Arthur Honegger

Honegger, Arthur

(hŭn`ēgər, Fr. ärtür ônāgĕr`), 1892–1955, Swiss-French composer, studied at the conservatories of Zürich and Paris. One of the group of Parisian composers called Les SixSix, Les
, a short-lived group of six young early 20th-century French musicians. They were united by their adverse reactions to the extravagant impressionism of French composers such as Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel and the overwrought romanticism of Germans such as Richard
..... Click the link for more information. , he wrote music ranging from satire to intensely religious works that are marked by incisive rhythms and sharp dissonances, often the result of his use of polytonality. Besides Pacific 231 (1923)—the first of three mouvements symphoniques—his outstanding works are of a theatrical nature, such as ballets, the operas Judith (1926) and Antigone (1927, libretto by Jean CocteauCocteau, Jean
, 1889–1963, French writer, visual artist, and filmmaker. He experimented audaciously in almost every artistic medium, becoming a leader of the French avant-garde in the 1920s.
..... Click the link for more information. ), music for films, including Mayerling (1935), and the stage oratorio King David (1921). He also set texts of Paul ClaudelClaudel, Paul
, 1868–1955, French dramatist, poet, and diplomat. He was ambassador to Tokyo (1921–27), Washington, D.C. (1927–33), and Brussels (1933–35).
..... Click the link for more information. to music.

Honegger, Arthur

Born Mar. 10, 1892, in Le Havre; died Nov. 27, 1955, in Paris. French composer and music figure. Of Swiss parentage. Member of the Institut de France (1953).

Honegger studied under A. Gedalge, C. M. Widor, and V. d’Indy. In the 1920’s he was a member of the group known as Les Six. He was influenced by I. Stravinsky, E. Satie, and J. Cocteau, all of whom opposed impressionism and expressionism. As far back as the mid-1920’s, however, Honegger followed an independent course. In the 1930’s he was an active figure in the National Music Federation. He composed music for outdoor presentations of plays, including The Fourteenth of July (1936, Paris) and Liberty (1937), and wrote popular songs and marches. In 1928, Honegger visited the USSR, where he gave concerts in which he conducted his own works.

Honegger’s work combines, in an original fashion, the traditions of French and Swiss folk and professional music with the best of 20th-century music. His works are distinguished by their humanism and progressive, antifascist tendencies. He contributed much to the development of the oratorio. In his oratorios, elements of neoclassicism and romanticism are refracted through the prism of his artistic individuality. Of these works, the most notable are the dramatic oratorio King David (1921, 3rd ed., 1924), the oratorio Cries of the World (1931), the dramatic oratorio Joan of Arc at the Stake (1935), the cantata Song of Liberation (1942), and the Christmas Cantata (1953). Honegger wrote five symphonies (1930–50) and other orchestral works, including Pacific 231 (1923) and Monopartite (1951). He also wrote ballets, operettas, romances, songs, piano pieces, and music for the theater, radio, and screen.

WORKS

Incantation aux fossiles. Lausanne, 1948.
In Russian translation:
Ia—kompozitor. Leningrad, 1963.

REFERENCES

Rappoport, L. Artur Onegger. Leningrad, 1967.
Rappoport, L. “Nekotorye osobennosti garmonii A. Oneggera.” In the
collection Problemy lada. Moscow, 1972. Shneerson, G. Frantsuzskaia muzyka XX veka, 2nd ed. Moscow, 1970. Pavchinskii, S. Simfonicheskoe tvorchestvo A. Oneggera. Moscow, 1972. Gérard, C. A. Honegger. Brussels, 1945. Guibert, J. A. Honegger. Paris [1959].

L. G. RAPPOPORT

Arthur Honegger

Arthur Honegger

Honegger, Arthur

Honegger, Arthur

WORKS

REFERENCES

Arthur Honegger

Synonyms for Arthur Honegger

noun Swiss composer (born in France) who was the founding member of a group in Paris that included Erik Satie and Darius Milhaud and Francis Poulenc and Jean Cocteau (1892-1955)

Synonyms