Scores composed by Alain Louvier on sale directly on the publisher website.

Alain LouvierAlain Louvier

Born in 1945, Alain Louvier studied mathematics while obtaining 9 first prizes at the Paris Conservatory, where he was a student of Olivier Messiaen and Manuel Rosenthal.

In 1968, he was the last laureate of the “Premier Grand Prix de Rome de Composition Musicale” awarded by the Institut de France.
He was a resident at the French Academy in Rome from 1969 to 1972, and then received other distinctions, including the Prix Honegger (1975), the Prix Paul Gilson (1981) and the Prix Georges Enesco of the Sacem (1986).

Director of the CNR of Boulogne-Billancourt from 1972 to 1986, he led a policy of pedagogical renovation that was quite remarkable, notably by commissioning some fifty very diverse composers to write short pieces for students, including at the initial levels.

Director of the Paris Conservatory from 1986 to 1991, he transferred the Conservatory to the Cité de la Musique in 1990, while laying the foundations for new departments: Pedagogy, Sound professions, Contemporary Dance…

From 1991 to 2009, Alain Louvier taught musical analysis at the CNSMDP, as well as orchestration at the CNR of Paris.

In May 2009, he took over the direction of the Conservatoire à Rayonnement régional de Boulogne-Billancourt.

Since 1971, he has been active as a conductor, creating numerous new works, particularly with the Ensemble de l’Itinéraire, or within the framework of the Conservatories (Stockhausen, Scelsi, Grisey, Lévinas, Tessier, Stroë, Murail, Blondeau, Campana, Mantovani, Campo….)

In his work as a composer, Alain Louvier has proposed, since 1964, a very personal writing and gesture for keyboards (Etudes pour Agresseurs, Agrexandrins);

He is also interested in the musical translation of geometric curves or numerical sequences (Hommage à Gauss, 9 Carrés pour 4 flûtes, Chant des Aires, l’Isola dei Numeri);

He also opens new horizons by introducing modality into the microtonal universe of ¼ tones (le Clavecin non Tempéré, Suite en C, Anneaux de Lumière, “S”).

His orchestral work resonates with a very personal poetic aura, through the art of orchestration, where he is situated in the heritage of a long French tradition (Canto di Natale, Poèmes de Ronsard, Concerto for viola, Météores…).

He has also tried his hand at “new technologies”, for example in 1981 at IRCAM for Maurice Béjart’s Casta Diva, or more recently in Itinéraires d’Outre-Rêve, 4 Paysages avec harpe bleue or a Gamelan à Paris, written for the bicentenary of the Paris Conservatoire, in 1995.

Several recent works are dedicated to the voice: Lucanes et Lagunes for mezzo and piano, Une cloche de feu rose dans les nuages for piano and 11 voices, Solstices for children’s choir and piano (2005).

In addition, Alain Louvier realized in 2001/2003 about sixty orchestrations of Chansons de France for the Gallimard-Jeunesse editions.

In addition to numerous analytical articles, Alain Louvier is the author of a book: l’Orchestre (PUF 1978, reissued by Combre in 1997 with P-A Castanet).

ALAIN LOUVIER article by Denis Havard de la Montagne on the Prix de Rome 1960-68

 

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