ASSOCIATION IVAN WYSCHNEGRADSKY
106, Boulevard Lefèvre
93600 Aulnay-sous-Bois, France
+33 (0)6 87 76 63 56
ivanwyschnegradsky@gmail.com
For joining the Association or renewing your support, please download the form below:
Membership form
Members of the Board:
Martine Joste, President
Dominique Ciot, Vice-President
Fernand Vandenbogaerde, Treasurer
Roman Soufflet, Secretary general
Nathalie Forget, Deputy General Secretary
The vocation of the Association Ivan Wyschnegradsky, founded in 1983, is to make known the work and thinking of this composer, recognized by the musical world as one of the pioneers of 20th-century music. It was presided by Claude Ballif (inset photo, with Ivan Wyschnegradsky) from its founding until 2002, and then by Martine Joste until 2019. Since that date, Marie Chartus-Vicheney, Ivan Wyschnegradsky’s grand-daughter, assumes the presidency of the Association.
From its beginnings, the Wyschnegradsky Association has been furthering knowledge of this composer’s music, both in France and abroad, through the literary, phonographic and musical publication of his oeuvre, as well as by its dissemination.
Beginning that first year, it co-produced a double-LP set made in Berlin by Editions René Block, containing a complete Ivan Wyschnegradsky monographic concert, organized in 1977 by Martine Joste, delegate producer at Radio-France for this first official concert of his works. This release includes interviews with the composer carried out by Robert Pfeiffer, which had been broadcast on France-Culture in 1977.
In 1985, in collaboration with IRCAM and with the support of SACEM, the Association organized a monographic concert in the Grande Salle of the Georges Pompidou Centre, accompanied by the ‘Chromatismes et Ultrachromatismes‘ exhibition presenting scores, drawings, studies, photographs and documents on the composer and the instruments he had had built.
On that occasion, the Association published a Premier Cahier Ivan Wyschnegradsky, with the help of the Music Department of the Ministry of Culture and including unpublished texts by the composer as well as original articles by Claude Ballif, Jean-Etienne Marie, Philippe Leroux, Jean-Marc Arrachart, Serge Nigg…
In 1988, we participated in the elaboration of a concert-lecture at Radio-France on the initiative of Alain Bancquart.
In 1989, the tenth anniversary of Ivan Wyschnegradsky’s death was registered among the Célébrations Nationales. In the publication of commemorations, the composer’s work is presented by Bernard Bonaldi, director of the Paris Summer Festival, who programmed a concert with Stéphane Leach and Yves Rault, pianists, playing works by Ivan Wyschnegradsky.
Two years later, we joined with Editions René Block (Berlin) in producing a CD of the complete Quartets and String Trio performed by the Arditti Quartet.
Ivan Wyschnegradsky (1929)
In 1991, the Association was the partner of the Ensemble 2e2m for an ‘Homage to Ivan Wyschnegradsky’ concert at the Georges Pompidou Centre in Paris. This concert resulted in a recording that was going to be the first CD of the 2e2m Collection label, released in 1995, with the support of the Belaïeff Foundation and SACEM.
In 1993, the Wyschnegradsky Association helped the Society for New Music of Prague in organizing a concert that included the first performance of unpublished works by Wyschnegradsky found by the musicologist Martin Smolka in Alois Hába’s archives.
In 1996, it proposed and supported the publication by Editions Contrechamps of Ivan Wyschnegradsky’s treatise La Loi de la Pansonorité, in the 1953 version, supported by the Belaïeff Foundation and SACEM.
From September 1994 to June 2000, it took charge of the complete revision of several scores: the versions for two pianos, eight hands and for chamber orchestra of the Etude sur les mouvements rotatoires, as well as Cosmos for four pianos, for their publication by Editions Belaïeff (Frankfurt).
In 2002, the Col legno label released a monographic CD featuring the Etude sur les mouvements rotatoires for two pianos eight hands and the 24 Preludes for two pianos, recorded in December 2000, in co-production with La Muse en Circuit, the Wyschnegradsky Association and with the support of SACEM, performed by Sylvaine Billier, Gérard Frémy, Martine Joste, Fuminori Tanada, pianos. Conductor: Fernand Vandenbogaerde. Sound recording: Jean-François Pontefract.
In 2009, in co-production with the Association and supported by the Cultural Division of SACEM, the composer’s founding work, La Journée de l’Existence, was released on the Shiiin label. This is the recording of the first performance, given in January 1978, in the composer’s presence, in the framework of the ‘Perspectives du XXème siècle‘ series, by Mario Haniotis, narrator, and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio-France conducted by Alexandre Myrat. The CD is coupled with interviews of the composer by Daniel Charles and Robert Pfeiffer and is accompanied by a large booklet featuring illustrations, notes, biographies and an analysis of the work, as well as the complete poem of La Journée de l’Existence translated into three languages. This release was crowned by 4 stars from Classica in December 2009, a Diapason d’Or (Diapason) in February 2010, and a Coup de cœur of the Académie Charles Cros in March 2010. To salute this event, the Association, in co-production with the Centre de Documentation de la Musique Contemporaine, organized a concert at the Paris Conservatoire in February 2010.
In 2011/2012, the Ivan Wyschnegradsky Association Internet site is created and launched: www.ivan-wyschnegradsky.fr
In september 2013, the score of Méditation sur Deux Thèmes de La Journée de l’Existence op.7 for cello and piano, revised by Association Ivan Wyschnegradsky, is published by Editions JOBERT.
In december 2013, Editions SYMETRIE publish the book Ivan Wyschnegradsky – Libération du son – Ecrits 1916-1979. This 528 page book, released in the Symétrie Recherche collection, series 20-21, is published with the assistance of Centre national du livre, of Fondation Francis et Mica Salabert, of Sacem and of the Ivan Wyschnegradsky Association. It offers a collection of unpublished texts and of reissued articles by Ivan Wyschnegradsky, brought together, presented and annotated by Pascale Criton: unpublished writings from the composer’s youth (1916-1920); articles unpublished in French (1922-1926) the text of which was reconstituted in Russian by Elena Poldiaeva from the originals at Sacher Foundation; Michèle Kahn ensured the translation into French.
In March 2014, the Wyschnegradsky Association, jointly with the Contemporary Music Documentation Centre in Paris (CDMC) organized an International Day of Study and Seminars on the theme Ultrachromatism, between futurism and constructivism. For the event, musicologists came from Germany, Switzerland, Russia and France. This was followed the next morning by a day of masterclasses, symposia and concerts at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris.
In February 2016, the Wyschnegradsky Association organized a great concert in Paris, at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Paris, Marcel Landowski Auditorium. This concert gathered 4 pianos tuned two by two a ¼ tone apart, Ondes Martenot et cello in the following works by Ivan Wyschnegradsky : Ainsi parlait Zarathoustra for 4 pianos, the 4ème Fragment symphonique for Ondes Martenot and 4 pianos and the Méditation sur deux thèmes de la Journée de l’Existence for cello and piano, as well, in first performance, as Racines by Alain Bancquart for 4 pianos and De l’ange by Alain Moëne for 2 pianos tuned a 1/4 tone apart.
The concert was followed by two recording days for Shiiin label.
December 2017: Publication by label Shiiin and with the support of the Francis and Mica Salabert Foundation of the CD with all these works performed by Matthieu Acar, Hiroko Arimoto, Jean-François Ballèvre, Dominique Ciot, Cyrille Guion, Martine Joste, Manon Lonchamp, Emiri Wada, Li Xie, Guanlan Xu, Yoko Yamada, pianos – Cécile Lartigau, ondes Martenot – Noé Natorp, cello. Conductor: Léo Margue. Sound recording: Jean-François Pontefract. Pianos tuning: Pierre Malbos – Artistic direction: Fernand Vandenbogaerde.
March 2018: On the occasion of the CD publication, the Wyschnegradsky Association organized a concert at La Marbrerie in Montreuil-sous-Bois, with a presentation coordinated by Jean-Marc Chouvel and with the participation of Alain Bancquart, Alain Moëne, Pascale Criton, Martine Joste and Stéphane Roux.
The concert had, by Ivan Wyschnegradsky: Intégrations op. 49 n°2 , Transparences op. 35 n°1, Chant Nocturne op. 11, Etude sur les Mouvements rotatoires op. 45a, and also De l’Ange by Alain Moëne and Etude 237 by Alain Bancquart, performed by Matthieu Acar, Jean-François Ballèvre, Dominique Ciot and Martine Joste, pianos, Cécile Lartigau, ondes Martenot, Léo Marillier, violon, conductor Léo Margue.
In 2018, publication by Editions Jobert/Lemoine of Chant douloureux et Etude op. 6 for violin and piano, revision by Léo Marillier, Martine Joste et Solange Ancona.
In 2019, publication by Editions Jobert/Lemoine of Trois pièces pour piano op. 38, revision by Martine Joste and Bruce Mather.
These two publications followed the publication in 2013 of the Méditation sur deux Thèmes de la Journée de l’Existence for cello and piano op. 7.
In 2022, publication by Editions Jobert/Lemoine of Ombres, three little youth pieces for piano. Revision by Martine Joste.
14 march 2019, during the Claude Helffer Festival, concert in Vitry-sur-Seine, with projections and diffusions of interviews by the composer, presented and edited by Alexia Guiomar. The program included, besides the 5 pièces op. 70 by Scriabine for piano solo and De l’Ange by Alain Moëne for 2 pianos, the following works by Ivan Wyschnegradsky: several excerpts from the 24 Préludes op. 22 for 2 pianos, the 2ème Intégration op. 49, the Chant douloureux et Etude op. 6 for violin and piano, the Chant nocturne op. 11 for violin and 2 pianos and the Etude sur les Mouvements rotatoires for 2 pianos 8 hands, with Jean-François Ballèvre, Dominique Ciot, Martine Joste, Léo Margue, Léo Marillier and Fuminori Tanada.
The Ivan Wyschnegradsky Association has been co-producer of numerous other concerts, in Berlin, Graz, Venice, Geneva, Heilbronn, Zurich, Bern, Paris (Centre Pompidou/IRCAM, Radio-France, Festival Estival de Paris), Montreuil, Vitry-sur-Seine, Basel, San Francisco (see details in the page archives). It has also taken charge of distributing copies of a number of unpublished scores and writings for the organization of concerts or research work in France, Germany, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, United Kingdom, Japan, United States, Canada, Brazil, Belgium, Netherlands, Australia, Russia…
Moreover, records, monographic or including works by Wyschnegradsky, have been made in Japan, Canada (an LP as well as four CDs), Switzerland, Germany, Austria, United States, Netherlands, France.
Independently of the Association’s direct participation, but always in close relations with it, several doctoral theses and memories have been written concerning Ivan Wyschnegradsky: by Barbara Barthelmes in German, and by Pascale Criton and Franck Jedrzejewski in French. In Moscow, Elena Poldayeva wrote a book in Russian comprising unpublished texts by Wyschnegradsky, some of them translated from the French, and a rich iconography. Numerous articles on Ivan Wyschnegradsky have appeared in musicological works, in France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Russia, Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Australia, Japan…
Graphic interpretation of the drawing of Jacques Chapiro by Edith Devaissier, © 1985