Gérard Masson (born 12 August, 1936, in
Paris) is a French
composer.
Biography
Gérard Masson grew up listening to jazz, played jazz trumpet, and began studying the piano in 1945, but had no formal training in composition until, after military service in Algeria, he returned to France in 1962. He approached
Max Deutsch, who sent Masson to one of his students for lessons in counterpoint.[1] At about this same time, he made the acquaintance of
Pierre Souvtchinsky, who introduced him to
Igor Stravinsky. Masson brought to his meeting with Stravinsky his first orchestral score, Dans le deuil des vagues, in which Stravinsky showed considerable interest. When, upon returning to the United States, Stravinsky was asked by a reporter whether he had heard any young musicians, Stravinsky replied, "none at all, except Gérard Masson".[1] It was Souvtchinsky who suggested that Masson go to
Cologne to study with
Karlheinz Stockhausen, which he did in 1965–66 and again in 1966–67.[1][2][3] He was particularly impressed by Momente, about which Stockhausen lectured at the Cologne Courses for New Music in those years.[1]
Style and technique
Though an admirer of Stockhausen's music, Masson's attitude toward
serialism is ambivalent:
I have never really felt at home with serialism. I make use of it, initially because I am terrified to know what I should do. And logic can occupy me for five minutes, but it ends by annoying me very quickly. Often, a schema precedes the piece and it takes form as I write the work. I write once, then I edit, like in the cinema. The beginning of Adlib, for example, has seen half-a-dozen versions. This cost me two years of work.[1]
His early orchestral composition Dans le deuil des vagues II (1968) showed some influence of Debussy, but also of earlier music.[4]
Compositions
Pièce pour quatorze instruments et percussions, for flute, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, electric guitar, harp, cello, and 3 percussionists (1965)
Dans le deuil des vagues I, for orchestra (1966)
Ouest I, for alto flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, trombone, piano, harp, violin, and cello (1967)
Dans le deuil des vagues II, for orchestra (1968)
Ouest II, for mezzo-soprano, flute, cor anglais, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, trombone, 2 violins, viola, cello, piano, and harp (1969)
Bleu loin, for 12 strings (1970)
Hymnopsie, for choir and orchestra (1972)
String Quartet No. 1 (1973)
Sextet for flute, oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, and horn (1975)
Piano Concerto No. 1, for piano and orchestra (1977)
Quintet for mezzo-soprano, clarinet (doubling bass clarinet), piano, violin, and viola (1978)
Pas seulement des moments des moyens d’amour…, for two pianos and orchestra (1980)
^"Gérard Masson (1936)". Centre de Documentation de Musique Contemporaine (CDMC). Archived from
the original on 23 November 2008. Retrieved 13 September 2014.