REFLECTIONS ON FORM: AN INTERVIEW WITH PASCAL DUSAPIN

Abstract

Composer Pascal Dusapin has crafted an intriguing and idiosyncratic musical style that is both expressive and rigorously formal. Born in 1955 in Nancy, France, he studied piano and organ in his youth and later Plastic Arts and Sciences, Arts, and Aesthetic at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, notably under composer Iannis Xenakis. From 1981 to 1983, he held a resident scholarship from the Villa Medici in Rome. Among the numerous accolades Dusapin has received are the Cino del Duca Prize in 2005 and the Dan David Prize in 2007. The Collège de France conferred upon him a professorship to hold the Chair of Artistic Creation from 2006 to 2007. He is a Commander of the French Order of Arts and Letters. His body of work includes extensive explorations of solo, chamber, orchestral, and operatic forces. What follows is an edited translation of an interview I made with Dusapin in his studio in Paris on 9 July 2016.