René Leibowitz

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René Leibowitz (born February 17, 1913 in Warsaw , Russian Empire ; died August 29, 1972 in Paris ) was a French conductor , music teacher , writer and composer of Latvian - Polish origin.

Life

Leibowitz grew up in a liberal Jewish family in Warsaw and moved to Berlin around 1929 and from there to Paris. He survived the German persecution of Jews in France during the Second World War underground.

Leibowitz was particularly committed to the music of the Second Vienna School around Arnold Schönberg, both as an interpreter and as a teacher and publicist : initially in his adopted country of France (still underground during the German occupation), and after 1945 also in Germany. Since the late 1940s he worked as a teacher at the Kranichsteiner / Darmstadt summer courses for new music . In this and other functions Leibowitz became a key figure in the spread of the aesthetics and technique of twelve-tone music in the European post-war avant-garde.

His students include the composers Pierre Boulez , Hermann Meier , Serge Nigg , Vinko Globokar , Mikis Theodorakis , André Casanova , Antoine Duhamel , Norbert Moret , Hans Werner Henze , Jan (et) Maguire, Pierre Henry , Jacques-Louis Monod , Keith Humble , Allan Pettersson , Hans Ulrich Engelmann , the conductor Diego Masson , the drummer Jean-Pierre Drouet and the pianist Claude Helffer .

His personal and artistic closeness to the writers Georges Bataille , Tristan Tzara , Raymond Queneau , Michel Leiris and Georges Limbour has manifested itself in numerous settings of their works. Leibowitz also dedicated his own compositions to friends such as the gallery owner Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler , the visual artist André Masson , the philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty and the social anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss .

The music of the composer René Leibowitz, who was trained on the model especially by Arnold Schönberg , Anton Webern and Alban Berg, has always eluded superficial assessment and categorization with the eyes of the avant-garde . Its qualities - the combination of linear polyphony , rhetorical expression with structural elegance, but also the sensuality and transparency of the sound (but waiver of electronic sound generation) - have not been properly perceived for a long time due to corresponding categorical reservations. In recent times it has received increasing attention.

The most important records recordings of conductor René Leibowitz, the anti-romantic interpretations of applicable Beethoven - Symphonies the first recordings of, Gurrelieder of Arnold Schoenberg (1953) on LP and important operettas by Jacques Offenbach . Two opera cross-cuts from Manon Lescaut (Puccini) and Manon (Massenet) , which were offered by RCA in Germany under the title “A Portrait of Manon”, are particularly valuable . In Germany Leibowitz a. a. the symphony orchestras of West German Radio and North German Radio and the Berlin Philharmonic (1964).

Leibowitz's most important partner as an interpreter and interpretation theorist was the violinist Rudolf Kolisch . He was friends with the composers and interpreters Erich Itor Kahn , Eduard (Edward) Steuermann and Paul Dessau , as well as with Theodor W. Adorno .

René Leibowitz was a cousin of the Jewish religious philosopher Jeschajahu Leibowitz .

Works

Compositions

  • Piano Sonata op.1 (1939)
  • Ten canons for wind trio op.2 (1939)
  • String Quartet No. 1 op.3 (1940)
  • Symphony op.4 (1941)
  • Double concerto for violin, piano and 17 instruments op.5 (1942)
  • Six songs for bass and piano op.6 (1938–1942)
  • Tourist Death , concert aria for soprano and chamber orchestra (T: Archibald MacLeish ) op.7 (1943)
  • Four piano pieces, op.8 (1943)
  • Three songs for soprano and piano (T: Pablo Picasso ) op.9 (1943)
  • Chamber Concerto for nine instruments op.10 (1944)
  • Wind quintet op.11 (1944)
  • Sonata for violin and piano op.12a (1944)
  • Sonata for flute and piano op.12b (1944)
  • Empedocles for mixed choir a cappella (T: Friedrich Hölderlin ) op.13 (1944/45)
  • Variations for orchestra op.14 (1945)
  • L'explication des Metaphores / Explanation of Metaphors (T: Raymond Queneau ) op.15 (1947)
  • Chamber Concerto for twelve instruments op.16 (1948)
  • La Nuit Close , music drama in three acts (T: Georges Limbour ) op. 17 (1947–50)
  • Four songs for soprano and piano (T: Michel Leiris ) op.18 (1949)
  • Three piano pieces op.19 (1949)
  • Piano trio op.20 (1950)
  • L'Emprise du Donné op.21 (1950)
  • String Quartet No. 2 Op. 22 (1950)
  • Duo for Cello and Piano op.23 (1951)
  • Perpetuum Mobile: The City - A Dramatic Symphony for Narrator and Orchestra (T: William Carlos Williams ) op. 24 (1951)
  • Five songs for soprano and piano op.25 (1951)
  • String Quartet No. 3 Op. 26 (1951)
  • Fantasy for piano op.27 (1952)
  • Six short piano pieces op.28 (1952)
  • Five Pieces for Clarinet and Piano op.29 (1952)
  • La Circulaire de Minuit , Opera in three acts (T: Georges Limbour ) op. 30 (1953)
  • Six orchestral pieces op.3 1 (1954)
  • Concerto for piano and orchestra op.32 (1954)
  • Dreams of death and life - a symphony for solos, speaker, mixed choir and orchestra (T: Hans Arp ) op. 33 (1954–55)
  • Four songs for soprano and piano (T: James Joyce ) op.34 (1954)
  • Concertino for viola and chamber orchestra op.35 (1954)
  • Rhapsodie Concertante for violin and piano op.36 (1955)
  • La Notte (T: Angelo Poliziano), Epigramma (T: Torquato Tasso ) and A se stesso (T: Giacomo Leopardi ) for mixed choir op.37 (1955)
  • Serenade for baritone and eight instruments (T: Friedrich Hölderlin , Clemens Brentano ) op.38 (1955)
  • Symphonic Fantasy for Orchestra op.39 (1956)
  • The Renegade for mixed choir and instruments (T: Lionel Abel ) op.4 0 (1956)
  • Capriccio for high soprano and nine instruments (T: Friedrich Hölderlin ) op.41 (1956)
  • String trio op.42 (1956)
  • Sonata quasi una Fantasia for piano op.43 (1957)
  • Humoresque for six percussionists op.44 (1957)
  • String Quartet No. 4 op.45 (1958)
  • Trois Poèmes de Georges Limbour for soprano and six instruments (T: Georges Limbour ) op.46 (1958)
  • Concertino for piano four hands op.47 (1958)
  • Overture for orchestra op.48 (1958)
  • Damocles , song cycle for soprano and piano (T: Michel Leiris ) op.49 (1958)
  • Concerto for violin and orchestra op.50 (1958)
  • Three Bagatelles for String Orchestra op.51 (1958)
  • Art for Art's Sake - A Fantasia for Jazz Orchestra op.52 (1959)
  • Concertino for trombone and orchestra op.53 (1960)
  • Marijuana - Variations non sérieuses op.54 (1960)
  • Sinfonietta da Camera op.55 (1961)
  • Fantasy for violin solo op.56 (1961)
  • Introduction, funeral march and fanfare op.57 (1961)
  • Concerto for violoncello and orchestra op.58 (1962)
  • String Quartet No. 5 Op. 59 (1963)
  • Les Espagnols à Vénise - Opera buffa in one act (T: Georges Limbour ) op. 60 (1964)
  • Quatre bagatelles for trombone and piano op.61 (1963)
  • Toccata pour piano op.62 (1964)
  • Symphonic Rhapsody for orchestra op.63 (1965)
  • Trois Ètudes miniatures for piano op.64 (1965)
  • String quartet No. 6 op.65 (1965)
  • Suite for violin and piano op.66 (1965)
  • Two songs for soprano and piano (T: Aimé Cesaire) op.67 (1965)
  • A Prayer - A Symphonic Cantata for mezzo-soprano, male choir and orchestra (T: James Joyce ) op.68 (1965)
  • Sonatina for flute, viola and harp op.69 (1966)
  • Trois Caprices for vibraphone op.70 (1966)
  • Two Settings after William Blake for mixed choir (T: William Blake ) op.71 (1966)
  • String Quartet No. 7 op.72 (1966)
  • Trois Poèmes de Georges Bataille for bass and piano (T: Georges Bataille ) op.73 (1966)
  • Motifs for speakers and instruments (T: Georges Limbour ) op.74 (1967)
  • Petite Suite for piano op.75 (1966)
  • Deux Poèmes for soprano and piano (T: Michel Leiris ) op.76a (1966)
  • Chanson Dada , three melodramas for children's voice and instruments (T: Tristan Tzara ) op.76b (1966)
  • Sonnet for soprano and five instruments (T: Eecummings ) op.77 (1967)
  • Rondo capriccioso for piano op.78 (1967)
  • Capriccio for flute and strings op.79 (1967)
  • Four songs for bass and piano (T: Carl Einstein ) op. 80 (1967)
  • Suite for nine instruments op.81 (1967)
  • Legend for soprano, piano and orchestra (T: Hart Crane ) op.82 (1968)
  • String Quartet No. 8 op.83 (1968)
  • Saxophone Quartet op.84 (1969)
  • Labyrinths , musical drama in one act (T: René Leibowitz after Charles Baudelaire ) op.85 (1969)
  • Four songs for bass and piano (T: Paul Celan ) op.86 (1969)
  • Tre Intermezzi per pianoforte op.87 (1970)
  • Laboratoire Central - Short Cantata for speaker, female choir and instruments (T: Max Jacob ) op.88 (1970)
  • Scene and aria for soprano and orchestra (T: Georg Heym ) op.89 (1970)
  • Clarinet sextet op.90 (1970)
  • Todos Caeràn , opera in 2 acts and 5 pictures (T: René Leibowitz) op.91 (1971)
  • Trois Poèmes de Pierre Reverdy for vocal quartet and piano (T: Pierre Reverdy ) op.92 (1971)
  • String Quartet No. 9 Op. 93 (1972)

Publications

  • Schoenberg et son Ecole. Paris 1947
  • Introduction à la musique de douze sons. Paris 1949
  • L'Artiste et sa Conscience. Paris 1950
  • L'Évolution de la Musique de Bach à Schoenberg. Paris 1951
  • Sibelius, le plus mauvais compositeur du monde. Paris 1955
  • Histoire de l'Opéra. Paris 1957
  • Erich Itor Kahn. A grand representative de la musique contemporaine. (with Konrad Wolff) Paris 1958
  • Thinking for Orchestra. Practical exercises in orchestration. (with Jan Maguire) New York 1960
  • Le compositeur et son double. Essais sur l'interprétation musicale. Paris 1971
  • Les Fantômes de l'Opéra. Essais sur le théatre lyrique. Paris 1972

literature

  • Sabine Meine:  Leibowitz, René. In: Ludwig Finscher (Hrsg.): The music in past and present . Second edition, personal section, volume 10 (Kemp - Lert). Bärenreiter / Metzler, Kassel et al. 2003, ISBN 3-7618-1120-9 , Sp. 1514–1517 ( online edition , subscription required for full access)
  • Tobias Bröker (Ed.): René Leibowitz to Editions Dynamo - The 114 letters of René Leibowitz to the Editions Dynamo of Pierre Aelberts between 1947 and 1951 . 2018 ( tobias-broeker.de [accessed October 9, 2019]).

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Leibowitz, René
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French composer, conductor, writer and music teacher
DATE OF BIRTH February 17, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH Warsaw
DATE OF DEATH August 29, 1972
Place of death Paris