Arthur Honegger

Arthur Honegger March 10 1892 – November 27 1955 Was A Swiss Composer Who Was Born In France And Lived A Large Part Of His Life In Paris. He Was A Member Of Les Six. His Most Frequently Performed Work Is Probably The Orchestral Work Pacific 231 Which Imitates The Sound Of A Steam Locomotive. Born Oscar-Arthur Honegger The First Name Was Never Used In Le Havre France He Initially Studied Harmony And Violin In Paris And After A Brief Period In Zurich Returned There To Study With Charles-Marie Widor And Vincent D'Indy. He Continued To Study Through The 1910s Before Writing The Ballet Le Dit Des Jeux Du Monde In 1918 Generally Considered To Be His First Characteristic Work. In 1926 He Married Andrée Vaurabourg A Pianist And Fellow Student At The Paris Conservatoire. They Had One Daughter Pascale Born In 1932. Honegger Also Had A Son Jean-Claude 1926-2003 With The Singer Claire Croiza. Between World War I And World War II Honegger Was Very Prolific. He Composed The Music For Abel Gance's Epic 1927 Film Napoléon. He Composed Nine Ballets And Three Vocal Stage Works Amongst Other Works. One Of Those Stage Works Jeanne D'Arc Au Bûcher 1935 A "dramatic Oratorio" Is Thought Of As One Of His Finest Works. In Addition To His Works Written Alone He Collaborated With Jacques Ibert On Both An Opera L'Aiglon 1937 And An Operetta. During This Time Period He Also Wrote Danse De La Chèvre 1921 An Essential Piece Of Flute Repertoire. Dedicated To René Le Roy And Written For Flute Alone This Piece Is Lively And Young But With The Same Directness Of All Honegger's Work. Honegger Had Always Remained In Touch With Switzerland His Country Of Origin But With The Outbreak Of The War And The Invasion Of The Nazis He Found Himself Trapped In Paris. He Joined The French Resistance And Was Generally Unaffected By The Nazis Themselves Who Allowed Him To Continue His Work Without Too Much Interference. However He Was Greatly Depressed By The War. Between Its Outbreak And His Death He Wrote His Last Four Symphonies Numbers Two To Five Which Are Quite Frequently Performed And Recorded. Of These The Third Subtitled Symphonie Liturgique And With Its Three Movements Evoking The Latin Mass Dies Irae De Profundis Clamavi And Dona Nobis Pacem Is Probably The Best Known. Written In 1946 Just After The End Of The War It Has Parallels With Benjamin Britten's Sinfonia Da Requiem Of 1940. Honegger Was Widely Known As A Train Enthusiast And Once Notably Said "I Have Always Loved Locomotives Passionately. For Me They Are Living Creatures And I Love Them As Others Love Women Or Horses." Arthur Honegger Died At Home Of A Heart Attack On November 27 1955 And Was Interred In The Cimetière Saint-Vincent In The Montmartre Quarter Of Paris. Far From Reacting Against The Romanticism Of Richard Wagner And Richard Strauss As The Other Members Of Les Six Did Honegger's Mature Works Show Evidence Of A Distinct Influence By It. Despite The Differences In Their Styles He And Fellow Les Six Member Darius Milhaud Were Close Friends Having Studied Together At The Paris Conservatoire. Milhaud Dedicated His Fourth String Quintet To Honegger's Memory While Francis Poulenc Similarly Dedicated His Clarinet Sonata. Honegger Is Currently Featured On The Swiss Twenty Franc Banknote. Notable Recordings * Jeanne D'Arc Au Bûcher - Orchestre National De France/Seiji Ozawa * Le Roi David - Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra/Charles Dutoit * Napoléon Monopartita Prelude Fugue And Postlude Le Chant De Nigamon - Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra/Marius Constant * Pacific 231 Horace Victorieux Mermoz Suites Nos. 1 And 2 - Orchestre Du Capitole De Toulouse/Michel Plasson * Pacific 231 Rugby Pastorale D'été - Orchestre National De L'ORTF/Jean Martinon * Pacific 231 Rugby Pastorale D'été - New York Philharmonic Orchestra/Leonard Bernstein * Mouvement Symphonique No. 3 - Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/Wilhelm Furtwängler * Symphony No. 1 - Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra/Charles Dutoit * Symphony No. 2 For Strings And Trumpet Ad Libitum - Basel Symphony Orchestra/Paul Sacher * Symphony No. 2 For Strings And Trumpet Ad Libitum - Boston Symphony Orchestra Mono 1952 Orchestre De Paris Stereo 1967 /Charles Munch * Symphony No. 2 For Strings And Trumpet Ad Libitum - Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/Herbert Von Karajan * Symphony No. 3 "Liturgique" - Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/Herbert Von Karajan * Symphony No. 3 "Liturgique" - Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra/Yevgeny Mravinsky * Symphony No. 3 "Liturgique" - Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra/Ernest Ansermet * Symphony No. 3 "Liturgique" - Luxembourg Radio Symphony Orchestra/Louis De Froment * Symphony No. 4 "Deliciae Basilensis" - Orchestra Of The ORTF/Charles Munch * Symphony No. 5 "Di Tre Re" - Boston Symphony Orchestra/Charles Munch * Symphony No. 5 "Di Tre Re" - Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra/Ernest Ansermet * Symphonies Complete - Czech Philharmonic Orchestra/Serge Baudo * Symphonies Complete - Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra/Charles Dutoit * Symphonies Complete - Orchestre Du Capitole De Toulouse/Michel Plasson * Les Misérables 1934 Film Score - Slovak Radio Symphony/Adriano read less