Bernard Gavoty Explained
Bernard Georges-Marie Gavoty (2 April 1908 – 24 October 1981) was a 20th-century French organist, musicologist, music critic and talk show host.
Biography
Bernard 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 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, and a wine grower in the côtes de Provence.[3] [4] [5]
Personal life
In 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
- Louis Vierne : La vie et l'œuvre, Paris, Albin Michel, 1943 ; new ed. 1979
- Jehan Alain, musicien français, Paris, Albin Michel, 1945 ; reissued Éditions d'Aujourd'hui, coll. « Introuvables », 1985
- 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
- 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
- André Cluytens, Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1955
- Yehudi Menuhin et Georges Enesco, Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1955
- Arthur Rubinstein, Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1955
- Samson François, Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1956
- Wanda Landowska, Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1956
- Victoria de los Ángeles, Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1956
- Nathan Milstein, Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1956
- Bruno Walter Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1956
- Witold Malcuzynski, Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1957
- Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1957
- 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
- Anicroches, Paris, series Musique », Buchet/Chastel, 1979, 245 pages,
- Liszt, le virtuose, Paris, Julliard, 1980
- Les souvenirs de Georges Enesco, Kryos, 2006
Discography
- 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
External links
Notes and References
- 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.
- http://www.ina.fr/video/CPF07000608 Au cœur de la musique
- http://www.academie-des-beaux-arts.fr/membres/actuel/libres/David-Weill/discours_hommage_gavoty.htm NOTICE SUR LA VIE ET LES TRAVAUX DE M. Bernard GAVOTY
- Web site: Domaine Gavoty . 2017-07-27 . 2016-12-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161225075419/https://www.gavoty.com/?page_id=68 . dead .
- http://avis-vin.lefigaro.fr/vins-champagne/provence/cotes-de-provence/d19219-domaine-gavoty Domaine Gavoty on Le Figaro