Ansermet, Ernest

Ansermet, Ernest

(ĕrnĕst` äNsĕrmĕ`), 1883–1969, Swiss conductor. For several years he was a high-school mathematics teacher. He began his conducting career in Germany and toured with Diaghilev's Ballets Russes from 1915 to 1923. In 1918 he founded the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Geneva and remained its director until 1967. Ansermet was noted for his interpretations of modern French and Russian music, especially Debussy and Stravinsky, and made many concert tours. He also composed several short pieces.

Ansermet, Ernest

 

Born Nov. 11, 1883, in Vevey; died Feb. 20, 1969, in Geneva. Swiss conductor.

Ansermet studied in Lausanne, Paris, and Geneva. Beginning in 1912 he was a conductor in Montreux and from 1915 to 1918 in Geneva, where he organized the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, one of the best orchestras in Europe. Ansermet was well known as a promoter of modern music, especially the works of I. F. Stravinsky. During the years 1915–23 he was musical director of S. Diaghilev’s Russian Ballet. Ansermet went on tour throughout Europe, America, and the USSR (for the first time in 1928). He was the composer of symphonic and chamber works as well as the author of works about music.

WORKS

Débat sur l’art contemporain. Paris, 1948.
Entretiens sur la musique. Neuchâtel, 1963.
Les fondements de la musique dans la conscience humaine, 2nd ed., vols. 1–2. Neuchâtel, 1965.