Musicatlas
Music
"The work of Louis-Noël Belaubre ranks amongst the most important in the second half of the 20th century..."
Marc Honegger, vice-president (1982-92) of International Musicology Society.
Works for piano constitute a large part of Louis-Noël Belaubre’s opus, of which the clarity of the melodic line is the foremost quality. Obvious although unpredictable, it often reigns supreme with the tempi dictated by it. The free nature of his soaring lyrical outbursts is confirmed by a variable and often irregular metre.
This taste for irregular rhythms derives from his knowledge of popular music, particularly that of central Europe, thanks to the influence of Bartok. For Louis-Noël Belaubre, no single musical parameter can be taken into account in isolation, therefore complete control over the way the sounds are organised vertically remains essential for him, absolutely nothing can or should be left to chance. The harmonic series follow a highly original logic but are always based on affinities and attractions between sounds; this gives music of a tonal nature, where dissonance takes on its real dynamic and expressive value, music that is constantly changing, ambiguous, always unpredictable. By his deliberate refusal of any system, his choice of an empirical process for his compositions, and the constant references to the realities of musical perception, Louis-Noël Belaubre has developed a musical language that respects the auditive awareness of the listener and even invokes its active participation. The presence of certain "landmarks" means that musical time is understood by the memory moving backwards and forwards in real time.
Life
Belaubre, Louis-Noël was born in Muret in 1932. He spent his childood in Languedoc. Then, he joined the Paris Conservatoire of Music where he studied the piano under Lazarre Lévy and composition under Tony Aubin.
He worked as a soloist for the ORTF and various radios - among others in Germany - , and won a prize at the International Competition of Piano Viotto of Munich.
As for composition, he was awarded the Geneva Prize of Ballet Music in 1965 for his three - act ballet entitled "L’Ecole des pickpockets". On its first performance, the ballet was conducted by Ernest Ansermet and then, in 1968, it was played again during the Ballet Festival at the "Théâtre des Champs-Elysées" in Paris.
Moreover, he was awarded the Prize of Chamber Music for his Sonate no. 3 for piano at the Competition of Musical Competition in Monaco.
Finally, in 1971, he won the First Prize of Composition at the Stroud Competition in England for "Le Tombeau de Louisa Paulin", a mezzo-soprano and instrumental ensemble.
After working as a lecturer at the National Music Conservatoire in Saint-Maur, he was at the head of the Music Conservatoire of Chevilly. He also ran the Music Conservatoire of Grasse.
Louis-Noël Belaubre has made many records, particularly with the flutist, Alain Marion and the clarinettist, Michel Lethiec as well as the cellist, Charles Reneau.
Many of his works were recorded among which "Les Romances du Gai Savoir", "Le Tombeau de Louisa Paulin", "L’Ode à Jean de La Fontaine", his Second Concerto for Piano, his Sonate for Cello...
In 1980, Louis-Noël Belaubre obtained the Prize of Composition Chevillon-Bonnaud de la Fondation de France as a reward for his entire works for piano.