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Amaury du Closel

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Amaury du Closel
Du Closel in 2015
Born
Amaury Barbat du Closel

(1956-02-06)6 February 1956
Died7 October 2024(2024-10-07) (aged 68)
EducationRoyal Conservatory of Mons [fr]
Occupations
  • Conductor
  • Composer
OrganizationsForum Voix Etouffée
Awards

Amaury Barbat du Closel (6 February 1956 – 7 October 2024) was a French conductor and composer. He founded the Forum Voix Etouffées to raise attention to the music of composers persecuted, exiled or forgotten, especially persecuted by totalitarian regimes of the 20th century.

Life and career

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Born on 6 February 1956,[1] du Closel was the son of Alain Barbat du Closel, who served as deputy mayor of Versailles from 1995 to 2001 and was a titular member of the Académie des sciences morales, des lettres et des arts de Versailles et d'Île-de-France [fr]. Amaury studied musical composition with Max Deutsch at the Royal Conservatory of Mons [fr] in Belgium. He then took masterclasses in Vienna with Karl Österreicher and Charles Mackerras.

Throughout his career, du Closel directed more than 80 orchestras, notably the Berliner Symphoniker and the Orchestre Les Métamorphoses.[2]

He was artistic director of the Opéra Nomade from 2000.[3] He founded in 2003 the Forum Voix Etouffées (Stifled voices), an association dedicated to performing music of persecuted, exiled or forgotten composers, especially those who were persecuted by totalitarian regimes of the 20th century, such as Ernst Krenek, Franz Schreker and Viktor Ullmann. In 2005 he published Les Voix étouffées du Troisième Reich, about voices silenced by the Nazi regime.[1][3] The book was awarded a prize for best essay from the Syndicat de la Critique Musicale.[4]

He composed music including a chamber opera and songs.[3]

Du Closel died on 7 October 2024, at the age of 68.[1][3]

Publication

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  • 2005: Erstickte Stimmen. "Entartete Musik" im Dritten Reich[4] (Les Voix étouffées du Troisième Reich)[3]

Distinctions

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Lopez, Louis-Valentin (8 October 2024). "Mort d'Amaury du Closel, passeur des compositeurs persécutés et oubliés". Radio France (in French). Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  2. ^ Lévy, Hervé (21 March 2024). "Autour de Schönberg dimanche à Strasbourg". Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace (in French). Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Mort d'Amaury du Closel". Forum Opera (in French). 8 October 2024. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  4. ^ a b {{cite news | last = Luehrs-Kaiser | first = Kai | date = 29 August 2010 | title = "Entartete Musik" – was Hitler nicht hören wollte | url = https://www.welt.de/kultur/article9236981/Entartete-Musik-was-Hitler-nicht-hoeren-wollte.html | language = de | work = [[Die Welt | access-date = 10 October 2024 }}
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