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born in 1951, he studied with Henri Dutilleux, Georges
Arpeghis, Paul Méfano and Aurele StroÏ. In 1985/86 he held a grant from
the Villa Medici in Rome. His honours include the sacem Prize (1998) and the
International unesco Award (1999).
He has received a commission from Radio France (Violin Concerto). His
profound interest in music theatre resulted in collaboration with such
artists as Antoine Vitez, Stuart Seide, Daniel Martin and Xing-Xiang Gao,
the choreographers – Caroline Marcadé, Angelin Preljocaj and Odile
Duboc, and the director Alain Fleischer, with whom he has worked for 12
years now.
In addition to composing, he also pursues a teaching career. He has served
as director of a music school in Gennvilliers, nr. Paris, since 1987. He
also runs the ‘2e2m’ Ensemble.
Together with Laurence Pietrzak, he produced a documentary film about the
Romanian composer Aurele StroÏ. It received a special jury award at a
festival organized by the Louvre Museum.
Selected works: Io for mezzo-soprano solo, three-part
choir and
11 instruments, to a text by Aeschylus (1979–80), Chants cruels (La
Confession impudique), opera to a libretto by D. Martin, after a novel by
Tanizaki (1987–92; new version 2000), Messe un jour ordinaire for
voices, choirs and 15 instruments (1993–94), Petit Fauve for solo
violin, Petits morceaux du gentil boucher for string ensemble, percussion
and piano, La marche Caulaincourt for wind ensemble (1993), Trio avec accordéon
for violin, cello and accordion (1995), Violin Concerto (version with
orchestra 1998–99; version with ensemble 2002), RaphaÏl, reviens,
opera for children to a libretto by m. Beretti (2000), Cruel songs for
soprano and orchestra (2000), Trio for Clarinet, Double Bass and Marimba
(2001), Cinq pi¬ces pour harpe (2001), Lento semplice e tango for orchestra
(2001), Jodl IV for marimba (2002), Quintet for Oboe, Horn, Two Cellos and
Harp (2001).
Trio avec accordéon is the focal point in Bernard
Cavanna’s output to date. Its ancestry can be traced to the musical
material of his Messe un jour ordinaire. The Trio, in turn, was later to
become the source material for the second movement of the Violin Concerto.
The piece is in four movements. The first three movements are short,
conceived as a ‘preparation’ for the last one, which evolves
over
a slow ostinato. The highly timbral qualities of the work merit special
attention. It is not by coincidence that the accordion is assigned the
privileged position – it is an instrument which has always been close
to the composer’s heart. The work exhibits traces of Romanian
‘aksak’ rhythms, a fact which points to the composer’s
strong links with South-Eastern Europe, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
The Trio was premiered on 31 January 1996 in Brest (France) by the
‘Allers-Retours’ Trio. It was presented in its final shape by
the same musicians at the Strasbourg Festival in September 1997.
The piece is dedicated to Dominique Druhen.
Duration: 12’
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