Arthur Honegger

Arthur Honegger (1892-1955), Swiss composer, who lived most of his life in France, one of the most important composers of the early 20th century in that country. Some of his works show the influence of Impressionism, but he gradually evolved a personal idiom characterized by dissonance, strong rhythms, and an emphasis on counterpoint.

Honegger was born on March 10, 1892, in Le Havre to Swiss parents. He studied first at the Zurich Conservatory and then at the Paris Conservatoire under the French composers Charles Marie Widor and Vincent d'Indy. During the 1920s he became a member of Les Six. At this time, like his peers, Honegger rejected the Impressionism and Romanticism of the previous decades, but as his style evolved his more mature works began to reflect the influence of Claude Debussy, Igor Stravinsky, and 19th-century symphonic orchestration. He also studied the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, fascinated by his contrapuntal writing, and gradually developed a more personal style that was increasingly characterized by chromaticism and polytonality, as seen in his third, fourth, and fifth symphonies (Symphonie liturgique, 1945-1946; Deliciae Basilienses, 1946; and Di tre re, 1950).

A number of Honegger’s orchestral compositions, such as Pacific 231 (1923), a musical evocation of a steam engine for a film score, and Rugby (1928), take modernity as their theme. Among his vocal works, his oratorios include Le Roi David (1925), Cris du monde (1931), Amphion (1931, words by Paul Valéry), and Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher (1935, text by Paul Claudel). He wrote a number of operas, of which Judith (1925) is the best known, and nine ballets. For smaller ensembles, Honegger composed chamber music, instrumental sonatas, and songs based on texts by such contemporary poets as Guillaume Apollinaire and Jean Cocteau. In addition, he wrote music for films, notably scores for the 1927 silent film Napoléon, directed by Abel Gance, and Les Misérables (1934, Raymond Bernard). He died on November 27, 1955.