Georges Kan


Georges Kan is a French musicologist, music publisher and composer.

Biography

Born in Enghien-les-Bains, Kan studied music at the Limoges Conservatory, then at the Rubin Academy of Tel-Aviv-Jaffa, in Walter Aufhauser's piano class.

Activity as publisher

Kan is the founder of the "Éditions musicales européennes" – EME which have published nearly 500 works in fifteen years of activity, including the works of composers of the new generation such as Bernard Cavanna, Thierry Pécou, François Narboni, Paul Méfano, Alain Louvier, Johannes Schöllhorn, Alberto Posadas, Philippe Schoeller, José-Luis Campana, and Aureliano Cattaneo, — and those of composers of the beginning of the 20th century, including André Gedalge and Jacques de La Presle.
Through his intense editorial activity and close ties with composers, Kan is the dedicatee of several musical works: Gennevilliers Symphony by Bernard Cavanna, Clouds and Sky by Johannes Schöllhorn, Cripsis by Alberto Posadas, La Noia by François Narboni, Zéphyr by Suzanne Giraud, Sopherim by Philippe Schœller, Bing by Gérard Zinsstag.

Musicological and artistic activities

In 2008, impressed by the quality of the publications of the Artaria publishing house in Vienna, he embarked on a pre-romantic reconstitution of Beethoven's Piano sonatas. He published a research on the opus 2 and opus 7.
In particular, he proposes a link between Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 22 and the Battle of Valmy.
His recent research on Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier directs him towards a new analysis of the cover page graphics of the manuscript leading to a possible link to the Book of Genesis.
Kan is also the author/translator of musical notices and the composer of educational works.
His Concerto pour piano premiered in 1989 at the Salle Cortot by Martine Vialatte and the Ensemble orchestral d'Île-de-France Bruno de Saint-Maurice conducting, has been available on CD since 2015.
In 1999, he also launched a manifesto, with the support of 250 artists, on the programming of France Musique, expressing concern about the development of this radio station: Pierre Bouteiller, then director of this radio station, stayed the course and replied that the station could not be confiscated by specialists, musicologists and academics, and that the idea was to make this musical programme available to a wide audience.