Michael JARRELL
Born in 1958
Biography
Born in Geneva in 1958, Michael Jarrell studied composition at the Geneva Conservatory with Eric Gaudibert and at various workshops in the United States (Tanglewood, 1979). He completed his training with Klaus Huber at the Freiburg Staatliche Hochschule für Musik im Brisgau. Starting in 1982, his works have received numerous prizes: prix Acanthes (1983), Beethovenpreis from the city of Bonn (1986), Marescotti prize (1986), Gaudeamus (1988), Henriette Renié (1988), and Siemens-Förderungspreis (1990). Between 1986 and 1988, he was in residence at the Cité des Arts in Paris and took part in the computer music course at Ircam. He resided at the Villa Médicis in Rome during 1988/89, and then joined the Istituto Svizzero di Roma in 1989/90. From October 1991 to June 1993, he was composer in residence with the Lyon Orchestra. Beginning in 1993, he became professor of composition at the University in Vienna. In 1996, he was "composer in residence" at the Lucerne festival, and then was heralded by the Musica Nova Helsinki Festival, which dedicated the festival to him in 2000. In 2001, the Salzburg Festival commissioned a concerto for piano and orchestra entitled Abschied. The same year, he was named "Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres". In 2004, he was named professor of composition at the Geneva Conservatory. His opera Galilei, after the La Vie de Galilée by Brecht, commissioned by the Grand Théâtre in Geneva, was premiered in January 2006.
Concertante style continues to inspire him: ...un temps de silence... was premiered in Geneva in March 2007 by Emmanuel Pahud with the Orchestra of the Suisse Romande conducted by Heinz Holliger. Nachlese III, a double concerto pour clarinet, cello and orchestra was premiered in Cologne (commissioned by the WDR, Fall 2007). Orchestre of the Suisse Romande gives in the premiere of 2009 Le Ciel, tout à l'heure encore si limpide, soudain se trouble horriblement (Marek Janowski, conductor).
The chamber opera Cassandre, premiered in 1994 at the Châtelet theatre in Paris, pursues an international career with translations in German, English, Spanish, Finnish, Russian...
Solo works
Assonance (1983)
for clarinet
Assonance II (1989)
for bass clarinet
Assonance IVb (2009)
for horn
Assonance VII (1992)
for percussion
...mais les images restent... (2003)
for piano
Offrande (2001)
for harp
Prisme (2001)
for violin
...some leaves... (1999)
for cello
...some leaves II... (1998)
for viola
Chamber music
Assonance III (1989)
for bass clarinet, cello and piano
Assonance VIII (1999)
for bass flute (amplified) and 4 percussions
Aus Bebung (1995)
for clarinet and cello
Incipit (2001)
for 6 percussions
...Nachlese... II (2007)
for violin and cello
Zeitfragmente (1998)
for string quartet
Ensemble music
Abschied II (2004)
for piano and ensemble
Assonance VI (1991)
for octet
...chaque jour n'est qu'une trêve entre deux nuits...
...chaque nuit n'est qu'une trêve entre deux jours...
Assonance V (1990)
for cello and 4 ensembles
Bebung (1995)
for clarinet, cello and ensemble
Essaims-Cribles (1986/88)
chamber ballet for bass clarinet and ensemble
Modifications (1987)
for piano and six instruments
Music for a While (1995)
for ensemble
Paysages avec figures absentes - Nachlese IV (2009)
for violin and ensemble
...prisme / incidences II... (2002)
for violin and ensemble
Résurgences (1996)
for saxophone and ensemble
Staub - Assonance IIIb (2009)
for 7 instruments and video
Works with electronics
Assonance IV (1990)
for alto, tuba and electronic system
Congruences (1988/1989)
for midi flute, oboe, ensemble and electronic
Droben Schmettert ein greller stein (2001)
for doublebass, ensemble and electronic
...more leaves... (2000)
for viola, 5 instruments and electronic
Rhizomes (Assonance VII B) (1993)
for 2 pianos, 2 percussions and electronic
Vocal or choral works
Aber der wissende (1981)
for soprano and marimba
...car le pensé et l'être sont une même chose... (2002)
for 6 solo voices
Cassandre (1993/94)
for actress, ensemble and electronic
Cassandre (English Version, 2006)
for actress, ensemble and electronic
Cassandre (Italian Version, 2005)
for actress, ensemble and electronic
Cassandre (Spanish Version, 2009)
for actress, ensemble and electronic
...denn alles muss in Nichts zerfallen... (2005)
for actor, chorus and ensemble
Denn dasselbe ist Erkennen und Sein (1999)
for 6 voices and ensemble
"...d'ombres lointaines..." (1989/90)
for soprano and large orchestra
Eco (1986)
for soprano and piano
Eco II (1988-89)
for soprano and ensemble
Eco IIb (1994)
for soprano and ensemble
Eco III (1994)
for soprano and harp
Formes-Fragments (1987)
for 6 voices, brass instruments and percussions
Galilei (2005)
opera for 13 solo voices, chorus and orchestra
Kassandra (1996)
german version of Cassandre
Mémoires (1996)
for chorus and ensemble
...Nachlese... (2007)
for soprano and string quartet
Trace-Ecart (1984)
for soprano, contralto and ensemble
Trei II (1982/83)
for soprano and 5 instruments
Wolken (1996)
for voice and percussion
Works for orchestra
Abschied (2001)
for piano and orchestre
Conversions (1988)
for harp and string orchestra
Etudes de Debussy (3) (orchestration, 1992)
for orchestra
From the Leaves of Shadow (1991)
for viola and orchestra
Instantanés (1985/86)
for large orchestra
...Le ciel, tout à l'heure encore si limpide, soudain se trouble horriblement... (2009)
for orchestra
...Nachlese... III - Es Bleibet eine zitternde Bebung... (2007)
for clarinet, cello and orchestra
...prisme / incidences... (1998)
for violin and orchestra
Sillages (2005)
for flute, oboe, clarinet and orchestra
Sillages (2nd movement) (2009)
for flute, oboe, clarinet and orchestra
Un long fracas somptueux de rapide céleste... (1998/2001)
for percussion and orchestra
...Un temps de silence... (2007)
concerto for flute and orchestra
Discography
Cassandre
Astrid Bas (actress)
Ensemble intercontemporain
Susanna Mälkki (conductor)
1 CD Kairos, collection "Sirènes"
Eco
Assonance III - Eco IIb - Aus bebung - Trei II -
Essaims-cribles
Ensemble Accroche Note
Jean-Philippe Wurtz
1 CD Accord
Chaque jour n'est qu'une trêve entre deux nuits
Rhizomes - Assonance IV - Congruence
Ensemble Intercontemporain
P. Eötvös
1 CD Accord 465 309-2
Music for a While
Music for a While - Formes-Fragments IIb - ...car le pensé et l'être sont une même chose - Essaims-Cribles
Ensemble Klangforum Wien
Neue vocalsolisten Struttgart
Ernesto Molinari
Emilio Pomarico
1 CD aeon AECD 0531
...prisme / incidences...
Grand Prix de l'Académie Charles Cros 2007
...prisme / incidences... - Sillages - Trois Etudes de Debussy - Abschied
Emmanuel Pahud* (flute)
Paul Meyer (clarinet)
François Leleux (oboe)
Hae-Sun Kang (violin)
Marino Formenti (piano)
Pascal Rophé (conductor)
* EMI Classics
1 CD aeon AECD 0752
Solos
...some leaves II... - Offrande - Assonance - Assonance VII - Prismes
Ch. Desjardins
F. Cambreling
P. Meyer
F. Jodelet
H.-S. Kang
1 CD aeon AECD 0101
Trei II - Modifications - Eco - Trace-Ecart
Ensemble Contrechamps
G. Bernasconi
1 CD Accord 461 764-2
Bibliography
Christoph Steiner
Un certain frémissement bleu.
"Assonance V" de Michael Jarrell, in
Au carrefour des mondes.
Komponieren in der Schweiz
Edition dissonance 1.1, Saarbrücken (Pfau) 2008,
pp 252-262
Antoine Pecqueur
Galilée de Michael Jarrell
Revue Musicale de Suisse Romande
n°59-1,
mars 2006, 64 pages
Michael Jarrell
L'orchestration comme art de mentir
à propos des Trois Etudes de Debussy
Peter Szendy, Arrangements-Dérangements,
Editions Cahiers de l'Ircam / L'Harmattan
Paris, 2000, 144 pages, pp. 105-116
Musique pour une fin de siècle
Entretiens avec 20 compositeurs
Jean-Pierre Amann
Yverdon-les-Bains, Revue Musicale de Suisse Romande, 1994
Michael Jarrell
Les Cahiers de l'Ircam
collection "Compositeurs d'aujourd'hui"
Editions Ircam-Centre Georges-Pompidou, Paris, 1992