Arthur Honegger
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Arthur Honegger “Honegger” redirects here. For other uses, see Honegger 1 Biographyy (surname).. Arthur Honegger ( (French: [aʁtyʁ ɔnɛɡɛːʁ]; 10 March Born Oscar-Arthur Honeggerr (the first name was never used) to Swiss parents in Le Havre, France, he initially studied harmony and violin in Le Havre. After studying fforor twtwoo yeyearsarsatat thetheZuricichh Conserservavatortoryy (mergrgeded inin 19999 into the School of Music, Drama, and Dance (HMT), it- seselflf memergrgededinin20200707inintoto ththee ZurichUniversity of theArts (ZHdK)), he enrolled in the Paris Conservatoire from 1911 to 1918, studying with both Charles-Marie Widor and Vincent d'Indy. He made his Paris compositiitional debut in 1916 and in 1918 wrote the ballet Le dit des jeux du monde, generally considered to be his first char- acteristic work. In 1926 he married Andrée Vaurabourg,, a pianist and fellow student at the Paris Conservatoire,, on the condition that they live in separate apartments. They lived apart for the duration of their marriage, with the exceptions of one year from 1935 to 1936 following Vaurabourg’s injury in a car accident, and the last year of Honegger’s life, when he was not well enough to live alone. They had one daughter, Pascale, born in 1932. Honeggeralsohad aa son, Jean-Claude (1926–2003), with the singer Claire Croiza.. In the early 1920s, Honegger shot to fame with his “dra- matic psalm” Le roi David (“King David”), which is still in the choral repertoire. Between World War I and World War II, Honegger was very prolific. He composed the music for Abel Gance’s epic 1927 film, Napoléon.. He composed nine ballets and three vocal stage works, amongst other works. One of those stage works, Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher (1935), a “dramatic oratorio" (to words byby Paul Claudel), is thought of as one of his finest works. In addition to his pieces written alone, he collaborated with Jacques Ibert onon bobothth anan opoperera,a, L'Aiglon (1937), and anan operetta. During this time period he also wrote Danse de la chèvre (1921), an essential piece of flute repertoire. Dedicatedd toto RenéLeRoy andwrittettenn fforor flutee alalone,, thithiss piece is lively and charming, but with the same directness of all Honegger’s work. Honegger on the 1996 Swiss 20 franc note Honegger had always remained in touch with Switzer- land, his parents’ country of origin, but with the outbreak of the war and the invasion of the Nazis, he found him- self unable to leave Paris. He joined the French Resis- 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer, who tance and was generally unaffected by the Nazis them- was born in France and lived a large part of his life in selves, who allowed him to continue his work without too PaParisris. He was a membeber of Les Six. HiHis most frere-- much interference. In parallel, he also taught composi- quently performed work is probably the orchestral work tion at the École Normale de Musique de Paris, where Pacific 231, which was inspired by the sound of a steam among his students was Yves Ramette, future composer 2 3 NOTABLE COMPOSITIONS by the war. Between its outbreak and his death, he wrote For a list of notable students, See: List of music students his last four symphonies (numbers two to five) which are by teacher: G to M#Arthur Honegger. among the most powerful symphonic works of the 20th century. Of these, the second, for strings, featuring a solo trumpet which plays a chorale tune by Johann Sebas- 3 Notable compositions tian Bach in the final movement, and the third, subtitled Symphonie Liturgique with its three movements evoking Opus numbers originate from the complete catalogue by the Requiem Mass ( , and Dies Irae De profundis clamavi Harry Halbreich. For a longer list of compositions, see Dona nobis pacem), are probably the best known. Writ- ten in 1946 just after the end of the war, it has parallels List of compositions by Arthur Honegger. For a list of select recordings, see Arthur Honegger discography. with Benjamin Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem of 1940. In complete contrast with this work is the lyrical, nostalgic Symphony No. 4, subtitled “Deliciae Basilienses” (“The • Orchestral Music : Delights of Basel”) and written as a tribute to days of re- laxation spent in that Swiss city during the war. Symphonies : Honegger was widely known as a train enthusiast, and 1930 : H 75 First Symphony in C once notably said: “I have always loved locomotives pas- 1941 : H 153 Second Symphony for sionately. For me they areliving creatures andI lovethem (Symphony as others love women or horses.” His “mouvement sym- strings and trumpet in D for Strings) phonique” Pacific 231 (a depiction ofa steam locomotive) gained him early notoriety in 1923. 1946 : H 186 Third Symphony (Symphonie Liturgique) Many of Honegger’s workswere championedbyhislong- 1946 : H 191 Fourth Symphony in time friend Georges Tzipine, who conducted the pre- A (Deliciae basiliensis) miere recordings of some of them ( Cris du Monde ora- 1950 : H 202 Fifth Symphony in D torio, Nicolas de Flüe).[1] (Di tre re) In 1953 he wrote his last composition, A Christmas Can- tata. After a protracted illness, he died at home in Paris Symphonic Movements : of a heart attack on 27 November 1955 and was interred in the Saint-Vincent Cemetery in the Montmartre Quar- 1923 : H 53 Pacific 231 (Sym- ter. phonic Movement No. 1) 1928 : H 67 Rugby (Symphonic The principal elements of Honegger’s style are: Bachian Movement No. 2) counterpoint, driving rhythms, melodic amplitude, highly 1933 : coloristic harmonies, an impressionistic use of orchestral H 83 Symphonic Movement sonorities, and a concern for formal architecture. His No. 3 style is weightier and more solemn than that of his col- Concerti : leagues in Les Six. Far from reacting against German ro- manticism as the other members of Les Six did, Honeg- 1924 : H 55 Concertino for piano ger’s mature works show evidence of a distinct influence by it. Despite the differences in their styles, he and fel- and orchestra in E major low Les Six member Darius Milhaud were close friends, 1929 : H 72 Concerto for cello and having studied together at the Paris Conservatoire. Mil- orchestra in C major (Cello Con- haud dedicated his fourth string quintet to Honegger’s certo) memory, while Francis Poulenc similarly dedicated his 1948 : H 196 Concerto da camera, Clarinet Sonata. for flute, English horn and strings Others : 2 Legacy 1917 : H 16 Le chant de Nigamon 1920 : H 31 Pastorale d'été Honegger is currently featured on the Swiss twenty franc 1923 : H 47 Chant de joie (Song of banknote. Joy) 1951 : H 204 Monopartita Honegger’s symphonic movement Rugby was recorded with him conducting the Paris Symphony Orchestra in a 1929 electrical recording, which can be heard on • Oratorios : YouTube.[2] Many of Honegger’s recordings as conduc- tor of his music have been reissued on CD by Pearl and 1921 : H 37 Le roi David (King David) libretto 4 7 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES 7 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses 7.1 Text • Arthur Honegger Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Honegger?oldid=672903451 Contributors: Deb, Ortolan88, Camem- bert, Ericd, Flamurai, Looxix~enwiki, Docu, BigFatBuddha, JASpencer, Hyacinth, Jusjih, NightCrawler, Kokiri, CdaMVvWgS, Wik- ibot, JackofOz, Lzur, Henry Flower, Antandrus, Karol Langner, Urhixidur, Klemen Kocjancic, Picapica, D6, Fred sienkiewicz, Rich Farmbrough, Francis Schonken, Bender235, Kwamikagami, Ranveig, Schissel, Ciceronl, Ksnow, Ruziklan, Jdemarcos, Emerson7, Gra- ham87, Ted Wilkes, Rjwilmsi, Koavf, Missmarple, Airunp, Chobot, YurikBot, SkyCaptain~enwiki, Badagnani, Tony1, JRawle, Stevouk, Attilios, SmackBot, Xiao yang, KocjoBot~enwiki, Chris the speller, Musikfabrik, Kleinzach, Afasmit, RowerGurl, Makemi, Derek R Bullamore, Smerus, LeoNomis, Ohconfucius, Dono, Ser Amantio di Nicolao, Gryphon922, Michael Bednarek, ErinKM, Voceditenore, JHunterJ, Laonikoss, RCS, Nunquam Dormio, Ken Gallager, Cydebot, Robertwalton, Thijs!bot, Lampernist, RoboServien, Sean Parmelee, Ron.kappler, JAnDbot, El Chileno Chido, Magioladitis, Jerome Kohl, Waacstats, Muziarch, Europus, Mokgamen, Pax:Vobiscum, Com- monsDelinker, Sallyrob, Aboutmovies, Vstrad7, DorganBot, Idioma-bot, VolkovBot, Alfietucker, Gretab, Ewan campbell, Classickol, Swanstone, Phe-bot, Lethesl, Niceguyedc, DragonBot, Feline Hymnic, Wkped, MelonBot, XLinkBot, Deutschesreich, Addbot, Favo- nian, Lightbot, Cote d'Azur, Luckas-bot, Amirobot, GravySpasm, Starbois, Karljoos, Omnipaedista, RibotBOT, Rigaudon, Singingdaisies, B3t, DefaultsortBot, KuhWaver, Gerda Arendt, Dinamik-bot, Jfmantis, RjwilmsiBot, Paraselite, 4meter4, Ras Pratch, HammerFilmFan, FeatherPluma, Mannanan51, Corentin Boissier, ChrisGualtieri, VIAFbot, Stanislavalo, OccultZone, Michael Dominik Fischer, KasparBot and Anonymous: 40 7.2 Images • File:'A'_(PSF).png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/%27A%27_%28PSF%29.png License: Public do- main Contributors: Archives of Pearson Scott Foresman, donated to the Wikimedia Foundation Original artist: Pearson Scott Foresman • File:Arthur_Honegger_-_Danse_de_la_Chèvre.ogg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Arthur_ Honegger_-_Danse_de_la_Ch%C3%A8vre.ogg License: CC BY-SA 2.0 Contributors: The Al Goldstein collection in the Pandora Music repository at ibiblio.org. Original artist: Sarah Bassingthwaite (flute) • File:CHF20_8_front.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/CHF20_8_front.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ? • File:Commons-logo.svg