Serge Collot facts for kids
Serge Collot (born December 27, 1923 – died August 11, 2015) was a famous French violist and a great music educator. A violist is a musician who plays the viola, an instrument that looks like a violin but is a bit bigger and has a deeper sound.
About His Life
Serge Collot was born in Paris, France. He loved music from a young age. He studied the viola at a very famous music school called the Conservatoire de Paris. His teachers were some of the best musicians of his time. He learned viola from Maurice Vieux, chamber music (music played by a small group) from Joseph Calvet, and how to create music (called composition) from Maurice Hewitt and Arthur Honegger. He was so good that he won top awards, called first prizes, for viola in 1944 and for chamber music in 1949.
Serge Collot played in several well-known music groups. He was a member of the Parrenin Quartet, the Radiodiffusion Française String Quartet, and the Bernède Quartet. In 1960, he started his own group called Le Trio à Cordes Français. He played with violinist Gérard Jarry and cellist Michel Tournus. This trio played together for a very long time, 32 years! From 1957 to 1986, he was the main viola player (called Principal Violist) for the Orchestra of the Paris Opera. This is a very important job in a famous orchestra.
Collot also loved to teach. He was a Professor of Viola at the Conservatoire de Paris for twenty years, from 1969 to 1989. Many of today's best violists were his students. Some of them include Pierre-Henri Xuereb, Jean Sulem (who took over his teaching job in 1989), Émile Cantor, Jacques Borsarello, Laurent Verney, and Jean-Paul Minali Bella.
He was a big supporter of new music, especially music written in his own time (called contemporary music). He performed in concerts for a group called Pierre Boulez's Domaine Musical until 1970. Many composers were inspired by him and wrote music especially for the viola because of him. Two famous pieces include Quatre Duos for viola and piano by Betsy Jolas and, most notably, the challenging Sequenza VI for solo viola by Luciano Berio. Serge Collot traveled all over the world to perform and give talks about music. He also helped judge music competitions, including big ones in Geneva and Munich.
In 1989, Serge Collot was given a very high honor in France called Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur. His life and work were even featured in a documentary film in 2002, called L'ouvrage de Serge Collot.
He played a special viola made in 1741 by a craftsman named David Tecchler. This viola was once owned and played by another famous violist, Théophile Laforge. Serge Collot passed away at the age of 91 in Gerzat on August 11, 2015.
His Recordings
Serge Collot made many recordings, showing his amazing talent on the viola. Here are some examples of the music he recorded:
- He recorded an album called Art of the Viola which included pieces by composers like Robert Schumann, Mikhail Glinka, Claude Debussy, and Darius Milhaud.
- Another album, Contemporary Viola, featured modern pieces such as Sequenza VI by Luciano Berio, 5 Églogues by André Jolivet, and a sonata by Paul Hindemith.
- He also recorded specific works like Betsy Jolas's Points d'aube and André Jolivet's 5 églogues.
- He recorded more of Robert Schumann's music, including Märchenbilder and Märchenerzählungen.
He also played in chamber music recordings with other musicians, including:
- The String Quartet by Jacques Ibert with the Parrenin Quartet.
- Pieces by Shin'ichirō Ikebe and Teizo Matsumura.
- String Quartet and String Quintet pieces by Georges Onslow.
