Norbert Moret

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Norbert Moret (1984)

Norbert Moret (born November 20, 1921 in Ménières ; † November 17, 1998 in Friborg ) was a Swiss composer of new music , pianist , organist , choir director and music teacher .

Life

Norbert Moret came from a Catholic farming family in the Broye in the canton of Friborg .

As a late caller, Moret only discovered music as a teenager in the St. Michael College in Friborg, thanks to his teacher Joseph Gogniat, organist at the Friborg Cathedral . His key experience was when he first heard Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 , and shortly afterwards he composed his first three songs. During high school he was also impressed by Henri Duparc , and later Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel .

After graduating from high school , he studied piano , organ , Gregorian singing and composition at the Freiburg Conservatory , a. a. with Louis Sauteur and Leo Kathriner. Between 1948 and 1950 he stayed in Paris, where Olivier Messiaen in particular had a lasting influence on him and René Leibowitz made him familiar with serial music . When Arthur Honegger he graduated with a diploma, one of his fellow students was Pierre Boulez . The following year he continued his education with Paul Kletzki at the Conservatoire de Lausanne . Afterwards, thanks to a scholarship from the Swiss Tonkünstlerverein (STV / AMS, today Sonart - Musikschaffende Schweiz ) in Vienna , he was able to do an internship with the orchestra of the Vienna Philharmonic under the direction of Wilhelm Furtwängler and study conducting with Clemens Krauss .

After his return from Vienna, Moret spent more than 20 years composing largely unnoticed. Later, those around him, especially the influential Abbé Pierre Kaelin and the director of the Freiburg Conservatory Aloys Fornerod, were accused of not promoting Moret because of their rejection of new music. It is more likely, however, that Moret spent a long time looking for his way without first finding a language of his own and, also out of shyness, did not dare to go public with his compositions. So he first composed serial music, but destroyed the compositions again. He even did not introduce his compositions to his friends; he only consulted the organists Bernhard Billeter and Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini , at the time professor of musicology at the University of Freiburg .

"J'étais timide, je n'ai pas fait des démarches, je n'osais pas"
("I was shy, I didn't make any advances, I didn't dare")

- Norbert Moret : 1981 when asked why he had remained undiscovered for so long

During this time, Moret earned his living as a teacher, first as a singing and French teacher at the secondary school (he was also president of the Corps professoral secondaire fribourgeois ), then from 1965 to 1983 as a music teacher at the cantonal teachers' college (today Friborg University of Education ). In addition, from 1950 to 1974 he was director of the mixed choir of the Saint-Pierre church in Friborg.

In 1972 he was convinced that he had found his personal language beyond any academicism he rejected , and finally presented his compositions to Heinrich Sutermeister , who was very impressed by them. The great breakthrough, initially in the German-speaking Switzerland, was then carried out in 1974 with Germes en éveil , a chamber music work for soprano, flute, choir and two percussionists (on poems by Thérèse Loup), which in the 75th Festival of Swiss Musicians Association Amriswil was performed . All of a sudden, Moret was considered one of the most important contemporary composers in German-speaking Switzerland. In French-speaking Switzerland, however, it took almost another ten years before Moret was really noticed, until the premiere of the Tragiques in October 1983 in Geneva.

Norbert Moret (1978)

After the Tonkünstlerfest in Amriswil, the conductor and patron Paul Sacher became aware of Moret. With his support and the support of his cellist friend, Mstislaw Rostropowitsch , Moret devoted himself entirely to the composition, with the works following each other at a rapid pace. Sacher commissioned him with Hymnes de silence (a concerto for string orchestra, three trombones, four percussionists and organ, which had a highly successful premiere in Basel in 1978), a double concerto for violin and violoncello, visitations (a concerto for soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, Percussion, piano, organ, shelf and positive ), the Sacher serenade for bass clarinet, vibraphone, positive and shelf, a triple concerto for flute, oboe and harp and a concerto for cello and orchestra dedicated to Rostropovich. Moret had already composed the Two Love Poems for soprano and violoncello for Rostropovich and his wife Galina Pavlovna Vishnevskaya , which was also commissioned by Sacher , but did not agree with the soprano ("she demanded too many heights"), and in 1981 on Phyllis Bryn-Julson then sang the postponed premiere in 1984. Further orders followed by Swiss Radio DRS for Temps , a concerto for baritone and two trumpets, from Pro Helvetia to 500-year anniversary of the membership of the canton of Friborg in the Swiss Confederation (Mendiant du ciel bleu) , from the canton of Neuchatel (reinterpretation of Visitation ) on the occasion of 700 years of membership in the Swiss Confederation, by the Association des amis de l ' Orchester de la Suisse Romande (Tragiques) , by the Settimane musicali Ascona (En rêve) , by the Orchester de Chambre de Lausanne ( Trois pièces and Mendiant du ciel bleu , suite et fin on its 50th anniversary), by the Société de musique de La Chaux-de-Fonds on its 100th anniversary (Divertimento) , by Radio Suisse Romande (trumpet concert) , by the Association des orgues de la Collégiale de Neuchâtel for the inauguration of the new organ (organ concert), by the Dutch guitarist Suzanne Mebes (Sensations) , by Samuel Schneider (horn concert for his son Bruno Schneider ) and others. a.

Norbert Moret composed 65 instrumental and vocal works. He won several prizes, including the prestigious composer prize of the Swiss Tonkünstlerverein in 1983, and in 1990 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Freiburg. His works have been performed by world-famous artists such as Paul Sacher (Hymnes de silence) , Seiji Ozawa and Anne-Sophie Mutter (violin concerto En rêve ), Heinz Holliger and Aurèle Nicolet (triple concerto for flute, oboe, harp and string orchestra) and Mstislaw Rostropowitsch (cello concerto) listed.

His music is considered to be sensual and is characterized by musical linguistic emotionality, it reflects his strong closeness to nature and his origins in rural surroundings. In many works, Moret shows a fascination for percussion instruments (particularly evident in Visitations and Mendiant du ciel bleu , each with over a hundred percussion instruments).

"The fact that Moret's structurally rather complex music repeatedly finds spontaneous approval even with a non-specialist audience may be due to the strong atmospheric mood values ​​- which can be easily understood as such."

family

In 1948 Moret married Germaine Louise Fivaz (1920–2015). The marriage had three daughters, Anne-Laurence (* 1950, married to the former Novartis manager Daniel Vasella ), Fabienne (1954–2010) and Catherine (* 1957), also an organist. One of his two brothers was the Sandoz manager Marc Moret (1923-2006).

Awards

  • 1983: Composers Prize of the Swiss Tonkünstlerverein (STV / AMS)
  • 1983: European Prize for Composition
  • 1990: Honorary doctorate from the University of Freiburg
  • 1990: Winner of the anniversary foundation of the SBG

Works (from 1966)

(see Composition Highlights at Allmusic )

  • Psaume 85 (1966) for tenor, choir, 2 trumpets and organ (world premiere [premier] Friborg 1966: Charles Jauquier, tenor; Francis and René Schmidhäusler, trumpets; Georges Phillot, organ; mixed choir of the Church of Saint-Pierre Friborg)
  • Concerto for strings, trumpet and piano (1970, no official premiere)
  • Germes en éveil (1973) for soprano, flute, choir and 2 percussionists; based on the three poems Elle , Guerre and Soleil-Feu by Thérèse Loup (Premiere Amriswil 1974: Catherine Graf, soprano; Chœur de la Radio Suisse Romande under André Charlet)
  • Gastlosen (1974) for organ; dedicated to Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini (WP Friborg 1975: Franz Seydoux, organ)
  • Toi (1974) for soprano and piano; based on poems by Thérèse Loup (Premiere Friborg 1975: Kathrin Graf, soprano; Rainer Boesch, piano)
  • Couleurs de temps changées (1975) for piano ( WP London 1975: Hedy Salquin , piano)
  • Rituels (1975) for harpsichord (premiered Zurich 1976: Martin Derungs , harpsichord)
  • Cinq pièces (1976) for soprano, piano and brass instruments (2 trumpets, 2 trombones) (premiered in Geneva 1977: Ingrid Frauchiger, soprano; Otto Seger, piano; Quatuor de cuivre de St-Jean)
  • Hymnes de silence (1976–1977) for string orchestra, organ, 3 trombones and 4 percussionists (premiered in Basel 1978: Heiner Kühner, organ; Basel Symphony Orchestra under Paul Sacher )
  • Temps (1977–1978) for baritone, string orchestra and 2 trumpets (premiered in Bern 1978: Philippe Huttenlocher , baritone; Francis and René Schmidhäusler, trumpets; Bern music studio under Räto Tschupp )
  • Suite à l'image du temps (1979) for 2 string orchestras (premiered Zurich 1980: Zurich Chamber Orchestra under Edmond de Stoutz )
  • Two love poems. Scènes lyriques (1978–1980) for soprano, violoncello and orchestra; based on the poems My love and With my inebriate soul by Walt Whitman from Leaves of Grass (the premiere was planned for March 1981 in Zurich, but was canceled because of the illness of Mstislav Rostropovich's wife Galina Vishnevskaja, who was still planned for the part at the time, and was only in Basel made up for another line-up: Phyllis Bryn-Julson, soprano; Mstislav Rostropowitsch, cello; Basel Symphony Orchestra under Paul Sacher)
  • Mendiant du ciel bleu. Trois visions pour exorciser l'homme (1980–1981) for soprano, baritone, 2 children's choirs, large choir, organs, orchestra and percussion (premiered in Friborg 1981: Béatrice Haldas , soprano; Philippe Huttenlocher, baritone; Heiner Kühner, Catherine Moret, Claudia Schneuwly, organs; children's choir St-Pierre-aux-Liens, Bulle; women's choir Düdingen; choir of the Nederlandse Omroep Stichting , Hilversum; Basel Symphony Orchestra under Armin Jordan )
  • Double concerto for violin, violoncello and chamber orchestra (1981) (premiered Zurich 1982: Romana Pezzani, violin; Luciano Pezzani, violoncello; Collegium Musicum Zurich under Paul Sacher)
  • Immortelles de Jean (1981–1982) for recitative and instrumental ensemble (WP Bern 1982: Berner Musikstudio under Räto Tschupp)
  • Visitations (1981–1982), dramatic cantata for soprano, tenor, mezzo-soprano, piano, organ, positive , shelf and percussion; on the decisive and deadly confrontation between Orestes , Klytaimnestra and Elektra (UA Basel 1983: Phyllis Bryn-Julson, soprano; Heiner Hopfner , tenor; Julia Juon, mezzo-soprano; Gérard Wyss, piano; Kathi Jacobi, Peter Solomon, Rudolf Scheidegger, organs; Basel Chamber Orchestra under Paul Sacher)
  • Sacher Serenade (1982) for vibraphone, bass clarinet, shelf and positive (WP Lucerne 1984)
  • Tragiques (1982–1983) for orchestra (Premiere Geneva 1983: Orchester de la Suisse Romande under Horst Stein )
  • Ave Maria (1984) for tenor and organ; Dedicated to the Virgin of Bourguillon (no public premiere; performance at the abdication of Norbert Moret on November 21, 1998 in the Friborg Cathedral : Alain Bertschy, tenor; Franz Seydoux, organ)
  • Triple Concerto for flute, oboe, harp and string orchestra (1984) (premiered Zurich 1985: Aurèle Nicolet , flute; Heinz Holliger , oboe; Ursula Holliger , harp; Collegium Musicum Zurich under Paul Sacher)
  • Concerto for violoncello and orchestra (1985) (WP Zurich 1988: Mstislaw Rostropowitsch, violoncello; Collegium Musicum Zurich under Brenton Langbein)
  • Mille et un soleils de joie (1985) for chamber orchestra
  • Diotimas Liebeslieder (1986–1987) for soprano and orchestra; four songs based on the letters from Susette Gontard to Friedrich Hölderlin (premiere Lucerne 1988: Phyllis Bryn-Julson, soprano; Orchester de la Suisse Romande under Armin Jordan)
  • En rêve (1988), concerto for violin and chamber orchestra (premiered in Ascona 1988: Anne-Sophie Mutter , violin; Orchestra della Radiotelevisione svizzera di lingua italiana under Marc Andreae )
  • Trois pièces (1988) for chamber orchestra (WP Hiroshima 1988: Orchester de Chambre de Lausanne under Lawrence Foster )
  • Symphonie pour une fête académique (1989) for orchestra (WP Friborg 1990: Sinfonieorchester Basel under Armin Jordan)
  • Triptyque pour les fêtes (1990) for a cappella choir (WP Friborg 1990: The Tallis Scholars under Peter Phillips )
  • Veni Sancte Spiritus (1990) for alto and organ (WP Zurich 1992; Verena-Barbara Gohl, alto; Bernhard Billeter , organ)
  • Visitations (1991), dramatic cantata for soprano, tenor, mezzo-soprano, piano, organ, positive, shelf and percussion; New interpretation (WP Cernier NE 1991: Kristine Ciesinski, soprano; Barry Busse, tenor; Fiona Kimm, mezzo-soprano; Suzan Woodruff Versage, piano; Philipp Laubscher, Guy Bovet , Robert Märki, organs)
  • Divertimento (1991–1992) for oboe, horn, violoncello, percussion and orchestra (WP La Chaux-de-Fonds 1993: Roland Perrenoud, oboe; Bruno Schneider , horn; François Guye, cello; Olivier Perrenoud, percussion; Orchester de la Suisse Romande under Armin Jordan)
  • Sur le berceau d'un Chérubin (1992) for violin and harp
  • Mendiant du ciel bleu, suite et fin (1992) for soprano and chamber orchestra (Premiere Geneva 1992: Phyllis Bryn-Julson, soprano; Orchester de Chambre de Lausanne under Jesús López Cobos )
  • Deux mélodies (1993) for baritone and piano (premiered in Friborg 1993; Michel Brodard, baritone; Janine Gaudibert, piano)
  • Forêt enchantée (1993) for violoncello
  • Sensations (1993–1994), concert for guitar and chamber orchestra (premiere in Lausanne 1999: Suzanne Mebes, guitar; Orchester de Chambre de Lausanne under Jesús López Cobos)
  • Concerto for horn and orchestra (1994–1995) (Premiere Lausanne 1996: Bruno Schneider, horn; Orchester de Chambre de Lausanne under Armin Jordan)
  • Concerto No. 1 for organ and chamber orchestra (1995–1996) (WP Neuchâtel 1996: Guy Bovet, organ; Orchester de Chambre de Neuchâtel under Valentin Raymond)
  • Concerto for trumpet and orchestra (1996–1997) (WP Lausanne 2001: Jeffrey Segal, trumpet; Orchester de Chambre de Lausanne under Okko Kamu )
  • Concerto No. 2 for organ and orchestra (1998); written for Kei Koito (unfinished, only the 1st movement exists)

Discography

(see discography at Discogs and catalog at Swiss National Sound Archives )

  • Mendiant du Ciel bleu. Oratorio pour soprano, baryton, chœur, orgue et orchester. Béatrice Haldas (soprano), Philippe Huttenlocher (baritone), choir of the Nederlandse Omroep Stichting , Hilversum; St-Pierre-aux-Liens children's choir, Bulle; Women's choir Düdingen; Heiner Kühner, Catherine Moret, Claudia Schneuwly (organs); Basel Symphony Orchestra under Armin Jordan (LP, VDE-Gallo 30-327, 1981)
  • Hospitable. Organ concert. Fritz Muggler (organ). - Immortelles de Jean. For recitative, positive , shelf , harpsichord, violin, double bass, trumpet and bass clarinet. Derrick Olsen (recitative), Hans Eugen Frischknecht (positive), Peter Solomon (shelf), Martin Derungs (harpsichord), Ulrich Lehmann (violin), Edgar Kremsa (double bass), Fritz Schmidhäusler (trumpet), Urs Etter (bass clarinet), Berner Music studio under Räto Tschupp (3 LPs, in: Anthologie der Freiburger Musik , Musica Friburgensis 101, 1987; contains 13 further compositions)
  • Concerto pour violoncello and orchester. Mstislaw Rostropowitsch (cello), Collegium Musicum Zurich under Paul Sacher ; the recording of the cello concerto is also included in Mstislav Rostropovich Plays Cello Works (9 CDs, Warner Classics & Jazz 2564 69681-7, 2008) - Hymnes de silence. Heiner Kühner (organ), Basel Symphony Orchestra under Paul Sacher (Erato 2292-45530-2, 1990); New edition 1995 (Musikszene Schweiz 6103)
  • Trois Pièces. Orchester de Chambre de Lausanne under Lawrence Foster - Double Concerto pour violon, violoncelle et orchester. Romana Pezzani (violin), Luciano Pezzani (violoncello), Collegium Musicum Zürich under Paul Sacher - Tragiques. Orchester de la Suisse Romande under Horst Stein (Musikszene Schweiz / Migros-Kulturprozent / Grammont CTS-P 23-2, 1990); New edition 1997 (Musikszene Schweiz CTS-M 23)
  • En rêve. Concerto for violin and chamber orchestra. Anne-Sophie Mutter (violin), Boston Symphony Orchestra under Seiji Ozawa ( German Grammophon 431626-2, 1991, also includes the 2nd Violin Concerto by Béla Bartók ); New edition 2011 (Deutsche Grammophon 477 6475); the recording of En rêve is also included in Anne-Sophie Mutter Modern (3 CDs, Deutsche Grammophon 445 487-2, 1994) and Anne-Sophie Mutter, ASM35, The Complete Musician (40 CDs, Deutsche Grammophon 477 9464, 2011)
  • Visitations. For soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, shelf, positive, large organ, piano and 6 percussionists. Phyllis Bryn-Julson (soprano), Julia Juon (mezzo-soprano), Heiner Hopfner (tenor), Kathi Jacobi, Peter Solomon, Rudolf Scheidegger (organs), Gérard Wyss (piano). Basel Chamber Orchestra , Basel Percussion Ensemble under Paul Sacher; First performance 1983; in: Paul Sacher and the new music ; contains 11 further compositions of new music (3 CDs, Ars Musici 1155-2, 1996)
  • Premier concerto pour orgue et orchester de chamber ; in: Les orgues de la Collégiale de Neuchâtel . Guy Bovet (organ), Orchester de Chambre de Neuchâtel under Valentin Raymond (VDE-Gallo CD-943, 1997)
  • Triptyque pour les Fêtes. The Tallis Scholars under Peter Phillips - Gastlosen. Fritz Muggler (organ) - Mendiant du Ciel bleu (recording from 1981). Béatrice Haldas (soprano), Philippe Huttenlocher (baritone), choir of the Nederlandse Omroep Stichting, Hilversum; St-Pierre-aux-Liens children's choir, Bulle; Women's choir Düdingen; Heiner Kühner, Catherine Moret, Claudia Schneuwly (organs); Sinfonieorchester Basel under Armin Jordan (Musikszene Schweiz / Migros-Kulturprozent MGB CD 6199, 2002)
  • Concerto pour trompette. Jeffrey Segal, Orchester de Chambre de Lausanne under Okko Kamu - Concerto pour cor. Bruno Schneider , Orchester de Chambre de Lausanne under Jesús López Cobos - Suite à l'image de temps pour 2 orchestres à cordes. Orchester de Chambre de Lausanne under Jesús López Cobos (Cascavelle RSR 6169, 2003)
  • Double concerto pour violon, violoncelle et orchester. Carmen Fournier (violin), Thomas Demenga (cello), Orchester Léon Barzin under Jean-Jacques Werner (Integral Classic INT 221.152, 2006; also includes Pierre Wissmer : La balle au bond pour voix et ensemble instrumental ; Troisième symphonie pour orchestre à cordes )

Recordings on YouTube

  1. ^ Concerto pour violoncelle et orchester
  2. En rêve: 1st movement , 2nd movement , 3rd movement
  3. Visitations
  4. ^ Premier concerto pour orgue et orchester de chambre
  5. Concerto pour trompette: 1st movement , 2nd movement , 3rd movement
  6. ^ Concerto pour cor
  7. Suite à l'image de temps pour 2 orchestres à cordes: 1st movement , 2nd movement , 3rd movement , 4th movement , 5th movement
  8. ^ Double concerto pour violon, violoncelle et orchester

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Moret, who "never shed his closeness to his intense, occasionally ecstatic Catholic faith"; quoted from Andres Briner : Impactful Dreamer. On the death of the composer Norbert Moret. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . November 20, 1998, p. 46 (obituary).
  2. a b c d e Jean-Claude Poulin: Qu'attend la Suisse romande pour découvrir le compositeur Norbert Moret? In: Gazette de Lausanne . March 14, 1981, S. Samedi littéraire I.
  3. ^ Rita Wolfensberger : Life and work of the Freiburg musician Norbert Moret. The composer's kairos. Biographical data. In: Neue Zürcher Nachrichten . April 26, 1980, p. 5.
  4. Bernard Sansonnens: Arthur Honegger vu par Norbert Moret. Un homme profond. In: La Liberté . 29./30. May 1991, p. 19.
  5. ^ A b Bertil Galland: Friborg, ghetto musical? In: Le Nouveau Quotidien . June 27, 1997, p. 19.
  6. a b Denise de Ceuninck: Norbert Moret. Un vrai créateur. In: L'Express . November 29, 1996, p. 32 (interview).
  7. Luca Sabbatini: Norbert Moret, compositeur fribourgeois joué partout dans le monde. In: Le Nouveau Quotidien. February 16, 1992, p. 29.
  8. ^ Norbert Moret: "Ma musique!" In: Journal de Genève . 23/24 March 1985, p. 23.
  9. ^ A b Andres Briner: Impactful dreamer. On the death of the composer Norbert Moret. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung. November 20, 1998, p. 46 (obituary).
  10. Fin d'année scolaire à l'école secondaire des garçons. In: La Liberté . July 18, 1966, p. 9.
  11. ^ Avec le corps enseignant secondaire fribourgeois. In: L'Express. June 9, 1964, p. 17.
  12. Obituaries. In: La Liberté. November 21, 1998, p. 30.
  13. ^ Jean-Claude Poulin: Création de "Tragiques" de Norbert Moret. In: Gazette de Lausanne. October 1, 1983, p. 16 (preview).
  14. a b Rostropovitch enthusiastically. In: Neue Zürcher Nachrichten. March 28, 1981, p. 8.
  15. a b Jean-Claude Bolliger: Homage to Norbert Moret. In: L'Express. December 2, 1998, p. 39.
  16. a b Moret Norbert. Musinfo, Lucerne University of Music .
  17. Rolf Urs Ringger : "The anxiety about the white paper". An encounter with the composer Norbert Moret. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . August 13, 1988, p. 66.
  18. Germaine Fivaz. In: Geneanet .
  19. ^ A b Regula Puskás: Norbert Moret. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . January 9, 2009 .
  20. ^ Prize for Norbert Moret. Tonkünstlerverein honors Freiburg composer. In: Freiburger Nachrichten . April 25, 1983, p. 7.
  21. To the UBS Cultural Foundation. UBS website. 18th November 2016.
  22. Une grande banque soutient les arts et la culture: trois lauréats en 1990. Musique et patrimoine à l'honneur. In: La Liberté. 12./13. January 1991, p. 17.
  23. Michel Flechtner: Norbert Moret work "Mendiant du ciel bleu". Appeared on record. In: Freiburger Nachrichten. March 4, 1982, p. 19.
  24. Bernard Sansonnens: Moret de disque compact. In: La Liberté. September 22, 1990, p. 37 .;
  25. Monograph on Norbert Moret published. A great contemporary composer. In: Freiburger Nachrichten. May 27, 1993, p. 24.
  26. ^ Film portrait about the composer Norbert Moret. Contemporary romantic. In: Freiburger Nachrichten. April 7, 1989, p. 15.