The Théodore Gouvy International Festival (''Festival international Théodore Gouvy'') is an annual festival of classical music held in honour of Franco-German composer, Théodore Gouvy. The festival is located in

Hombourg-Haut Hombourg-Haut (; ) is a commune located in the department of Moselle, region of Grand Est, in the cultural and historical region Lorraine, north-eastern France. Hombourg-Haut is an old medieval fortress town, built in the thirteenth century ...

(region

Grand Est Grand Est (; ) is an Regions of France, administrative region in northeastern France. It superseded three former administrative regions, Alsace, Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine, on 1 January 2016 under the provisional name of Alsace-Champagne-A ...

), the town where the composer, from 1867 onwards, used to spend the summer with his family.

Mission

The festival has been established by the

Institut Théodore Gouvy The Théodore Gouvy Institute () is a French music organisation based in Hombourg-Haut (in the historical region of Lorraine). Founded in 1995 its aims are to bring the name of the composer Théodore Gouvy (1819–1898) back to public conscio ...

and the Choeur d'hommes de Hombourg-Haut (male choir founded in 1865 with Gouvy's support). The festival is aimed at rediscovering the major works of the composer. The first edition took place in 1995. Since then, the festival is supported by the town of Hombourg-Haut, the region

and the

Moselle (department) Moselle () is the most populous department in Lorraine, in the northeast of France, and is named after the river Moselle, a tributary of the Rhine, which flows through the western part of the department. It had a population of 1,046,543 in 2 ...

. The festival is intended to be a series of six concerts spread out over the year. A close relationship has been established with th
Orchestre national de Lorraine
major participant in the Festival.

Programming

Each concert associates a work of Gouvy with works of other composers. This mix is most often based on highlights of the musical scene or on other topical issues as the 10th anniversary of the twinning between Hombourg-Haut and San Giorgio di Pesaro in 2016 (with an Ouverture of Rossini, the 4th symphony of 4Mendelssohn and the 1st symphony of Gouvy (both symphonies have been composed in Italy). Participating vocal groups, artists and orchestras include conductors like

Pierre Cao Pierre Cao (born 22 December 1937 in Dudelange) is a Luxembourgish composer and conductor. He studied composition and conducting at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. Classical music Cao is the regular conductor of Arsys Bourgogne with whom h ...

Jacques Mercier Jacques Mercier (born 17 October 1943 in Mouscron) is a Belgian writer and television and radio presenter. The third eldest son of René and Denise Mercier, Jacques Mercier was educated at St. Joseph's College. Mercier joined RTBF in September ...

, Joachim Fontaine, soloists like

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (born 17 October 1962) is a French classical pianist. Education Bavouzet was born in Lannion, France and grew up in Metz. He started his music studies there, encountering composers including Iannis Xenakis, Olivier Messia ...

Françoise Pollet Françoise Pollet (born 10 September 1949 in Boulogne Billancourt) is a French soprano. She made her debut in 1983 at the Lübeck Opera as Marschallin in the Rosenkavalier of Richard Strauss.Aspects de la mélodie française: Concours internationa ...

Jean-Pierre Wallez Jean-Pierre Wallez (born 18 March 1939) is a French violinist and conductor. Career Wallez was born in Lille. He graduated in first place in violin and chamber music at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris. He won ...

…; choirs like th
Choir of the monks of Saint-Alexander Nevski monastery
the female Choir Rimsky-Korsakov of Saint-Petersburg, Oxford Voices, Psalette de Lorraine…; chamber music ensembles like Ricercare or the Chamber Orchestra of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (KMVL)...; string quartets (Quatuor Varèse, Quatuor Denis Clavier) etc.

Venues

The concerts are generally held in the collegiate church of Saint-Stephen. The New Year concert takes now place in the new "Espace Wendel".

30th edition of the festival in 2019

The 30th edition coincides with the 200th anniversary of Théodore Gouvy's birth. The fourth concert (on July 4, exactly 200 years after Gouvy's birth) provided the opportunity to inaugurate the statue erected in the honour of the composer and to re-create one of his cantatas, Aslega. This work has been premiered in Paris in 1876 and was the first cantata Gouvy composed for soloists, choir and orchestra. The composer reworked it (1888-1892). Nevertheless this second version (with German libretto) has never been published and performed. The performance was directed by Jacques Mercier.In the German magazine Opus, music critic Friedrich Spangemacher points out the power of Gouvy's musi
See Opus Kuktur Magazin
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References

{{Reflist

External links

Festival International Théodore Gouvy

The Choir of the monks of the Alexander Nevski Monastery of Saint-Pétersburg sings "Benedictus" of Gouvy's ''Missa Brevis'
(Théodore Gouvy International Festival - Collegiate church Saint-Stephen (Hombourg-Haut) Music festivals established in 1995 Music festivals in France Choral festivals