Bernard Gavoty

Bernard Gavoty
PseudonymClarendon
Birth nameBernard Georges-Marie Gavoty
Born2 April 1908
8th arrondissement of Paris, France
Died24 October 1981
7th arrondissement of Paris, France
NationalityFrench
Education
Years active1942-1981
Employer
Subject(s)Classical music, pipe organ
SpouseVictoire Vignon (m. 1944)
Children2
Parent(s)Raymond Gavoty (father)

Bernard Georges-Marie Gavoty (2 April 1908 – 24 October 1981), also known by the pen name Clarendon, was a French organist, musicologist, writer, talk show host and winegrower. He was known popularly for being a pundit on classical music and the pipe organ, subjects he would prolifically discuss and write on, in a manner accessible to both cognoscenti and dilettanti.

Biography

Bernard Gavoty was born on 2 April 1908 in the eighth arrondissement of Paris. His parents were 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.). He was the middle of three brothers: his elder sibling was Jacques (9 May 1900 - 25 September 1983) and his younger one was François (born 5 May 1912), a sales advisor. He attended the Cours Hattemer.

Following studies under Louis Vierne, Gavoty entered the organ class of the Conservatoire de Paris while also studying literature and philosophy at the Sorbonne University. The Conservatoire's organ class was taught by Marcel Dupré and André Fleury. There, his classmates included Denise Launay, Michel Boulnois, Antoine Reboulot, Félicien Wolff, and Jean-Jacques Grunenwald, among others. Gavoty would hold a special place amongst Dupré's students.

He was also an agricultural engineer, having graduated from the Institut national agronomique: following his father's death in 1937, Gavoty managed a winegrowing firm in Cabasse.[1][2][3]

Aside from his prolific concert career (having delivered over five-hundred organ recitals around France and the world), Gavoty was also recognised for eloquent oration and writing. He frequently delivered lectures, especially for Jeunesses musicales de France (later Jeunesses Musicales International). Furthermore, Gavoty worked as a music critic for Le Figaro (succeeding Reynaldo Hahn) under the pseudonym Clarendon, referencing the protagonist of Pierre-Augustin de Beaumarchais' play Eugénie. He also wrote - either as Clarendon or under his real name - for various local and international periodicals.

In 1942, he was appointed titular organist of the grand organ of the Église Saint-Louis des Invalides; he had the instrument rebuilt in 1955 by the Beuchet-Debierre firm to adhre to prevailing neoclassical æsthetic. From 1948 onwards (sponsored by the Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française), Gavoty appeared in various musical and artistic documentaries and broadcasts as a narrator or commentator. He frequently appeared on the single television channel, discussing classical music throughout the 1950s and 1960s.[4][5]

Gavoty was elected a member of the Académie des beaux-arts in 1976, succeeding Julien Cain in the free members section.

Personal life

In 1944, Gavoty married Monique Victoire Marie Vignon (15 May 1916 - 19 January 2003); Victoire Vignon was born in Mably and died in the eighteenth arrondissement of Paris. They had two daughters: Marie-Ange (born 11 October 1945) and Cécile (born 17 June 1949).

Gavoty died on 24 October 1981 in the seventh arrondissement of Paris; he was seventy-three.

Bibliography

  • 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 (Introuvables), 1985 OCLC 21548494
  • Les Français sont-ils musiciens ?, éditions Conquistador, 1950
  • Deux capitales romantiques : Vienne Paris, SACEM, 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

Theatre

References

  1. ^ NOTICE SUR LA VIE ET LES TRAVAUX DE M. Bernard GAVOTY, accessdate 27 July 2017
  2. ^ "Domaine Gavoty". Archived from the original on 2016-12-25. Retrieved 2017-07-27.
  3. ^ Domaine Gavoty on Le Figaro
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ Au cœur de la musique
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.