Dutilleux centenary on BBC Radio 3

Dr Caroline Rae, Reader at the School of Music, will be exploring the life and legacy of internationally acclaimed French composer Henri Dutilleux (1916-2013) on BBC Radio 3 this week.

22 January 2016 is the centenary of the composer’s birth and he has been chosen as BBC Radio 3’s Composer of the Week to mark the occasion. Dr Rae, a Dutilleux scholar and expert on French music since Debussy, joins presenter Donald Macleod and colleague Dr Caroline Potter for five Composer of the Week programmes broadcast from 18-22 January.

Dr Rae will also take part in a live interval feature discussing Dutilleux’s music on 22 January as part of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales’ live broadcast concert from St David's Hall, Cardiff, Radio 3 In Concert, on 22 January. The concert, a centenary tribute to Dutilleux, is the first in a series of celebratory collaborative events between the School of Music and BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

As well as a series of concerts featuring Dutilleux’s music, the School of Music will host the Dutilleux Centenary Symposium on 28 January and present a day of talks by eminent composers and scholars investigating Dutilleux’s music and legacy. Speakers include Eric Tanguy, Julian Anderson and Thierry Pécou as well as Caroline Potter, Janet Obi and Caroline Rae. The opening address will be given by Her Excellency Madame Sylvie Bermann, Ambassador of France to the United Kingdom. Admission to the Symposium is free.

Dr Rae has written an article for Wales Art Review outlining how Cardiff will be celebrating the Dutilleux Centenary. 

Dutilleux was made an Honorary Fellow of Cardiff University during his visit to the city in 2008 for the BBC Discovering Dutilleux Festival organised by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in collaboration with the School of Music.

Composer of the Week

In the week of what would have been Dutilleux's 100th birthday, Donald Macleod discusses his life and legacy with two of the UK's leading experts on his music, who the composer wryly dubbed "les deux Carolines...": Dr Caroline Rae and Dr Caroline Potter (Kingston University).

Timbre, Space and Movement
Monday 18 January, 12pm and 6.30pm

The week begins with Dutilleux's early years growing up in Douai in the far north of France, his struggles in Occupied Paris during the Second World War, and two of his most beloved orchestral works: "Timbres, Space and Movement" and his First Symphony.

From the Wolf to Metaboles
Tuesday 19 January, 12pm and 6.30pm

An exploration of Dutilleux's brilliant, rare ballet "The Wolf", and his first mature work, written for his beloved wife, the pianist Geneviève Joy.

A Whole Distant World
Wednesday 20 January, 12pm and 6.30pm

The week continues with discussion of a pair of rare works for voices, plus a unique cello concerto for the virtuoso Mstislav Rostropovich.

The Tree of Dreams
Thursday 21 January, 12pm and 6.30pm

An exploration of two of Dutilleux’s most celebrated works - his only string quartet, "Thus The Night", considered to be among the greatest string quartets of the second half of the twentieth century, and his much-loved violin concerto, "The Tree Of Dreams".

The Mystery of the Moment, the Shadows of Time
Friday 22 January, 12pm and 6.30pm

The week ends with poignant meditations on the passing of time, from Dutilleux's ninth and tenth decades.