Bernard Georges-Marie Gavoty (2 April 1908 – 24 October 1981) was a 20th-century French organist, musicologist, music critic and talk show host.
Biography
editBernard Gavoty was born in 1908 to Raymond Gavoty (a deputy of the Var department; 11 March 1866 - 20 January 1937 in Paris) and Geneviève Magimel (9 October 1875 in Paris - 17 October 1946 ibid.) in the 8th arrondissement of Paris.
After being a pupil of Louis Vierne, Bernard Gavoty entered the Conservatoire de Paris where his classmates for the organ included Denise Launay, Michel Boulnois, Antoine Reboulot, Félicien Wolff and Jean-Jacques Grunenwald.
He held a special place there among the students of Marcel Dupré. Renowned as a brilliant speaker and refined writer, he gave numerous lectures, especially for the Jeunesses musicales de France, and was a noted music critic for Le Figaro under the pseudonym Clarendon, a reference to the principal character of Beaumarchais's Eugénie.
In 1942, he was appointed the titular organist of the grand organ of the Église Saint-Louis des Invalides which he in 1955 had rebuilt by the Beuchet-Debierre company in the neoclassical style. In the 1950s and 1960s, he frequently appeared on the single television channel to discuss classical music.[1][2] In 1976, he was elected a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts, succeeding Julien Cain in the free members section.
He was also an agricultural engineer, having graduated from the Institut national agronomique, and a wine grower in the côtes de Provence.[3][4][5]
Personal life
editIn 1944, Bernard Gavoty married Victoire Vignon (1916-2003) with whom he had two daughters: Marie-Ange (born 1945) and Cécile (born 1949).
Gavoty passed away in the autumn of 1981 in the 7th arrondissement of Paris.
Bibliography
edit- Louis Vierne : La vie et l'œuvre, Paris, Albin Michel, 1943 ; new ed. 1979 OCLC 2500413
- Jehan Alain, musicien français, Paris, Albin Michel, 1945 ; reissued Éditions d'Aujourd'hui, coll. « Introuvables », 1985 OCLC 21548494
- Les Français sont-ils musiciens ?, éditions Conquistador, 1950
- Deux capitales romantiques : Vienne Paris, Société française de diffusion musicale et artistique,1953
- Pour ou contre la musique nouvelle ?, with François Lesure, Flammarion
- Carl Schuricht, Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1954
- Edwin Fischer, Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1954
- Walter Gieseking, Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1954 OCLC 12169813
- Wilhelm Kempff, Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1954
- Roberto Benzi, Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1954
- Alfred Cortot, Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1955
- Pablo Casals, Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1955 OCLC 802804623
- André Cluytens, Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1955 OCLC 901885362
- Yehudi Menuhin et Georges Enesco , Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1955 OCLC 422015293
- Arthur Rubinstein, Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1955 OCLC 46637333
- Samson François, Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1956 OCLC 58820657
- Wanda Landowska, Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1956 OCLC 898902067
- Victoria de los Ángeles, Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1956 OCLC 470639068
- Nathan Milstein, Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1956 OCLC 715079166
- Bruno Walter Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1956 OCLC 47065527
- Witold Malcuzynski, Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1957 OCLC 901885161
- Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1957 OCLC 718247457
- La Musique adoucit les mœurs ?, Paris, Gallimard, 1959
- Chopin amoureux, La Palatine, 1960
- Dix grands musiciens, Gautier-Languereau, 1962
- Vingt grands interprètes, Lausanne, Rencontres, 1966.
- Lettre d'Alexis Weissenberg à Bernard Gavoty, 1966
- L'Arme à gauche, Beauchesne, 1971
- Chopin, Paris, Grasset, 1974
- Alfred Cortot, Paris, series Musique, Buchet/Chastel, 1977, rééd. 2012, 378 pages OCLC 810314744
- Anicroches, Paris, series Musique », Buchet/Chastel, 1979, 245 pages, OCLC 419232256
- Liszt, le virtuose, Paris, Julliard, 1980
- Les souvenirs de Georges Enesco, Kryos, 2006
Discography
edit- Camille Saint-Saëns - 3rd symphony, with organ (1975 - Paris, Égise Saint-Louis-des-Invalides - Orchestre National ORTF, conducted by Jean Martinon - EMI Group),
- Louis Vierne : Marche triomphale - César Franck : Prélude, Fugue et Variation - Claude Balbastre : développement sur le Noël populaire « Joseph est bien marié » (Paris, Saint-Louis-des-Invalides) - Erato, dq 105, 1957. Cuivres, dir. Louis Frémaux. Organ: Marcel Dupré),
- Prières à Saint-Louis-des-Invalides : Pierre de Bréville - Gabriel Fauré - Johann Sebastian Bach - César Franck (Paris, Saint-Louis-des-Invalides - Disque Ducretet, M.-R. Chauveau, soprano, 1958 (38),
- L'orgue de Saint-Louis-des-Invalides décrit par Bernard Gavoty (Paris, Saint-Louis-des-Invalides - Le Chant du Monde (éditions musicales et label), c. 1960),
- Johann Sebastian Bach : les pièces cataloguées BWV 617, 645, 653, 659, 680, 686, 727, 734, 582, 541 (Paris, Saint-Louis-des-Invalides - Le Chant du Monde, 1963).
Theatre
edit- 1971: Dumas le magnifique by Alain Decaux, directed by Julien Bertheau, Théâtre du Palais Royal
- 1975: Les Secrets de la Comédie humaine by Félicien Marceau, directed by Paul-Émile Deiber, Théâtre du Palais Royal
References
edit- ^ See for example the interview with Maria Callas by Bernard Gavoty on Dailymotion in 1965 (accessdate 26 July 2017) or else on the website of the INA.
- ^ Au cœur de la musique
- ^ NOTICE SUR LA VIE ET LES TRAVAUX DE M. Bernard GAVOTY, accessdate 27 July 2017
- ^ "Domaine Gavoty". Archived from the original on 2016-12-25. Retrieved 2017-07-27.
- ^ Domaine Gavoty on Le Figaro
External links
edit- Éloge de Bernard Gavoty by Michel David-Weill lu à l'occasion de son installation comme membre de l'Académie des Beaux-Arts.
- Bernard Gavoty at Buchet/Chastel