Bernard Gavoty

Bernard Georges-Marie Gavoty (2 April 1908 – 24 October 1981) was a 20th-century French organist, musicologist, music critic and talk show host.

Biography

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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 Beuchet-Debierre [fr] 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 Institut national agronomique [fr], and a wine grower in the côtes de Provence.[3][4][5]

Personal life

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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

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  • Louis Vierne : La vie et l'œuvre, Paris, Albin Michel, 1943 ; new ed. 1979 OCLC 2500413
  • Jehan Alain, musicien français, Paris, Albin Michel, 1945 ; reissued Éditions d'Aujourd'hui, coll. « Introuvables », 1985 OCLC 21548494
  • 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 OCLC 12169813
  • 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 OCLC 802804623
  • André Cluytens, Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1955 OCLC 901885362
  • Yehudi Menuhin et Georges Enesco , Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1955 OCLC 422015293
  • Arthur Rubinstein, Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1955 OCLC 46637333
  • Samson François, Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1956 OCLC 58820657
  • Wanda Landowska, Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1956 OCLC 898902067
  • Victoria de los Ángeles, Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1956 OCLC 470639068
  • Nathan Milstein, Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1956 OCLC 715079166
  • Bruno Walter Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1956 OCLC 47065527
  • Witold Malcuzynski, Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1957 OCLC 901885161
  • Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Geneva, series Les grands interprètes, René Kister, 1957 OCLC 718247457
  • 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 OCLC 810314744
  • Anicroches, Paris, series Musique », Buchet/Chastel, 1979, 245 pages, OCLC 419232256
  • Liszt, le virtuose, Paris, Julliard, 1980
  • Les souvenirs de Georges Enesco, Kryos, 2006

Discography

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Theatre

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References

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  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ Au cœur de la musique
  3. ^ NOTICE SUR LA VIE ET LES TRAVAUX DE M. Bernard GAVOTY, accessdate 27 July 2017
  4. ^ "Domaine Gavoty". Archived from the original on 2016-12-25. Retrieved 2017-07-27.
  5. ^ Domaine Gavoty on Le Figaro
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