit his own musical needs. Besides being influenced by composers such as Varèse and Xenakis who dealt with sound masses, Dusapin's music also shows the influence of other musical traditions, including
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
. In fact, he was once a jazz pianist, though up until 1997 he refused to include piano in his compositions. Beginning in the late 1980s with his piece ''Aks'' (1987) and continuing into the 1990s, Dusapin incorporated French folk music into his musical language. In ''Aks'', commissioned by the Société des Amis du Musé des Arts et Traditions Populaires, Dusapin immediately quotes a folk-melody, but the rest of the piece is composed independently from the folk song. Dusapin's work from the 1990s further illustrates the influence of folk music through its frequent use of drones and use of restricted
modes Mode ( la, modus meaning "manner, tune, measure, due measure, rhythm, melody") may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' MO''D''E (magazine)'', a defunct U.S. women's fashion magazine * ''Mode'' magazine, a fictional fashion magazine which is ...
, though most often without obvious tonal centers.Griffiths, "Dusapin, Pascal." Other sources of inspiration include graphic arts and poetry.


Musical style


Instrumentation

One way in which Dusapin stands out from other contemporary composers is through his selection of certain instruments and rejection of others. Unlike even Xenakis, he avoids the use of
electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...
and technology in his music.Pugin, "New Intimacy in French Music", 19. Likewise, he has removed the use of percussion other than timpani from his works. Until recently, Dusapin also rejected the use of keyboard instruments, despite the fact that he plays the organ and jazz piano.Pace, "Never to Be Naught", 17. As a possible reason for Dusapin's rejection of these instruments, Stoïnova suggests, "The scale and static timbre of the piano, as well as the noisy, uniform textures of percussion are incorporated with difficulty by Dusapin into his microtonal perspective which seems to define the very essence of his dynamic melodism." Stoïnova, however, wrote this article four years before Dusapin completed the ''Trio Rombach'' (1997), for piano, violin or clarinet, and cello. This piano trio was the first work in which Dusapin incorporated piano, and not until 2001 did he complete a piece for solo piano, ''Sept Études'' (1999–2001).


Microtonality

Dusapin's music is also marked by its
microtonality Microtonal music or microtonality is the use in music of microtones—interval (music), intervals smaller than a semitone, also called "microintervals". It may also be extended to include any music using intervals not found in the customary Wes ...
, which is often achieved through the integration of micro-
glissandi In music, a glissando (; plural: ''glissandi'', abbreviated ''gliss.'') is a glide from one pitch to another (). It is an Italianized musical term derived from the French ''glisser'', "to glide". In some contexts, it is distinguished from the co ...
and micro-intervals (intervals of less than one semitone).Stoïnova, "Febrile Music", 185. Dusapin combines both micro-intervals and regular intervals into melodic lines so that the listener never knows what to expect next. Even so, Dusapin manages to make his use of microtonality feel completely natural. As Stoïnova explains, "The micro-intervals and the micro-glissandi ... in such instrumental works as ''Inside'' (1980) for viola, ''Incisa'' (1982) for cello, and many other pieces are, in effect, completely integrated as different by entirely 'natural' components in extremely supple melodic progressions". The listener is already familiar with the uniform division of the octave in equal intervals; Dusapin merely divides the octave by a less traditional number.


Musical form

Dusapin rejects the hierarchical, binary forms of most European music, but neither is his music
aleatory Aleatoricism or aleatorism, the noun associated with the adjectival aleatory and aleatoric, is a term popularised by the musical composer Pierre Boulez, but also Witold Lutosławski and Franco Evangelisti, for compositions resulting from "actio ...
. Dusapin characterizes the European "hierarchical" form as thinking in terms of variations, so that certain parts are always of more importance than others. Instead of composing in this way, Dusapin seems to compose measure by measure, deciding what he wants to happen next when he gets there. This process slightly alludes to the chance-like aspect of aleatory music, but Dusapin's music is so precisely composed that it cannot truly be aleatoric. Stoïnova writes, "With regard to Dusapin’s music we can observe a principle of auto-organization and complexity in the compositional system through the integration or assimilation of aleatory disturbances."Stoïnova, "Febrile Music", 188. In other words, Dusapin lets the music go where it will, often evoking aleatory idioms, while still notating everything and maintaining control of his music. He avoids repetition and rejects stability and redundancy in music, which is yet another distinguishing feature of his music.


Tension, energy, and movement

Perhaps the most prominent and unique element of Dusapin's music is its built-in tension, energy, and sense of movement. Indeed, in his article on Dusapin, Julian Anderson cites the "enclosing tensions" and "explosive flight" as the two extremes of Dusapin's early music and claims that these idioms are what make the composer's music so highly individual.Anderson, "Dusapin, Pascal", 251. Stoïnova also emphasizes the energy that is present in Dusapin's earlier compositions, giving credit to Dusapin's use of extreme registers,
flutter tongue Flutter-tonguing is a wind instrument tonguing technique in which performers flutter their tongue to make a characteristic "FrrrrrFrrrrr" sound. The effect varies according to the instrument and at what volume it is played, ranging from cooing soun ...
, trills, micro-intervals, glissandi,
multiphonic A multiphonic is an extended technique on a monophonic musical instrument (one that generally produces only one note at a time) in which several notes are produced at once. This includes wind, reed, and brass instruments, as well as the human voic ...
s, rapid articulations, drastic dynamics, and continuous breathing.Stoïnova, "Febrile Music", 186. These unique features make Dusapin's music incredibly intense and demanding on its performers. In fact, the intensity is such that Dusapin consciously makes pieces like ''Musique captive'' (1980) have short durations (in this case, three minutes), for by their ends the musicians and listeners alike are completely exhausted.


Later characteristics

Many of the characteristics discussed above are especially prevalent in Dusapin's earlier works, especially those from the 1980s. Beginning in the next decade, Dusapin's work moved more and more toward greater harmonic and melodic simplicity.Anderson, "Dusapin, Pascal", 252. Paul Griffiths notes that Dusapin's works from the 1990s are more harmonically conceived than his previous music, and that they incorporate more folk traditions, including the use of drones and modes. He further suggests that Dusapin continued to simplify his music as he moved into the twenty-first century, and that while the composer still avoids
diatonicism Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are most often used to characterize scales, and are also applied to musical instruments, intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony. They are very often used as a pai ...
, he uses techniques like oscillating between two notes and constantly varying small patterns, which involve more repetition than his past music.


Collaboration with Accroche Note

The instrumentation of Dusapin's music is often based upon available players, and during the 1980s and 1990s, he often wrote for the Ensemble Accroche Note, a Strasbourg-based new music group founded by a singer and clarinetist.Pace, "Never To be Naught", 17.
Ian Pace Ian Geoffrey Pace (born 1968) is a British pianist. Pace studied at Chetham's School of Music, The Queen's College, Oxford and the Juilliard School in New York. His main teacher was the Hungarian pianist György Sándor. Repertoire Born in H ...
proposes that the influence of the group's clarinetist
Armand Angster Armand Angster (born 20 January 1947) is a French clarinetist. With Françoise Kubler (soprano), he is the founder of the ensemble "Accroche Note", research and creative formation in contemporary music. Career Born in Strasbourg, Angster's mas ...
might be a reason for the prominence of the clarinet in much of Dusapin's music from this time period. Griffiths, too, makes note of the important role of the clarinet in the series of shorter pieces that Dusapin wrote after the completion of his first opera, Roméo et Juliette (1985–89). Dusapin's tendency to write for specific instrumentalists (in this case, clarinetist Angster) reveal a practical and realistic side of the composer.


Notable works


''Musique captive'' (1980) and ''Musique fugitive'' (1980)

Two of Dusapin's earlier works composed in the same year, ''Musique captive'' (1980) and ''Musique fugitive'' (1980), might be studied together in that they are both unstable and aim to avoid any sort of repetition. At the same time, however, the pieces go about achieving these goals in two very different ways. ''Musique captive'' is written for nine wind instruments (piccolo, oboe, soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet, contrabassoon, two trumpets, and bass trombone) and lasts just three minutes, for, as Stoïnova suggests, the tension and high demands on the performers are such that the piece could not last any longer. Stoïnova further describes the piece as internally destroying itself, writing, "The musical ideas of this piece—tremolo textures, a rising chromatic figure, violent crescendi, an expanding mass of detail etc.—destroy each other or to be more exact annihilate each other."Stoïnova, "Febrile Music", 189. Dusapin thus throws many musical ideas together, a concept that Pace relates to free jazz. The resulting music is highly unstable and simply cannot endure longer than its three-minute duration. The piece was first performed in July 1981 in La Rochelle, France. ''Musique fugitive'', on the other hand, achieves its instability through musical "ruptures." Written for string trio, the piece avoids the traditional process of statement and variation, thus breaking away from any sense of unity and continuity. Dusapin achieves this effect by stating one idea, then abruptly changing course through either sudden silence or the introduction of a new musical progression. Premiered in Aix-en-Provence, France, in June 1980, ''Musique fugitive'', Pugin claims, has become "virtually a repertoire piece in France." The Arditti String Quartet recording of the piece can be heard on
Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...
.


''La Rivière'' (1979) and ''L'Aven'' (1980–81)

''La Rivière'' (1979) and ''L’Aven'' (1980–81) are two orchestral pieces based on ideas of nature that, according to Julian Anderson, show off the "more exuberant, violent side of Dusapin’s style." Both pieces focus on characteristics of water and symbolize its fluidity and strength through music. The first piece opens with solo cello, which "spreads through" and "absorbs" the whole orchestra, as water would do.Stoïnova, "Febrile Music", 191. Indeed, in this piece Dusapin aims to realize the "movement of changing speeds, of the strength of flow." ''L’Aven'', on the other hand, captures the image of water slowly dripping and opening a hollow in stone. A concerto for flute and orchestra, the work begins with the flute being just barely audible over the orchestra, but it gradually pushes its way through the orchestral texture until it is the prominent voice of the work. Thus, the flute represents the dripping water, and the orchestra represents the stone. The flute plays without stop for ten minutes, always pushing against the orchestra and ultimately coming out on top. Both pieces received their premiere in Metz, France: ''La Rivière'' in November 1979, and ''L’Aven'' in November 1983.


''Niobé ou le Rocher de Sypile'' (1982)

''Niobé ou le Rocher de Sypile'' (1982) is a thirty-eight-minute work for twelve mixed voices, solo soprano (Niobé), and eight instruments (oboe doubling English horn, two clarinets he second doubling bass clarinet two bassoons he second doubling contrabassoontrumpet and two tenor trombones), with a neo-Latin text by Martine Irzenski. Irzenski's text is taken from fragments of Latin literary works and does not necessarily follow the chronology of the Greek myth of
Niobe In Greek mythology, Niobe (; grc-gre, Νιόβη ) was a daughter of Tantalus and of either Dione, the most frequently cited, or of Eurythemista or Euryanassa, the wife of Amphion and the sister of Pelops and Broteas. Her father was the ru ...
.Stoïnova, "Febrile Music", 193. Dusapin himself classifies the work as a "staged oratorio", rather than an opera or piece of musical theatre, and in it he once again avoids repetition and continuity and seeks to freely make textural connections. The solo soprano voice is pitted against the twelve voices of the mixed chorus, who serve a number of different purposes throughout the course of the work, sometimes extending the timbre of Niobé's voice, sometimes moving in relation to the text. In his article on Dusapin, Anderson also highlights the variety of vocal techniques and textures used in the oratorio, including microtonal chords for the chorus and the monodic soprano line at the end of the work. Through its non-linear text and multiple textural layers, 'Niobé ou le Rocher de Sypile' maintains the same sense of discontinuity as Dusapin's earlier chamber works. The work was first performed in Paris on 16 June 1984.


''Roméo et Juliette'' (1985–88)

According to Ian Pace, Dusapin's first opera, ''Roméo et Juliette'' (1985–88) is the "pivotal work" in the composer's career, for it is in this work that he first "properly" combines his ideas of narrative to the theatrical realm.Pace, "Never To be Naught", 18. Pugin views Dusapin's opera as a return to the "more fruitful" style of ''Niobé'', and cites Dusapin's vocal pieces ''Mimi'' (1986–87), ''Il-Li-Ko'' (1987), and ''Anacoluthe'' (1987) as study pieces for the creation of his first opera, particularly for the setting of the French language. Anderson, meanwhile, notes the greater amount of lyricism that exists in Dusapin's opera as compared to his earlier works. All three authors seem to agree that the opera is a noteworthy point in Dusapin's compositional career. The libretto, written by
Olivier Cadiot Olivier Cadiot (born 1956) is a French writer, poet, dramatist and translator. Cadiot was born in Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with ...
, is divided into nine numbers: the first four dealing with events before the revolution, the final four involving events after the revolution, and the fifth and central number being the revolution itself. This central movement is the only one played purely by the orchestra. The opera focuses not only on Roméo and Juliette, but also on their doubles, Roméo 2 and Juliette 2, who appear before the revolution and seem to symbolize "an expansion of their personalities." The opera also involves a chorus that comments on the action and a vocal quartet that serves as an intermediary and teaches Roméo and Juliette revolutionary concepts. Finally, there is the character of Bill, who teaches Roméo and Juliette to sing, but who himself only speaks until the eighth number, when he at last sings as well. In the latter half of the work, the characters discuss the possibility of creating a real opera, only to discover the "impossibility of opera, the story and even language itself", and the music breaks down into microtonality and fragmentation. The opera was premiered on 10 June 1989 in Montpellier, France.


''Seven Solos for Orchestra'' (1992–2009)

His next major project was the large-scale orchestral cycle ''
Seven Solos for Orchestra ''Seven Solos for Orchestra'' is an orchestral cycle written by the French composer Pascal Dusapin between 1992 and 2009. As the title suggests, it consists of seven pieces that can be played independently, although they were from the start concei ...
'' composed between 1992 and 2009. It consists of seven works that can be played independently but were from the start conceived as a whole. In the composer's own words: The cycle treats the orchestra as a large solo instrument and is the closest Dusapin has come to traditional symphonic thinking.


Current projects

In May 2016,
Alisa Weilerstein Alisa Weilerstein (born April 14, 1982) is an American classical cellist. She was named a 2011 MacArthur Fellow. Life and career Weilerstein was born in Rochester, New York. to a secular Jewish family. She started playing the cello at age four. ...
and the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenure ...
premièred ''
Outscape ''Outscape'' is a cello concerto written by the French composer Pascal Dusapin for the cellist Alisa Weilerstein in 2014–2015.La Monnaie The Royal Theatre of La Monnaie (french: Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, italic=no, ; nl, Koninklijke Muntschouwburg, italic=no; both translating as the "Royal Theatre of the Mint") is an opera house in central Brussels, Belgium. The National O ...
in Brussels in September 2019.


Complete list of works


Solo instrumental

*Inside, for viola (1980) *Incisa, for cello (1982) *If, for clarinet (1984) *Item, for cello (1985) *Itou, for bass clarinet (1985) *Ici, for flute (1986) *Iti, for violin (1987) *Indeed, for trombone (1987) *I Pesci, for flute (1989) *In et Out, for double bass (1989) *Invece, for cello (1991) *Ipso, for clarinet (1994) *Immer, for cello (1996) *In nomine, for viola (2000) *Sept études, for piano (1999–2001) *Imago, for cello (2001) *Memory, hommage crypté et monomodal à Ray Manzarek for organ (2008) *Ictus, for bass clarinet (2008–2009) *In Vivo, for solo violin (2015)


Chamber

*''Musique fugitive'', for string trio (1980) *''Trois Instantanés'', for 2 clarinets and 3 cellos (1980) *''Poco a poco'' (1986) *''Sly'', for trombone quartet (1987) *''Laps'', for clarinet and double bass (1988) *''Neuf Musiques pour «Le Fusil de chasse»'', for clarinet, trombone and cello (1989) *String quartet n°2 ''Time Zones'' (1989) *''Attacca'', pour 2 trumpets and timpani (1991) *''Stanze'', for brass quintet (1991) *''Ohimé'', for violin and viola, hommage for Besty Jolas (1992) *String quartet n°1 (1982–1996) *String quartet n°3 (1993) *''Ohé'', for clarinet and cello (1996) *String quartet n°4 (1997) *''Trio Rombach'', for piano, violin or clarinet and cello (1997) *String quartet n°5 (2004–2005) *String quartet n°6 (2009), with orchestra *String quartet n°7 (2009) * ''Microgrammes'', 7 pieces for string trio (2011) *''By the way'', for clarinet and piano (2014) *''Slackline'', for cello and piano (2015) *''Forma fluens'', for violin and piano (2018)


Orchestra and ensemble

*Souvenir du silence (1976) *Le Bal (1978) *Timée (1978) *La Rivière, for orchestra (1979) *Musique captive, for 9 wind instruments (1980) *Tre Scalini, for orchestra (1981–1982) *Fist (1982) *Hop' (1983–1984) *La Conversation (1984) *Treize Pièces pour Flaubert (1985) *Assaï, for orchestra (1985) *Haro (1987) *Coda (1992) *''
Seven Solos for Orchestra ''Seven Solos for Orchestra'' is an orchestral cycle written by the French composer Pascal Dusapin between 1992 and 2009. As the title suggests, it consists of seven pieces that can be played independently, although they were from the start concei ...
'' (1992–2009) **Go, solo n°1 for orchestra (1992) **Extenso, solo n°2 for orchestra (1993–1994) **Apex, solo n° 3 for orchestra (1995) **Clam, solo n° 4 for orchestra (1997–1998) **Exeo, solo n° 5 for orchestra (2002) **Reverso, solo n°6 for orchestra (2005–2006) **Uncut, solo n°7 for orchestre (2009) *Khôra, for string orchestra (1993) *Loop, for 2 cello quartets (1996) *Cascando (1997) *Perelà Suite, for orchestra (2004) *Morning in Long Island (2010)


Concertante

*Flute **''L'Aven'', flute concerto (1980–1981) **''Galim'', 'Requies plena oblectationis', for flute and string orchestra (1998) *Cello **''Celo'', cello concerto (1996) **''
Outscape ''Outscape'' is a cello concerto written by the French composer Pascal Dusapin for the cellist Alisa Weilerstein in 2014–2015.Aufgang'', violin concerto (2011–2012) *Piano **''A Quia'', piano concerto (2002) **''Jetzt Genau!'' concertino for piano and 6 instruments (2012) *Other **''Aria'', clarinet concerto (1991) **''Watt'', trombone concerto (1994) **''At Swim-Two-Birds'', double concerto for violin and cello (2017) **''Waves'', for organ and orchestra (2019)


Vocal

*Igitur (1977) *Lumen (1977) *L'Homme aux liens, for 2 sopranos and 3 violins (1978) *Shin'gyo, for soprano and piccolo flute (1981) *Niobé ou le rocher de Sypile (1982) *To God, for soprano and clarinet (or saxophone soprano) (1985) *Mimi for 2 women's voices and ensemble (1986–1987) *Aks (1987) *Red Rock, from «Roméo et Juliette» (1987) *Anacoluthe (1987) *For O., for 2 women's voices and 2 clarinets (1988) *So Full of Shapes is Fancy, for soprano and bass clarinet (1990) *Comoedia (1993) *Canto, for soprano, clarinet and cello (1994) *Two Walking, five pieces for two women's voices (1994) *Dona Eis (1998) *Momo (2002) *Ô Berio, for soprano and 13 instruments (2006) *O Mensch! (Inventaire raisonné de quelques passions Nietzschéennes), for baritone and piano (2008–2009) *''Beckett's Bones'' for soprano, clarinet and piano (2013) *''Wenn du dem Wind...'' (3 scènes de l’opéra Penthesilea) for mezzo-soprano and orchestra (2014) *''Wolken'', for female voice and piano (2014)


Operas

*''Roméo et Juliette'' (1985–1988) *''Medeamaterial'' (1990–1991) *''La Melancholia'' (1991) *''To Be Sung'' (1992–1993) *'' Perelà, uomo di fumo'' (2001) *'' Faustus, the Last Night'' (2003–2004) *''Passion'' (2009) *''Penthesilea'' (2015) * ''Macbeth Underworld'' (2019)


Choral

*Semino (1985) *Il-Li-Ko (1987) *Granum sinapis (1992–1997) *Umbrae mortis, for mixed choir (1997) *Disputatio, for children's chorus, mixed choir, string orchestra, percussion and glass harmonica (2014)


Recognition

Dusapin has won the following prizes and awards: *1979 – Hervé Dugardin Prize (SACEM) *1981–83 – Scholarship holder at the Villa Medici in Rome *1993–94 – Composer-in-residence with the Orchestre National de Lyon *1993 – Prize of the Académie des Beaux-Arts *1993 – Prix du Syndicat de la Critique (Critics' Circle Award) *1994 – SACEM Prize for Symphonic Music *1995 – French Ministry of Culture awarded him the Grand Prix National de Musique *1998 – Victoire de la Musique in 1998 for a CD recorded by the Orchestre National de Lyon, and 'Composer of the Year' in 2002. *2007 –
Dan David Prize The Dan David Prize is a major international award that recognizes and supports outstanding contributions to the study of history and other disciplines that shed light on the human past. It awards nine prizes of $300,000 each year to outstanding ...
(shared with
Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father was the foun ...
) In 2019, writers of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' ranked ''Passion'' (2008) the 14th greatest work of art music since 2000, with Tim Ashley writing, "The score subtly alludes to
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 ...
and French baroque, but the sound world it creates is uniquely Dusapin’s own: tense, quietly mesmerising and austerely beautiful."


References


Notes


Sources

*Amblard, Jacques. ''Pascal Dusapin, l’intonation ou le secret''. Paris: Musica falsa Société de Presse, 2002. *Anderson, Julian. "Dusapin, Pascal." In ''Contemporary Composers'', edited by Brian Morton and Pamela Collins, 250–52. Chicago: St. James Press, 1992. * *Cazé, Antoine. "‘Pas de Deux:’ Dusapin Sings/Stein to Be Sung." In ''Sound as Sense: Contemporary US Poetry &/In Music'', edited by Michel Delville and Christine Pagnoulle, 141–53. New Comparative Poetics 11. Brussels, Belgium: Presses Interuniversitaires Européenes – Peter Lang, 2003. * Cohen-Levinas, Danielle. "Composer n’est pas la musique." In ''Causeries sur la musique: Entretiens avec des compositeurs'', edited by Danielle Cohen-Levinas, 203–50. Paris: L’Itinéraire, 1999. *Grabócz, Márta. "Archetypes of Initiaion and Static Temporality in Contemporary Opera: Works of François-Bernard Mâche, Pascal Dusapin, and Gualtiero Dazzi." In ''Music and Narrative since 1900'', edited by Michael L. Klein and Nicholas Reyland, 101–24. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2013. *Stoïanova, I. "Pascal Dusapin: Febrile Music." ''Contemporary Music Review'' 8, no. 1 (1993): 183–96.


External links


Dusapin's page at Durand-Salabert-Eschig
composer's publisher
Concert and CD reviews
at classicalsource.com

the ensemble Sospeso

the Living Composers Project

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dusapin, Pascal 1955 births Living people University of Paris alumni 21st-century classical composers 20th-century classical composers Microtonal composers French classical composers French male classical composers Academic staff of the Collège de France Musicians from Nancy, France Pupils of Iannis Xenakis International Rostrum of Composers prize-winners 20th-century French composers 21st-century French composers 20th-century French male musicians 21st-century French male musicians