HERSANT Philippe

Widely recognized in the musical world, Philippe Hersant has been awarded numerous distinctions: the Grand Prix musical de la Ville de Paris, the Grand Prix SACEM de la musique symphonique, the Grand Prix de la Fondation Del Duca, the Grand Prix Lycéen des Compositeurs, the Prix Musique awarded by the SACD, and three Victoires de la Musique Classique…

Compositions

Biography

Philippe Hersant was born in Rome in 1948. He currently lives and works in Paris.
Following his musical studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, where he studied composition with André Jolivet, he was offered a scholarship grant to study at the Casa Velasquez from 1970 to 1972 and then at the Villa Medici from 1978 to 1980.
“Philippe Hersant always comes back to the question of memory, both near and distant, veiled, a repeated and almost obsessive memory (…) For him, music is developed using sound images but also mental images and even musical images, more specifically quotes. He willingly affords his musical ideas semantic value, either because they function with a text, or because they are musical works for stage or film. In all these situations of privileged interaction with other arts, Philippe Hersant strives towards a power of evocation which he is remarkably capable of creating from simply pure music.” (Béatrice Ramaut-Chevassus)
His catalogue contains more than a hundred and fifty works written for a wide variety of ensembles: choir, orchestra, solo instrumental music, chamber music, operas – Le Château des Carpathes (commissioned by Radio France), Le Moine noir (commissioned by the Leipzig Opera), and ballet music for the Paris Opera, Wuthering Heights, Vêpres de la Vierge commissioned by Notre-Dame de Paris, a choral opera, Tristia, commissioned by Teodor Currentzis and Perm Opera in Russia, not forgetting that he was the featured guest of the festival Présences (Radio France) in 2004.
More recently, Philippe Hersant unveiled his new opera Les Éclairs (on a libretto by Jean Echenoz), at the Opéra-Comique in November 2021.
Widely recognized in the musical world, he has been awarded numerous distinctions: the Grand Prix musical de la Ville de Paris, the Grand Prix SACEM de la musique symphonique, the Grand Prix de la Fondation Del Duca, the Grand Prix Lycéen des Compositeurs, the Prix Musique awarded by the SACD, and three Victoires de la Musique Classique…

News

No news available

Events

27

Nov

2024

Philippe Hersant

Word premiere Cansos (concerto for violin & orchestra) Le Foirail, Pau – 9pm Orchestre de Pau-Pays-de-BéarnLiya Petrova – violinFayçal Karoui – conductor other performances 28/11 Le Parvis, Tarbes – 8:30pm […]

05

Oct

2024

Philippe Hersant

Word premiere de Sarabande (for cello) Mission San Antonio de Padua,Californie (USA) – 7pm Jennifer Kloetzel – cello Read more

26

Jul

2024

Philippe Hersant

Da Pacem (pour for 10 mixed voices)) Abbaye de Lessay, 9 pmThe Tallis ScholarsPeter Phillips – conductor read more

25

Jul

2024

Philippe Hersant

Word premiere Da Pacem (for 10 mixed voices) Cathédrale Saint-Vincent, Saint-Malo- 9pmThe Tallis ScholarsPeter Phillips – conductor read more

29

Jun

2024

Philippe Hersant

Santo (for 12 mixed voices & bells) Ensemble Musicatreize, conducted by Roland Hayrabedian Sillans-la-Cascade. Festival Chants libres En savoir plus