Philippot, Michel

Philippot, Michel, French composer and teacher; b. Verzy, Marne, Feb. 2, 1925. He was a student at the Paris Cons. (1945–47) and of Leibowitz (1945–49). After working with the Radiodiffusion française (1949–59), he was associated with Schaeffer’s Groupe de recherches musicales de la RTF (1959–61). From 1963 to 1975 he was active with the ORTF. He taught at the Univ. of Paris (1969–76) and was a prof, of composition at the Paris Cons. (1970–90). He also was active in Brazil, where he founded and directed the music dept. at the Univ. of São Paulo (1976–79) and was a prof, at the Univ. of Rio de Janeiro (1979–81). In 1987 he was awarded France’s Grand Prix national for music. He publ, the vols. Électronique et techniques compositionnelles (Paris, 1956), Pierre Boulez aujourd’hui, entre hier et demain (Paris, 1964), Stravinski (Paris, 1965), Diabolus in musica: Analyse des variations “Diabelli” de Beethoven (São Paulo, 1978), and Traité de l’écriture musicale (São Paulo, 1984).

Works

orch.: Ouverture for Chamber Orch. (1949); Composition No. 1 for Strings (1959) and No. 2 for Strings, Piano, and Harp (1974), and No. 4 (1980); Composition for Double Orch. (1960); Carres magiques (1983); Concerto for Violin, Viola, and Orch. (1984). chamber: Piano Trio (1953); Variations for 10 Instruments (1957); Pièces for 10 Instruments (1961); Transformations triangulaires for 12 Instruments (1963); Composition No. 1 (1965) and No. 3 (1976) for Violin; Scherzo for Accordion (1972); Passacaille for 12 Instruments (1973); Octet for Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn, String Quartet, and Double Bass (1975); 4 string quartets (1976, 1982, 1985, 1988); Septet (1977); Piano Quintet (1986); Concerto de chambre for Piano and 6 Instruments (1986); Wind Quintet (1988); Composition for Violin and Piano (1990). keyboard: piano:2 sonatas (1947, 1973); 3 Compositions (1958); Composition No. 4 (1975), No. 5 (1976), and No. 6 (1977). Organ: Sonata (1971). other:Contrapunctus X (1994).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire