Georges Martin Witkowski

Georges Martin Witkowski (6 January 1867 – 12 August 1943) was a French conductor and composer.

Portrait of Georges Martin Witkowski with his wife

Career

Born in Mostaganem, French Algeria, Witkowski started out in the army, becoming a cavalry officer and meeting Louis Vierne during that time.[1] He later studied with Vincent d'Indy at the Schola Cantorum of Paris and, after settling in Lyon, was appointed director of the conservatory there in 1924.[2]

He founded the "Société des Grands Concerts" in Lyon, forerunner of the Orchestre National de Lyon, which organized hundreds of concerts and introduced to the public the works of French composers such as Pierre de Bréville, Jacques Ibert, Paul Le Flem, André Caplet, Albert Roussel, Francis Poulenc, Jean Roger-Ducasse, Henri Rabaud, Pierre-Octave Ferroud and Adrien Rougier, as well as works by foreign composers such as Igor Stravinsky, Isaac Albéniz, Sergei Prokofiev, Arthur Honegger, Ottorino Respighi, Alexandre Glazounov, etc.

His son was the conductor and cellist Jean Witkowski.[3][4]

Witkowski died in Lyon.

The list of Georges Martin Witkowski's compositions includes two symphonies and three operas among other works.[3]

References

1. Smith, p. 307.
2. Smith, p. 306.
3. Biography at Schola Witkowski site.
4. Jean Witkowski succeeded Georges Martin as director of the conservatory, is mentioned by Poulenc and Messiaen in their correspondence, and was the dedicatee of Robert Casadesus' cello sonata, Op. 22 of 1935-6 – see "Description of Casadesus Cello Sonata" (in French). Retrieved 2009-01-07.

External links

• Free scores by Georges Martin Witkowski at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
• "Biography of Witkowski at the Schola Witkowski" (in French). Archived from the original on 2008-10-20. Retrieved 2009-01-07.

Bibliography

• Rollin Smith: Louis Vierne: Organist of Notre-Dame Cathedral at Google Books (Pendragon Press, 1999), ISBN 1-57647-004-0.