Valérie Soudères (19 September 1914 – March 1995) ''née'' Briggs, also known in her early days as ''Valerie Hamilton'', was a French pianist, composer, and pedagogue.
Biography
Born in 1914, Soudères was the daughter of Georges-Hamilton Briggs, an English architect living in France. She entered the
Conservatoire de Paris where she was a student of
Maurice Emmanuel
Marie François Maurice Emmanuel (2 May 1862 – 14 December 1938) was a French composer of classical music and musicologist born in Bar-sur-Aube, a small town in the Champagne-Ardenne region of northeastern France. It was there where he first hea ...
and won the
First Prizes of the Conservatoire for piano,
harmony
In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...
,
history of music,
fugue
In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...
and
counterpoint
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 ...
, and
accompaniment
Accompaniment is the musical part which provides the rhythmic and/or harmonic support for the melody or main themes of a song or instrumental piece. There are many different styles and types of accompaniment in different genres and styles ...
as well as a Second prize for
musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music, either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called ...
.
She launched herself as a pianist by adopting the pseudonym of Valérie Hamilton. A refugee in London during World War II, she married François-Robert Soudères, originally from
Béarn
The Béarn (; ; oc, Bearn or ''Biarn''; eu, Bearno or ''Biarno''; or ''Bearnia'') is one of the traditional provinces of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in southwest France. Along with the three Bas ...
, and became Valérie Soudères.
Back in France, she teaches the piano and
sight-reading at the
Conservatoire de Paris with in particular, Isabelle Henriot and
Bill Finegan as students. A renowned pianist, she performed, on 29 February 1948, Béla Bartók's ''
Piano Concerto No. 3'', on the occasion of its premiere in France, with the
Pasdeloup Orchestra, at the
salle Gaveau under the direction of
Pierre Dervaux. She also took part to the premiere of
Darius Milhaud's ''4th Piano Concerto'' on 5 March 1952.
She organised events, such as the Honegger festival in 1953. In October 1954, she spoke in Paris at the first international congress devoted to the sociological aspects of music on radio.
In particular, she composed the ''Concerto béarnais'' premiered on 25 May 1947 with the
Orchestre Lamoureux, given in 1948 with the Pasdeloup Orchestra under the direction of
Eugène Bigot and with the
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, then in 1949 in Great Britain and the Netherlands and in 1962 with the
Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France under the direction of , the ''Suite pour contrebasse et orchestre'', the ''Concerto pour flûte'', and an opera, ''Que ma joie demeure'', based on the
eponymous novel by
Jean Giono. This opera was premiered on 13 June 1958 by the
orchestre de la RTF under the direction of
Pierre Dervaux.
After having been a soloist for European radio stations, she became a "listening critic" for the
Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française and was trained to
electroacoustic music
Electroacoustic music is a genre of popular and Western art music in which composers use technology to manipulate the timbres of acoustic sounds, sometimes by using audio signal processing, such as reverb or harmonizing, on acoustical instrumen ...
in
Pierre Schaeffer's
Groupe de Recherches Musicales.
In 1948, she was awarded the Suzanne Mesureur prize by the
Société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique and made a
chevalier of the Légion d'honneur
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
in 1965.
Soudères died in 1995.
The and
Jean-Claude Pennetier, husband of her daughter France, interpret her ''Concerto béarnais'' en 2016.
Works (selection)
Compositions
* ''Concerto béarnais'' for piano and orchestra, premiered in Paris in May 1947 by the
Orchestre Lamoureux
* ''Que ma joie demeure'', lyrical drama on a text by
Jean Giono, libretto by François-Robert Soudères, premiered on the
Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française on 13 June 1958 under the direction of
Pierre Dervaux, with Nadine Sautereau, Ginette Guillamat, ,
Camille Maurane
Camille Maurane (November 29, 1911 – January 21, 2010), born Camille Moreau, was a French baryton-martin singer. His father was a music teacher and he started singing as a child in the Maîtrise Saint-Evode in Rouen. The sudden death of his moth ...
,
Xavier Depraz
Xavier Depraz, ''né'' Xavier Marcel Delaruelle (22 April 1926 – 18 October 1994) was a French opera singer and actor.
Life
Born in Albert ( Somme), Depraz was a bass at the Paris Opéra until 1971. He took part in the premieres of operas by ...
,
Louis-Jacques Rondeleux
Louis-Jacques Rondeleux (24 October 1923 – 2 November 2000) was a 20th-century French lyrical artist (baritone).
Biography
After studying eclectic topics (mathematics, history, philosophy and theology), Rondeleux began his career in the Cath ...
and
Louis Noguéra as interpreters.
* ''Stances et mouvement perpétuel'' for oboe and orchestra (circa 1951,
Éditions Durand-Salabert-Eschig ME 6633)
* ''Suite pour contrebasse et orchestre'', six pièces pour contrebasse ou violoncelle et piano circa 1949, Éditions Costallat).
* ''Menuet-Fantaisie'', for flute and piano (Durand, Amphion DA 1620)
Writings
* ''Sens actuel de la pensée
contrapuntic'' in ''Inventaire des techniques rédactionnelles'', ''Polyphonie'', revue musicale, cahiers 9–10, Paris, Richard-Masse 1954 .
* ''Les possibilités d'évolution rapide des jeunes compositeurs grâce à la radio'', 1955.
[Mentioned in ''Speaking of music: music conferences, 1835-1966'', Répertoire international de la littérature musicale, 2004, , .]
Bibliography
* ''Le guide du concert et du disque'', n° 263–264, 11–27 March 1960: Valérie Soudères on the cover.
*
References
External links
Biographie de Valérie Soudères sur le site de l'OPPB
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soudères, Valérie
20th-century French women classical pianists
French women composers
1914 births
1995 deaths
Place of birth missing
Conservatoire de Paris alumni
Academic staff of the Conservatoire de Paris
Knights of the Legion of Honour
Women music educators