Yves Ramette
Yves Ramette (6 February 1921 – 2 June 2012) was a French post-romantic composer and organist.
Biography
Yves Ramette was born in 1921 in Bavay, France, where his father was the Director of a Professional Graduate School. From a very young age Ramette was attracted towards music. When he was seven years old he started learning musical notation as well as playing the violin and the piano. At age fourteen, while pursuing his secondary studies at the Lycée de Beauvais, he also learnt Harmony lessons. In Beauvais, he also studied the violin with Robert Duforestel.
Then he joined the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique de Paris to study Harmony with Jacques de la Presle, Counterpoint and Fugue with Simone Plé-Caussade, the piano with Lélia Gousseau and Lazare Lévy. He also studied conducting and orchestration with Eugène Bigot.
In parallel, he studied the Organ with Georges Jacob (organiste), the Composition with Arthur Honegger at the École Normale de Musique de Paris where he awarded First Prize in 1945. From 1947 to 1953 he taught the organ and Counterpoint at the Schola Cantorum de Paris.
In 1952, he was appointed as the “Maître de chapelle” and organ player at the St-Ferdinand-des-Ternes church in Paris. In 1953, together with Božidar Kantušer, Luc Ferrari and Pierre Migaux he founded Group 84.[1] He created and directed the mixed choir “Voix Ardens” to promote the traditional, classical, romantic and modern choral music. This choir gave many concerts from 1968 to 1987. During his later years, Ramette mainly composed works for the organ and the piano, his favorite instruments. In 1997 he published a memory book “Grandeur et Décadence d’une tribune” (Éditions Odilon Media/Éditions du Sel).
Ramette output includes six symphonies, several chamber musics, choral and vocal works and many organ and piano pieces. Almost all his works have been edited on CD (Navona Records, USA). And the American concert pianist Eric Himy has performed and recorded many of Ramette's piano works.
Yves Ramette died in Prades in June 2012, aged ninety-one.
Complete Works
Orchestral Works
- Symphony No. 1 for Strings and percussion, op. 4 (1944)
- Symphony No. 2, op. 10 (1948)
- Symphony No. 3 for Strings, op. 11 (1949)
- Symphony No. 4, op. 13 (1951)
- Prelude, Fugue and Postlude for Strings, piano and timpani, op. 14 (1952)
- Symphony No. 5 « Hymn to Life », In Memory of Arthur Honegger, op. 15 (1956)
- Symphony No. 6 « Manfred », op. 18 (1963)
Œuvres vocales et chorales
- Three poems of Francis Carco, for voice and piano (or instruments), op. 3 (1944)
- Three poems of Claude Apel, for narrator and piano, op. 9 (1947)
- First Lied, for voice and orchestra, op. 16 (1959)
- Second Lied, for voice and orchestra, op. 17 (1960)
- Love Songs, for soprano and piano, op. 24 (1978)
- La Flûte de jade, for soprano and piano, op. 25 (1979)
- Salve Regina, for solo soprano solo, mixed choir and organ, op. 28 (1982)
- Psaume 111, for solo soprano solo, mixed choir and organ, op. 29 (1982)
- Ave Maria, for solo soprano solo, mixed choir and organ, op. 30 (1983)
- Christus, cantata for mixed choir and organ, op. 31 (1983)
Chamber Music
- String Quartet in C sharp minor, without opus number (1940)
- Sonata for violon and piano No. 1, without opus number (1942)
- Sonata for violon and piano No. 2, without opus number (1943)
- Sonata for cello and piano, without opus number and undated
- Introduction and Scherzo, for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and piano, op. 6 (1945)
- Trio for Three Pianos, op. 8 (1947)
Organ Works
- Concerto for solo organ, op. 19 (1964)
- Ricercare, op. 20 (1965)
- Organaria, op. 21 (1969)
- Ermia, poem, op. 22 (1971)
- Pastorale, op. 23 (1976)
- Prelude and Fugue, op. 26 (1979)
- Toccata and Fugue, In Memory of Georges Guynemer, without opus number (performed by the composer in 1980)
- Pour une nuit de Noël, triptych, op. 27 (1983)
Piano Works
- Introduction and Scherzo, op. 1 (1943)
- Four Sketches, op. 2 (1944)
- Five Variations on a theme of Arthur Honegger, op. 5 (1945)
- Triptych, op. 7 (1946)
- Five Musical Moments, op. 12 (1950)
- Variations on an Original Theme, op. 32 (1985)
- Naiads, op. 33 (1986)
- Four pastels, op. 34 (1987)
- Three Etudes, op. 35 (1987)
- First Sonata, op. 36 (1991)
- Humoresque, op. 37 (1994)
- Fountains and Cascades, op. 38 (1996)
- The Elfs, op. 39 (1997)
- Arabesques, op. 40 (1998)
- Pour un bal imaginaire, op. 41 (1999)
- First Barcarolle, op. 42 (2000)
- Second Sonata, op. 43 (2001)
- Deuxième barcarolle, op. 44 (2003)
- Lullaby, op. 45 (2004)
- Variations on a theme of Mozart, op. 46 (2005)
References
- ↑ The goal of the 'Groupe 84' was to promote contemporary music through concerts and lectures. For example, Béla Bartók's Sonata for two pianos and percussion was probably first performed in France at a concert organized by the Groupe 84.
External links
- Official website
- Compositions on Allmusic.com