Michel Râteau
Encyclopedia
Michel Rateau, a French
composer
, was born in 1938 in Paris
. <
. She had noticed the child’s aptitudes and taste for music she wished to develop. At the same age he composed his first work in his parent’s kitchen using objects and devices at hand.
Despite his changing schools he still followed Sister Marie-Laurent’s courses up to the age of 11; then he took private piano courses with Jean Boguet (organist in Dijon
) up to the age of 15; afterwards he attended the classes of Jacques Février
and Jean Doyen.
Mainly attracted by composition, he began composition studies with Maurice Duruflé
and joined his class at the Paris CNSM. (Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique – i.e. National Upper Music Academy) in 1959. Then he attended the classes of André Jolivet
and Jean Rivier
. While attending courses at the Paris CNSM, he passed the Musical Education CAPES (upper national teaching diploma) in 1960 and carried out the National Military Service in the Band of the 93rd Infantry Regiment at Mont Valerien from 1962 to 1964.
He was awarded the First Prize of Harmony in 1963 and the First Prize of Composition in 1966 from Paris CNSM. He presented himself to the Premier Grand Prix de Rome
(a French national upper artistic award allowing the prize winner to spend a few years at the Villa Medicis in Rome (Italy) where he can improve the art of his choice: music, painting, architecture, sculpture) and obtained it in 1967.
He will reside in the Villa Medicis from 1968 to 1971. During his stay, he will conceive a percussion instrument made of a 2m over 2m beam on which are fixed bells (campanas) of various sizes and materials (wood, metal) and cymbals hit on with sticks.
Back to Paris in 1971, he studied particularly sounds emitted by “things” (bird cage, pipes, tanks...) and recorded on magnetic tapes. This will lead to the music of “’La Course’” (The race) ballet for the Paris Théâtre National Populaire
(TNP) danced by the Joseph Russillo’s company and to a concert at the town of Paris Museum of Modern Arts within the frame of the A.R.C. (animation, Research, Confrontation) ordered by Maurice Fleuret
. During these years, he continued composing works for orchestras.
In 1976, he settled in Rouen
(Normandy
) and took up again his teaching activities at the Rouen IUFM (Institut Universitaire de Formation des Maîtres – i.e. University Institute for Teachers’ training). He taught also at the Rouen
Institute of Musicology from 1980 to 1989 and at the Ecole Normale de Musique of Paris from 1983 to 1990, as a teacher of Harmony and analysis.
In 1982 he started the “Chants du Temps” (Time songs) for orchestra—he finished it in 1988 and which will lead to a conversation with Pierre Boulez
about this work.
While teaching full-time, he had “Offrande Lyrique” (Lyrical offering) for violin and orchestra played in concert at the Salle Gaveau in Paris
in 1984 by l’Ensemble Orchestral de Paris (The Paris orchestral group) conducted by Jean-Pierre Wallez
, with Gaëtane Prouvost as a solo violin – to his greatest joy, Maestros Olivier Messiaen
and Henri Dutilleux
were attending this concert. The Rouen
Chamber Orchestra will play this work again in 1984 conducted by Jean-Pierre Berlingen.
For the 25th anniversary of the Rouen
University in 1991 he composed for the Nouvel ensemble Contemporain (The New Contemporary group): “A quatre” for flute, clarinet, violin and piano, created in concert in 1991.
In 1992 Michel Rateau began “Les Chants du Temps” for the piano, his Journal Musical (Musical Diary), “a work in progress of unachievement”. The “Chants du Temps” are returning to a very simple, quite purified, strongly melodic and contrapuntic form of writing, which is contrasting radically with the pioneering pieces he wrote in the years 1960-1970. It consists in a modulable composition in 15 volumes, each volume enclosing twelve books and each books twelve pages of music. Like a collection of poems according to his mood and his preferences, the reader-interpreter will choose pieces to be read or played without restraint.
Part of the “Chants du Temps” (about 45 minutes) were played in concert at The University of Strasboug in April 2005, on the occasion of the Cultural Action Days. The Israelian pianist Gilead Mishory in concerts given in Germany
and Japan
plays some extracts of this work also.
The “Chants du Temps” have become the sole work Michel Rateau is carrying on and to which he is devoting himself entirely nowadays.
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, was born in 1938 in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. <
Biography
He began studying solfeggio and piano at the age of 5 under Sister Marie-Laurent’s care at Notre Dame de France, school in VanvesVanves
Vanves is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe and the tenth in France -History:...
. She had noticed the child’s aptitudes and taste for music she wished to develop. At the same age he composed his first work in his parent’s kitchen using objects and devices at hand.
Despite his changing schools he still followed Sister Marie-Laurent’s courses up to the age of 11; then he took private piano courses with Jean Boguet (organist in Dijon
Dijon
Dijon is a city in eastern France, the capital of the Côte-d'Or département and of the Burgundy region.Dijon is the historical capital of the region of Burgundy. Population : 151,576 within the city limits; 250,516 for the greater Dijon area....
) up to the age of 15; afterwards he attended the classes of Jacques Février
Jacques Février
Jacques Février was a French pianist and teacher.Jacques Février was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, the son of the composer Henry Février. He studied with Édouard Risler and Marguerite Long at the Paris Conservatoire, taking a premier prix in 1921...
and Jean Doyen.
Mainly attracted by composition, he began composition studies with Maurice Duruflé
Maurice Duruflé
Maurice Duruflé was a French composer, organist, and pedagogue.Duruflé was born in Louviers, Eure. In 1912, he became chorister at the Rouen Cathedral Choir School, where he studied piano and organ with Jules Haelling...
and joined his class at the Paris CNSM. (Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique – i.e. National Upper Music Academy) in 1959. Then he attended the classes of André Jolivet
André Jolivet
André Jolivet was a French composer. Known for his devotion to French culture and musical thought, Jolivet's music draws on his interest in acoustics and atonality as well as both ancient and modern influences in music, particularly on instruments used in ancient times...
and Jean Rivier
Jean Rivier
Jean Rivier was a French composer of classical music.He composed over two hundred works, including music for orchestra, chamber groups, chorus, piano, and solo instruments....
. While attending courses at the Paris CNSM, he passed the Musical Education CAPES (upper national teaching diploma) in 1960 and carried out the National Military Service in the Band of the 93rd Infantry Regiment at Mont Valerien from 1962 to 1964.
He was awarded the First Prize of Harmony in 1963 and the First Prize of Composition in 1966 from Paris CNSM. He presented himself to the Premier Grand Prix de Rome
Prix de Rome
The Prix de Rome was a scholarship for arts students, principally of painting, sculpture, and architecture. It was created, initially for painters and sculptors, in 1663 in France during the reign of Louis XIV. It was an annual bursary for promising artists having proved their talents by...
(a French national upper artistic award allowing the prize winner to spend a few years at the Villa Medicis in Rome (Italy) where he can improve the art of his choice: music, painting, architecture, sculpture) and obtained it in 1967.
He will reside in the Villa Medicis from 1968 to 1971. During his stay, he will conceive a percussion instrument made of a 2m over 2m beam on which are fixed bells (campanas) of various sizes and materials (wood, metal) and cymbals hit on with sticks.
Back to Paris in 1971, he studied particularly sounds emitted by “things” (bird cage, pipes, tanks...) and recorded on magnetic tapes. This will lead to the music of “’La Course’” (The race) ballet for the Paris Théâtre National Populaire
Théâtre National Populaire
The Théâtre National Populaire is a theatre now at Villeurbanne, France. It was founded in 1920 by Firmin Gémier in Paris. The theater's policy is to deliver quality entertainment accessible to the general public....
(TNP) danced by the Joseph Russillo’s company and to a concert at the town of Paris Museum of Modern Arts within the frame of the A.R.C. (animation, Research, Confrontation) ordered by Maurice Fleuret
Maurice Fleuret
Maurice Fleuret was a French composer, music journalist, radio producer, arts administrator, and festival organizer.- Biography :...
. During these years, he continued composing works for orchestras.
In 1976, he settled in Rouen
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
(Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
) and took up again his teaching activities at the Rouen IUFM (Institut Universitaire de Formation des Maîtres – i.e. University Institute for Teachers’ training). He taught also at the Rouen
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
Institute of Musicology from 1980 to 1989 and at the Ecole Normale de Musique of Paris from 1983 to 1990, as a teacher of Harmony and analysis.
In 1982 he started the “Chants du Temps” (Time songs) for orchestra—he finished it in 1988 and which will lead to a conversation with Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez is a French composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a conductor.-Early years:Boulez was born in Montbrison, Loire, France. As a child he began piano lessons and demonstrated aptitude in both music and mathematics...
about this work.
While teaching full-time, he had “Offrande Lyrique” (Lyrical offering) for violin and orchestra played in concert at the Salle Gaveau in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1984 by l’Ensemble Orchestral de Paris (The Paris orchestral group) conducted by Jean-Pierre Wallez
Jean-Pierre Wallez
Jean-Pierrre Wallez is a French violinist and conductor.-Career:Wallez was born in Lille. He graduated in first place in violin and chamber music at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris. He won the highest prize of the 1960 Paganini Competition in Genoa after...
, with Gaëtane Prouvost as a solo violin – to his greatest joy, Maestros Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen was a French composer, organist and ornithologist, one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex ; harmonically and melodically it is based on modes of limited transposition, which he abstracted from his early compositions and improvisations...
and Henri Dutilleux
Henri Dutilleux
Henri Dutilleux is one of the most important French composers of the second half of the 20th century, producing work in the tradition of Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy, and Albert Roussel, but in a style distinctly his own...
were attending this concert. The Rouen
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
Chamber Orchestra will play this work again in 1984 conducted by Jean-Pierre Berlingen.
For the 25th anniversary of the Rouen
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
University in 1991 he composed for the Nouvel ensemble Contemporain (The New Contemporary group): “A quatre” for flute, clarinet, violin and piano, created in concert in 1991.
In 1992 Michel Rateau began “Les Chants du Temps” for the piano, his Journal Musical (Musical Diary), “a work in progress of unachievement”. The “Chants du Temps” are returning to a very simple, quite purified, strongly melodic and contrapuntic form of writing, which is contrasting radically with the pioneering pieces he wrote in the years 1960-1970. It consists in a modulable composition in 15 volumes, each volume enclosing twelve books and each books twelve pages of music. Like a collection of poems according to his mood and his preferences, the reader-interpreter will choose pieces to be read or played without restraint.
Part of the “Chants du Temps” (about 45 minutes) were played in concert at The University of Strasboug in April 2005, on the occasion of the Cultural Action Days. The Israelian pianist Gilead Mishory in concerts given in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
plays some extracts of this work also.
The “Chants du Temps” have become the sole work Michel Rateau is carrying on and to which he is devoting himself entirely nowadays.
List of works
- “Copeaux de lune” (Moon chips), for two pianos - Paris Biennal, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris - 1966 (Editions Billaudot) - duration : 11 minutes.
- “Divertimento”, for two pianos - 1st prize of composition, Paris CNSM - 1966 - duration : 13 minutes 30 seconds
- “Voyageur où t’en vas-tu ?” (Traveller, where are you going ?), Cantata on a poem of Rabîndranâth TagoreRabindranath TagoreRabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature...
, for soprano, tenor, baritone, bass and orchestra - Paris Opera Orchestra, Institut de France - 1967 - duration : 25 minutes
- “Divertimento Breve”, for orchestra – RAIRAIRAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...
Symphonic orchestra , Rome, 1968 - duration : 5 minutes 30 seconds
- “Seuil” (Threshold), for a set of percussions - The RAIRAIRAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...
(television) percussions, Rome - 1969 - Work retransmitted on France MusiqueFrance MusiqueFrance Musique is a French public radio station devoted to music, including classical music and jazz. France Musique was created in 1954 as Chaîne Haute-Fidélité then renamed 1958 as France IV Haute Fidélité, then RTF Haute Fidélité in 1963, and finally France Musique in same year...
- duration: 10 minutes 30 seconds
- “Concerto”, for orchestra - the RAIRAIRAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...
(television) orchestra, Rome - 1970 - duration: 12 minutes
- “Sonnant” (Sounding), for Orchestra - order from Radio France - 1971 - duration: 12 minutes
- “Trois musiques pour un citoyen” ( Three musics for a citizen), for orchestra - order from Radio FranceRadio FranceRadio France is a French public service radio broadcaster.-Mission:Radio France's two principal missions are:* To create and expand the programming on all of their stations; and...
- 1972 - Editions Billaudot - transcription for two pianos - duration: 18 minutes
- Music on magnetic tape :
- “La Course” (The Race), music for ballet represented at the Théâtre National Populaire de Paris (TNP) by the Joseph Russillo’s company retransmitted on the television - 1970 - duration: 26 minutes
- “Cage”, “Tuiles”, “Outils de jardin”, “Tubulure”, “Mécaniques” (Cage, Tiles, Garden tools, Pipe, Mechanics) : musics played in concert at the Museum of Modern Arts of Paris - 1975 -duration: 45 minutes
- “Enfances” (Childhoods) (15’), “Flûtes” (Flutes) (7’20), “Cloches” (Bells) (5’40), “Tintamarresque et Farce” (Noise and trick) (12’), “Concerto pour guitare” (Concerto for guitar) (25’), “Couvercles” (Covers) (4’30), “Pièces de voitures” (Car spare parts) (5’30), “Eléments de cuisine avec piano” (Kitchen elements with piano) (6’30), “La Bête” (The Beast) (2’40), “Temps-Monde” (Time-World) (13’) - 1973-1976
- “Matinale” (Morning) (3’30), for flute and piano, “Sonnant” (Sounding) (3’10), for trumpet and piano - Instrumental piece ordered by A.Leduc Publisher, 1972
- Piece for Paris CNSM competitive examination :
- “Fiction” for horn and piano - M.Eschig Publisher - 1974 - duration : 5 minutes
- “Dialogue avec l’oiseau La” (Dialogue with the A Bird) for flute and piano - M.Eschig Publisher - 1975 - duration : 5 minutes
- “Nature morte à la contrebasse” (Still-life with contrabass) - Salabert Publisher - 1981 -duration: 5 minutes
- “Comme Union” ( Like Union ) for brass quintet - Order from ARS NOVA, Conducted by Marius ConstantMarius ConstantMarius Constant was a Romanian-born French composer and conductor. Known primarily for his television soundtracks, his most widely heard score was the iconic Twilight Zone theme song....
- 1979 - duration: 15 minutes
- “Lumen” for strings - Rouen Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Jean-Claude Bernède - 1980 - duration: 20 minutes
- “Offrande Lyrique” (Lyrical offering) for violin and orchestra - ordered by the Paris Orchestral Group - 1981 - duration: 18 minutes
- “Chants du Temps” (Time songs) in four books for orchestra - 1982-1988 - duration: 1 hour 50 minutes
- “Audite” for orchestra - 1989 - duration: 11 minutes
- “Intervalle” (Interval) for strings - 1990 - duration : 5 minutes 30 seconds
- “Ephphata” for orchestra - 1990 – duration : 7 minutes
- “Musique Geste Mouvement” (Music Gesture Movement) for two pianos - 1990 - duration: 13 minutes 30 seconds
- “A quatre” (At four) for flute, clarinet, violin and piano - Created in concert by the New Contemporary Group on the 25th anniversary of Rouen University - 1991 - duration: 8 minutes 30 secondes
- “Chants du temps” (Time songs) for strings and wind instruments - 2007 - duration 40 minutes
- “Les Chants du Temps” (Time songs) for piano, « Work in course of unachievement » - started in 1992 - total duration : about 20 hours - 16th volume in progress