ALBAN BERG'S 'YOUNGER BROTHER'

Henri Dutilleux receives the
Ernst von Siemens Music Prize,
by TESS CREBBIN

In Munich, on 3 June 2005, French composer Henri Dutilleux was awarded the 2005 Ernst von Siemens Music Prize, said to be the 'Nobel Prize of Music'. Dominique Jameux, in introducing the award, likened the composer's music to Alban Berg's and received a few chuckles when he told Dutlilleux: 'In my mind, I have invented an older brother for you', referring to Berg.

Dieter Borchmeyer, board director of the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation, opened the ceremony in the Kammerspiele theatre by praising Dutilleux as a 'poet of sound' and a 'composer of colors'. Henri Dutilleux was born on 22 January 1916 in Angers, France. Dutilleux's family had close connections with both painters and composers. His paternal great-grandfather was the painter Constant Dutilleux, while Julien Koszul, his maternal grandfather, was an organist whose friends included Gabriel Fauré, and who owned many scores by Wagner and Berlioz.

Henri Dutilleux studied music under Victor Gallois at the conservatory in Douai, and in 1932 went on to the Paris Conservatoire for harmony, counterpoint and fugue studies with Jean and Noel Gallon, music history with Maurice Emmanuel, and composition with Henri Busser. He received the Grand Prix de Rome in 1938 and, from 1944 to 1963, was director of music production at Radio Television France. In 1963, he left to become a full-time composer.

Between 1961 and 1971, he also taught extensively: as professor of composition at the Ecole Normale de Musique(1961-1970) and as visiting professor at the conservatory (1970-71).

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