Andre Jolivet: Music, Art and Literature

2017 | Music & Dance

This first book in English on the French composer Andre Jolivet (1905-1974) investigates his music, influences and activities against a background of the main trends in twentieth-century French music. A pupil of Varese and colleague of Messiaen in La Jeune France, Jolivet is recognised as a major figure in French music of the last century. His music is characterised by its innovative language and deep spirituality, summarised in his self-declared axiom to 'restore music's ancient original meaning when it was the magic and incantatory expression of the sacred in human communities'. Following a contextual introduction, the contributors, including the composer's daughter Christine Jolivet-Erlih, assess Jolivet's contribution from his early so-called 'magic' period of the 1930s up to and including his late works. These rich and balanced chapters, edited by Caroline Rae, investigate Jolivet's style and compositional process, his relationship with the exotic as well as influences from the visual arts and literature, and examine, for the first time, the significance of his activities as conductor, teacher and critic.

A chronology of Jolivet's life and works is presented in English in addition to a list of works. This fascinating and comprehensive volume is a definitive source that will shape the direction of further research into this seminal French composer of the twentieth century.

Caroline Rae (Author)