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Radio DAMASE
Born on 27 January 1928, Jean-Michel Damase composes in a style often compared to Francis Poulenc, Maurice Ravel, Serge Prokofiev, Albert Roussel, and Jacques Ibert; incorporating many of the rhythmic and harmonic complexities associated with twentieth-century French music. Throughout his career, Damase has remained a traditionalist, "continuing the post-tonal line of Debussy and Ravel without the modish interest in their deeper-seated implications."* Or, in the composers own words, "I prefer sincerity to forced innovation." His music is accessible without being lightweight; melodic, tonal, yet harmonically complex, playful, respectful of tradition and form, and superbly crafted. In spite of his works’ obvious and readily appreciated merits, too few are familiar with Jean-Michel Damase. Because very little information is available about the composer and his works, I created this site to assemble as much of it as possible and share it with others. My goal is to encourage those who are not yet familiar with Damase to seek out his very rewarding music. If you are fortunate enough to have enjoyed hearing or performing Damase’s works, I hope I can provide some useful information about discovering more. I welcome your comments, corrections and
additions. Please send information to: Last updated on 23 December 2006
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"What remains as one of the minor mysteries of the last half-century of musical history is the fact that, for all the immediate attractiveness of his compositional voice, the work of Jean-Michel Damase has remained such a well-kept secret." |
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On this page
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Recordings |
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Future Performances & Events |
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Notable Performance & Event Coverage |
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Submissions |
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Acknowledgements
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| Piano
Music by Jean-Michel Damase, performed by Nicholas Unwin has
been released on Somm
Recordings, the programme consists of the following:
In their May 2004 issue, BBC Music Magazine has awarded this recording
«««««, its highest rating, in all
categories.
Mr Unwin and
Somm Recordings are to be congratulated for their tremendous
achievement! Here is an excerpt of the review:
Any devotee of Damase should make
this album a part of their music library. There is much to be learned in these
works and Mr Unwin's superb performances display a complete understanding
of them. Quite simply, this is the most important addition to the recorded
repertoire of Damase in over a decade. Please support the gifted composer,
the incredibly talented performer and brave record label,
Somm Recordings,
and purchase this CD. | ||||||||||||||
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Trio for Flute, Oboe and Piano has been released Boston Records by Amy
Porter, flute, Nancy-Ambrose King, oboe and Phillip Bush, piano. The
only known prior commercial release of this work was made in 1966 by
Jean-Pierre Rampal, flute, and Pierre Pierlot, oboe, with the composer at
piano. | ||||||||||||||
| The première recording of Quatre
facettes for Flute and Guitar by The
Harris-Coates
Duo (Debora Harris, flute and Mike Coates, guitar) is included on their recent CD
release, White
Peacock, available from Barking
Dog Records. For more information, click here. |
| None at this time |
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USA International Harp Competition
(July 2004) Bloomington, Indiana USA Whilst serving as a judge at the bi-annual USA International Harp Competition, Monsieur Damase presented a lecture on French music, as well as taught a Master Class for Indiana University composition students. | ||||||||||
| The new production of L'Héritière by the
Marseille Opera (May 2004) Marseille, France To tremendous critical acclaim, the Opéra Municipal de Marseille (France) presented a new production of L'Héritière (The Heiress), Damase's opera from 1974, with a libretto by Louis Decreux, after an adaptation by Ruth & Augustus Goetz of Washington Square by Henry James. Performances ran from 6-13 May 2004. Event Coverage
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| Concert - Jean-Michel Damase (May 2004) Marseille, France Conservatoire National de Région de Marseille; Salle Zino Francescatti Professors and students of the Marseille Conservatoire had the rare opportunity to present a concert/examination recital in the presence of the composer.  | ||||||||||
| Paris premiere of the Concertino for Piano & String Orchestra The Paris premiere of the Concertino for Piano & String Orchestra took place 18, 24 & 29 January 2004 at the Salle Cortot of the École Normale de Musique de Paris with the noted pianist, Françoise Parrot-Hanlet, as soloist. Both the soloist and composer are on faculty at the school and were able to collaborate extensively prior to the premiere. The performances met with great success by critics and audiences alike. One can only hope that this success will lead to more performances by Parrot-Hanlet in the UK and Europe. Contact Mme Parrot-Hanlet by clicking on her name above or here.  Françoise Parrot-Hanlet at the piano during the Paris premiere of Damase's Concertino for Piano & String Orchestra  Parrot-Hanlet acknowledges the composer (seated in box on the upper right)  Damase stands for the soloist and audience | ||||||||||
| Vancouver, B.C. Canada 12 April 2003, 8:00PM St. Mark's Anglican Church Variations "Early Morning" Lorna McGhee, flute; Heidi Krutzen, harp Ms McGhee is the former principal flute of the BBC Symphony; Ms Krutzen is principal harp of the Vancouver Opera. Recital will be recorded for future broadcast on CBC Radio. | ||||||||||
| Trieste, Italy 19 March 2003, 9:00PM Conservatorio di Musica di Trieste, Sala Tartini, via Ghega 12, Trieste, Italy Trio for Flute, Oboe & Piano Ecoensemble Trio (Morena Mestieri, flute; Paola Fundarò, oboe; Anna Bellagamba, piano) | ||||||||||
| New York, New York, USA 16 February 2003, 3:00PM New York Philharmonic Chamber Music Series, Merkin Concert Hall at Abraham Goodman House, 129 West 67th Street Dix-sept Variations for Wind Quintet Members of the New York Philharmonic perform this work as well as the Fauré's Piano Quartet in g, Op 45, Schubert's String Trio in B-flat, D. 471 and Beethoven's Octet in E-flat, Op 103 | ||||||||||
| Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA 4 December 2002, 8:00 PM University of Michigan, Britton Recital Hall Trio for Flute, Oboe and Piano Amy Porter, flute; Nancy-Ambrose King, oboe; Phillip Bush, piano Performers include faculty members of the University of Michigan who have also recorded this work for Boston Records. | ||||||||||
| Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico 29 November 2002 Museo de Arte de Mazatlan Berceuse for Horn & Piano Jason Wright, horn; Aigul Kulova, piano Mr Wright is principal horn of the Orquesta Sinaloa de las Artes. | ||||||||||
| Pinnacle Brass (Resident Brass Quintet at the University of Central
Arkansas) commissioned and premiered a new brass quintet by Damase, For
Five. The American premiere was given 13 November 2002 at the UCA Snow Fine Arts Center Recital Hall and the European premiere (also given by Pinnacle Brass) during their tour of Paris on 26 November 2002 at the Woodwind & Brasswind Music Store, with the composer in attendance.  Pinnacle Brass with Jean-Michel Damase | ||||||||||
| Moorhead, Minnesota, USA 8 September 2002 - Rourke Art Museum (CD Release Performance) Moorhead, Minnesota, USA 4 October 2002 - Concordia College Faculty Recital Vermillion, South Dakota, USA 18 October 2002 - Shrine to Music Museum, University of South Dakota Quatre Facettes for Flute & Guitar The Harris-Coates Duo (Debora Harris, flute and Mike Coates, guitar) | ||||||||||
| Brighton, UK 21 May 2002 - Brighton Festival Sonate en concert for Flute, Piano & Cello (ad libitum) The Hilser Trio (Rachel Smith, flute; Rachel Firmager cello; Yoko Ono, piano) | ||||||||||
| London, UK 24 May 2002 - St. John's Smith Square Sonate en concert for Flute, Piano & Cello Wissam Boustany, flute; Nigel Clayton, piano |
| If you are performing or know of
any future performances, broadcasts or recordings of works by Jean-Michel
Damase, please feel free to submit the information for
inclusion here. Your input and information are welcomed and encouraged. |
| Bernard A.M. DREYER, Correspondent in France for Chez
DAMASE. Much of the information from France has been provided by M DREYER and for that I am most grateful. |
| Sincere thanks to the
following people for their contribution and assistance: United Music Publishers Daniel Emerson F Fumelli D Story |
