Emmanuel Séjourné
Biography
Emmanuel Séjourné (b. 16 July 1961, Limoges, France) is a French composer and percussionist
After studying classical piano, violin, music history, acoustics and musical analysis at the Conservatoire de Strasbourg, Séjourné continued his education there, and in 1976 entered the percussion class of Jean Batigne, founder director of Les Percussions de Strasbourg. Under his guidance, Séjourné became interested in contemporary and improvised music. He won first prize (médaille d'or) in percussion in 1980, and then specialized in mallet percussion. He is head of percussion at the Conservatoire de Strasbourg.
Séjourné began to compose around the time he became a faculty member at the conservatory, and focused increasingly on it while continuing to perform and teach. His music is influenced by Western classical music and by popular music (rock, jazz, extra-European music). In his works, Séjourné varies the ensembles, composing for orchestras, chamber ensembles and soloists. His music is eclectic. His compositions include incidental music and musicals, as well as dance and film music. He also works as a composer for France Culture, German television networks ARD and ZDF and the Franco-German cultural television channel ARTE.
He wrote Planet Claviers (1998) for the ensemble Percussions Claviers de Lyon on a commission from Grame Festival. The work was performed more than 120 times between 1998 and 2001. In 2001, returning to his preference for a mixture of forms of expression, he composed Famim, a piece combining improvised, contemporary and popular music, commissioned and premiered by the jazz pianist Michael Borstslap and the Amsterdam Percussion Group.
Séjourné composed concertos for percussion and orchestra, two of which attracted international attention: Concerto for Vibraphone and String Orchestra, composed in 1999 and The Concerto for Marimba and String Orchestra (2006).
Works for Winds
- Avez vous du feu?
- ConCerto con Fuoco (arr. Sauvageot) (2015)
- Concerto for Marimba and Wind Orchestra (arr. Gudefin) (2005)
- Double Concerto for Marimba and Vibraphone (arr. Gudefin) (2012/2017)
Resources
- Emmanuel Séjourné website Accessed 2 August 2017
- Emmanuel Séjourné, Wikipedia Accessed 2 August 2017