François-Bernard Mâche
Biography:
François-Bernard Mâche (b. Clermont-Ferrand, 4 Apr. 1935) is a French writer and composer affiliated with the relativist movement.
Mâche began his musical studies at the Conservatoire de Clermont-Ferrand, where he undertook studies in theory with Émile Passani. After graduating with prizes in piano and harmony in 1951 and 1952, respectively, Mâche continued his studies in 1960 with Olivier Messiaen at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique in Paris. In addition, Mâche earned a diploma in Greek archaeology and a teaching certificate from the École normale supérieure de la Rue d’Ulm in 1959. Presently, François-Bernard Mâche is an active member of the Académie des beaux arts, occupying a chair left by Iannis Xennakis since 2002. Mâche continues to be an active writer and composer.
The mainstay of François-Bernard Mâche”s oeuvre during the late 1950s was a preoccupation with the development of working principles specific to electro-acoustic composition. His conception, though similar to those held by members of the Groupe de Recherches Musicales de Radio France, however, focused more on the confrontation of the “musical object” with other, frequently extra-musical and linguistic, models of composition. Like Messiaen before him, Mâche periodically incorporates elements of birdsong into his compositions, though his treatment and analysis of this material differs from those of his predecessor. Mâche”s intention in exploring birdsong is less angled towards imitation, and more towards cultivating his personal musical language and discovering potential for sound phenomena.
A complete list of works by François-Bernard Mâche is available here.
Published sources:
M. Faure: “Dans le laboratoire de la musique concrète”, Lettres nouvelles (17 June 1959).
M. Cadieu: “Entretien avec François-Bernard Mâche”, Lettres françaises (1968).
G.J. Faccarello: “François-Bernard Mâche: la musique est une fonction biologique”, Nouvelles littéraires (3 July 1972) .
“Musique présente”, Revue d”esthétique (1984).
P. Roudier: “L”illusion retrouvée”, Silences, iv (1987), 181–90 [interview].
Cahiers du CIREM, nos.22–3 (1991–2).
Published sources by Mâche
Books
Mâche, François-Bernard. Music, myth, and nature, or the Dolphins of Arion. Philadelphia: Harwood Academic Publishers, 1992.
Mâche, François-Bernard. Music, society and imagination in contemporary France. Switzerland: Harwood Academic Publishers, 1993.
Mâche, François-Bernard and Bruno Serrou. François-Bernard Mâche: de la musique, des languages, et des oiseaux: entretien. Paris: M. de Maule, 2007.
Mâche, François-Bernard. Entre l”observatoire et l”atelier (Paris, 1998) [collection of essays].
Mâche, François-Bernard. Quarante ans de musique, et toujours contemporaine (forthcoming) [collection of essays].
Periodicals
Mâche, François-Bernard. “Le son et la musique”, Mercure de France, cccxlix (1963), 582–98.
Mâche, François-Bernard. “Langage et musique”, Nouvelle revue française, no.196 (1969), 586–94.
Mâche, François-Bernard. “Méthodes linguistiques et musicologie”, Musique en jeu, no.5 (1971), 75–91.
Mâche, François-Bernard. “Dialogue entre Gilbert Amy et F.-B. Mâche”, Nouvelle revue française, no.229 (1972), 111–19.
Mâche, François-Bernard. “Entretien avec Luc Ferrari”, Nouvelle revue française, no.232 (1972), 112–16.
Mâche, François-Bernard. “Xenakis et la nature”, L’arc, no.51 (1972), 50–55.
Mâche, François-Bernard. “La création musicale aujourd’hui”, Cultures, i/1 (1973), 107–117.
Mâche, François-Bernard. “Les mal entendus: compositeurs des années 70”, ReM, nos.314–15 (1978) [whole issue].
Mâche, François-Bernard, and C. Poché. La voix, maintenant et ailleurs, La voix, Centre Pompidou, Feb 1985 [exhibition catalogue].
Mâche, François-Bernard. “Varèse, vingt ans après”, ReM, nos.383–5 (1985) [whole issue].
Web Resources:
Living composers: François-Bernard Mâche biography on 'Living Composers.'
Wikipedia article ‘François-Bernard Mâche.’
Naxos Music library: François-Bernard Mâche (limited access website).
New York Times: François-Bernard Mâche filmography.
Internet Movie Database: François-Bernard Mâche filmography.
Phénix by François-Bernard Mâche on YouTube.
Discogs: François-Bernard Mâche discography.