Alfred Desenclos


Alfred Desenclos was a French composer of classical music. Desenclos was a self-described "romantic" whose music is highly expressive and atmospheric and rooted in rigorous compositional technique.
To support his large family, Desenclos had to renounce continuing his general studies and work as an industrial designer in the textile industry until the age of 20, but in 1929, he entered the Conservatory in Roubaix, France, to study piano. Until that time, he had played only as an amateur. He was admitted to the Conservatoire de Paris in 1932, where he won prizes in fugue, harmony, composition and accompaniment, supporting himself by fulfilling the role of 'maître de chapelle' at the church of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, in the 9th arrondissement of Paris.
His sacred music belongs to the tradition begun by Saint-Saëns and continued by Fauré. He won the Prix de Rome in 1942, the year in which he co-wrote the music to the film The Blue Veil.
Desenclos was the director of his alma mater, the Conservatoire de Roubaix, from 1943 to 1950 and taught harmony at the Conservatoire de Paris from 1967 to his death at the age of 59.
Desenclos's Messe de requiem was written in 1963 and published by Durand et Fils in 1967. In 1999, the piece was reprinted under the name of Atlanta-based composer Tristan Foison. Foison's mass was given its "American premiere" on 18 May 1999 in a performance by the Capitol Hill Chorale; soon after, the piece was discovered to be a note-for-note duplicate of Desenclos's.
The oeuvre of Alfred Desenclos, most of which was little-known outside the world of liturgic music during his lifetime, has enjoyed a strong revival in the concert hall and the recording studio over the last two decades, his 'Quatuor de saxophones' in particular establishing itself in the 20th century chamber music repertoire.
Alfred Desenclos's son Frédéric Desenclos is an award-winning instrumentist who has performed internationally and currently is the organist at the Chapelle Royale of the Palace of Versailles.

Selected filmography