François-Bernard Mâche (born 4 April 1935,

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, ; ; oc, label=Auvergnat, Clarmont-Ferrand or Clharmou ; la, Augustonemetum) is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, with a population of 146,734 (2018). Its metropolitan area (''aire d'attract ...

) is a French composer of contemporary music.

Biography

Born into a family of musicians, he is a former student of Émile Passani and Olivier Messiaen and has also received a diploma in Greek archaeology (1957) and a teaching certificate (Agrégation de Lettres classiques, 1958). He was a member of the

Groupe de Recherches Musicales A group is a military unit or a military formation that is most often associated with military aviation. Air and aviation groups The terms group and wing differ significantly from one country to another, as well as between different branches ...

in Paris from 1958–63. He has composed electroacoustic,

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

chamber Chamber or the chamber may refer to: In government and organizations * Chamber of commerce, an organization of business owners to promote commercial interests *Legislative chamber, in politics * Debate chamber, the space or room that houses delib ...

, choral, vocal and

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

works. He has been a member of the

Académie des Beaux-Arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

since 2002 and occupies the chair of the late

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 c ...

. Mâche's ''Music, Myth and Nature, or The Dolphins of Arion'' (''Musique, mythe, nature, ou les Dauphins d'Arion'') (1983, 1992 ), which as a whole argues for a return in composition to mythic thought, includes a study of "ornitho-musicology" using a technique of Nicolas Ruwet's ''Langage, musique, poésie'' (1972) paradigmatic segmentation analysis, shows that birdsongs are organized according to a repetition-

transformation Transformation may refer to: Science and mathematics In biology and medicine * Metamorphosis, the biological process of changing physical form after birth or hatching * Malignant transformation, the process of cells becoming cancerous * Tran ...

principle. One purpose of the book was to “begin to speak of animal musics other than with the quotation marks”,Mâche (1992). ''Music, Myth and Nature, or The Dolphins of Arion'', p.114. . and he is credited by

Dario Martinelli Dario Martinelli (born Andria, Italy, March 1, 1974) is an Italian semiotician, musicologist and composer. He is director of the International Semiotics Institute, professor at Kaunas University of Technology, and is also affiliated to the Univ ...

with the creation of

zoomusicology Zoomusicology () is the study of the musical aspects of sound and communication as produced and perceived by animals. It is a field of musicology and zoology, and is a type of zoosemiotics. Zoomusicology as a field dates to François-Bernard Mâ ...

. The book also describes the conception and composition of pieces by Mâche, where, "As a starting point, he borrows a tonal model from reality which he then submits to a highly intricate process leading to abstraction." This technique leads Daniel Durney to describe Mâche as "one of the rare exponents of the naturalistic trend in music." Models often include human speech and bird song. Given the extensive use of birdsong made by

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; harmonicall ...

, Mâche avoided using birdsong recordings in his own work until 1969: ''Naluan'' for ensemble and tape from 1974, "systematically explores" the model of birds;Mâche (1992), p.189. while ''Sopiana'' of 1980 pits recordings of Malayan shamas, icterine warblers and marsh warblers against the virtuosity of a live flute and piano. Recordings of birdsong, insect sounds, and other natural phenomena such as raindrops are integrated into ''Le printemps du serpent'' for large percussion ensemble of 2001. Earlier in Mâche's composing career, recording of a poem by the modern Greek poet

Giorgos Seferis Giorgos or George Seferis (; gr, Γιώργος Σεφέρης ), the pen name of Georgios Seferiades (Γεώργιος Σεφεριάδης; March 13 – September 20, 1971), was a Greek poet and diplomat. He was one of the most important G ...

, read by Mâche himself, formed the basis of the orchestral work ''La peau du silence'' (1962), and that of a text by

Paul Éluard Paul Éluard (), born Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (; 14 December 1895 – 18 November 1952), was a French poet and one of the founders of the Surrealist movement. In 1916, he chose the name Paul Éluard, a matronymic borrowed from his maternal ...

for ''Le son d'une voix'' for small orchestra in 1964. Other major works include ''Kassandra'' for large ensemble and tape, which won the Italia Prize in 1977; ''Eridan'' (1986) and ''Moires'' (1994), both written for the Arditti Quartet; ''Kengir'' (1991), settings of ancient Sumerian love poems, and ''Manuel de résurrection'' (1998), setting texts from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, both written for the soprano Françoise Kubler and Ensemble "Accroche Note". Several of Mâche's works from the 1980s onwards make use of the sampling keyboard, notably ''L'estuaire du temps'' (1993) for sampler and large orchestra.

Published books

* (as editor) ''Music, Society and Imagination in Contemporary France'' (1993) *''Musique, mythe, nature, ou les Dauphins d'Arion'' (Paris: Méridiens Klinksieck, 1983) *''Music, Myth and Nature: or, The Dolphins of Arion'' (Harwood Academic Publishers, 1992) (transl. from the French by Susan Delaney) *''Entre l'observatoire et l'atelier'' (Paris: Éditions Kimé, 1998) *''Un demi-siècle de musique... et toujours contemporaine'' (Paris: L'Harmattan, 2000) *''Musique au singulier'' (Paris: Éditions Odile Jacob, 2001) *''François-Bernard Mâche: de la musique, des languages, et des oiseaux: entretien'' (by Bruno Serrou). (Paris: Éditions Michel de Maule, 2007)

Discography

*''Styx, Lethe''. Attacca Babel, 1994 *''Styx, Areg, Mesarthim, Léthé, Nocturne''. Naxos, 2006. *''Maraé, Aera, Khnoum, Le printemps du serpent''. Accord, 2005. *''L'Estuaire du temps, Braises, Andromède''. Densité 21, 2005. *''Kengir, Phénix, Brûlis, Figures, Aulodie''. Assai, 2002. *''Manuel de résurrection, Kassandra, Sopiana, Amorgos, Moires''. Musidisc, 1999. *''Aliunde, Phénix, Trois Chants Sacrés, Figures, Kemit, Aulodie''. Erato, 1993.

Sources

External links

Living Composers Project
Moderated by Thanassis Rikakis 4 July 1992, Delphi Computer Music Conference/Festival {{DEFAULTSORT:Mache, Francois-Bernard 1935 births Living people 20th-century classical composers French classical composers French male classical composers 21st-century classical composers Members of the Académie des beaux-arts 20th-century French composers 21st-century French composers 20th-century French male musicians 21st-century French male musicians