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Michel Philippot
Born February 2, 1925 — died July 28, 1996 · Verzy, Marne, France
Michel Paul Philippot (2 February 1925 – 28 July 1996) was a French composer, acoustician, musicologist, aesthetician, broadcaster, and educator.
Philippot was born in Verzy. His studies of mathematics were interrupted by World War II, after which he decided instead to study music, first at the Conservatory of Reims, and then at the Conservatoire de Paris (1945–48), where he studied harmony with Georges Dandelot. He also took private composition lessons from 1946 to 1950 with René Leibowitz, who introduced him to the music of the Second Viennese School. In 1949 he began a career at ORTF in a… Michel Paul Philippot (2 February 1925 – 28 July 1996) was a French composer, acoustician, musicologist, aesthetician, broadcaster, and educator.
Philippot was born in Verzy. His studies of mathematics were interrupted by World War II, after which he decided instead to study music, first at the Conservatory of Reims, and then at the Conservatoire de Paris (1945–48), where he studied harmony with Georges Dandelot. He also took private composition lessons from 1946 to 1950 with René Leibowitz, who introduced him to the music of the Second Viennese School. In 1949 he began a career at ORTF in a position as a music producer. In 1959 he became assistant to Pierre Schaeffer in the Groupe de Recherches Musicales, and later worked under Henri Barraud at the radio station France Culture. From 1964 to 1972 he was in charge of music programs, then became a technical adviser to the Director General of Radio France and to the President of the Institut national de l'audiovisuel (INA). From 1969 to 1976 he also taught musicology and aesthetics at the Universities of Paris I and IV, and from 1970 was professor of composition at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique de Paris. In 1976 he moved to Brazil in order to create the department of music at São Paulo State University, as well as to take up a position as professor at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Upon returning to France in 1983, he resumed his occupation as technical advisor to INA (until 1989) and his professorship at the Paris Conservatory (until 1990). He died at the age of 71 in Vincennes, Paris.
Philippot's compositions are almost exclusively instrumental and forego literary titles. From the outset his works were marked by the discipline of the twelve-tone technique. The austerity of his earlier compositions gave way after the 1950s to a more fluid style indebted in part to Debussy and in part to Schoenberg, particularly to his Variations, Op. 31. His essentially contrapuntal textures adhere to the Schoenbergian principle of continuous variation.
His honors include the Grand Prix national de la musique (1987), and the presidency of the Académie Charles Cros.
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