Henri Dutilleux

Henri Dutilleux
Dutilleux in 2004
Born
Henri Paul Julien Dutilleux

(1916-01-22)22 January 1916
Died22 May 2013(2013-05-22) (aged 97)
Paris, France
Occupation
  • Composer
WorksList of compositions

Henri Paul Julien Dutilleux (French: [ɑ̃ʁi dytijø]; 22 January 1916 – 22 May 2013) was a French composer of late 20th-century classical music. Among the leading French composers of his time, his work was rooted in the Impressionistic style of Debussy and Ravel, but in an idiosyncratic, individual style. Among his best known works are his early Flute Sonatine and Piano Sonata; concertos for cello, Tout un monde lointain... ("A whole distant world") and violin, L'arbre des songes ("The tree of dreams"); a string quartet known as Ainsi la nuit ("Thus the night"); and two symphonies: No. 1 (1951) and No. 2 Le Double (1959).[1]

Works were commissioned from him by such major artists as Charles Munch, George Szell, Mstislav Rostropovich, the Juilliard String Quartet, Isaac Stern, Paul Sacher, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Simon Rattle, Renée Fleming, and Seiji Ozawa. In addition to composing, he worked as the Head of Music Production for Radio France for 18 years. He also taught at the École Normale de Musique de Paris and at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique, and was twice composer in residence at the Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox, Massachusetts.

Among Dutilleux's many awards and honours were the Grand Prix de Rome (1938) and the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize (2005). When describing him, the music critic Paul Griffiths wrote that "Mr. Dutilleux’s position in French music was proudly solitary. Between Olivier Messiaen and Pierre Boulez in age, he was little affected by either, though he took an interest in their work. But his voice, marked by sensuously handled harmony and color, was his own."[2]

  1. ^ "Henri Dutilleux | Biography, Albums, & Streaming Radio". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 16 July 2013. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  2. ^ Paul Griffiths (23 May 2013). "Henri Dutilleux, Modernist Composer, Dies at 97". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 24 July 2020. Retrieved 24 May 2013.