About author : FOURCHOTTE Alain

French composer born June 19, 1943 in Nice, Alain Fourchotte studied music at the Nice Conservatory. A flautist, he also studied composition with Mario Vittoria. The winner of the Grand Prix for composition of the city of Nice in 1975, he took advanced classes with György Ligeti, Mauricio Kagel and Cristóbal Halffter in Darmstadt. A bursary from the French Ministry of Culture enabled him to continue to gain experience abroad with Franco Donatoni (Sienna, 1980). From 1977 to 1981 Fourchotte’s interest in contemporary music led him to present and direct concerts specially devoted to this repertory.

He also collaborated with the Centre International de Recherche Musicale (CIRM) and the MANCA festival between 1978 and 1983. A lecturer at Nice University, where he directed the music faculty from 1996 to 2001, Alain Fourchotte’s catalogue includes nearly 130 works in all genres, from solo music to orchestral (Sillages, 1989-1993), not forgetting the vocal repertory (Altitude de l'eau, 2011) as well as chamber and ensemble music (Quatre reflets for clarinet and piano, 1975).

His language gradually freed itself from post-serialism, exploring other dimensions. Music theatre, the exploration of electro-acoustic techniques and micro-intervals, the application to music of certain literary or pictorial models, the aural recreation of our everyday environment and an attachment to the possibilities of material are some of the main axes of his work.