Description
This first book in English on the French composer André Jolivet (1905–1974) investigates his music, life and influence. A pupil of Varèse and colleague of Messiaen in La Jeune France, Jolivet is a major figure in French music of the twentieth century. His music combines innovative language with spirituality, summarised in his self-declared axiom to ‘restore music’s ancient original meaning when it was the magic and incantatory expression of the sacred in human communities’. The book’s contextual introduction is followed by contributions, edited by Caroline Rae, from leading international scholars including the composer’s daughter Christine Jolivet-Erlih. These assess Jolivet’s output and activities from the 1920s through to his last works, exploring creative process, aesthetic, his relationship with the exotic and influences from literature. They also examine, for the first time, the significance of Jolivet’s involvement with the visual arts and his activities as conductor, teacher and critic. A chronology of Jolivet’s life and works with details of first performances provides valuable overview and reference. This fascinating and comprehensive volume is an indispensable source for research into French music and culture of the twentieth century.
Table of Contents
Style and Process 1. Jolivet and the Style incantatoire: Aspects of a Hybrid Tradition - Julian Anderson 2. Inside the Composer’s Workshop: Jolivet’s Manuscripts at the Bibliothèque nationale de France - Catherine Massip (translated by Caroline Rae) 3. Jolivet’s Early Music Theory and its Practice in the Cinq danses rituelles (1939) - Deborah Mawer 4. Épithalame (1953): A Case Study for Voices - Lucie Kayas Influences 5. Jolivet and the Visual Arts: Interactions and Influences - Caroline Rae 6. An Exploration of Jolivet’s Vocal Works - Christine Jolivet-Erlih and Catherine Massip (translated by Caroline Rae) 7. The Anxiety of Exoticism: Jolivet’s Relationship with Non-Western Musics - Caroline Potter 8. Jolivet Revisited: Messiaen’s Borrowings in the Incantatory Works of the 1930s - Yves Balmer, Thomas Lacôte and Christopher Murray 9. Sourcing Jolivet’s Compositional Aesthetic: Literary Influences and his Library - Caroline Rae Activities 10. Jolivet and the USSR - Christine Jolivet-Erlih (translated by Caroline Rae) 11. Jolivet as Critic: a Mirror of Music during the Occupation - Nigel Simeone 12. Jolivet as Teacher: Programme, Method and Philosophy - Pascal Terrien (translated by Caroline Rae) 13. Jolivet and the Function of Performance - Jean-Claire Vançon (translated by Caroline Rae)
