A French composer born in 1916 in Angers, Henri Dutilleux enrolled in the Conservatoire de Paris in 1933, studying counterpoint and fugue with Noël Gallon, orchestra conducting with Philippe Gaubert, composition with Henri Busser, and music history with Maurice Emmanuel. He graduated with highest honors in harmony, counterpoint, and fugue, and received the Grand Prix de Rome in 1938 with his cantata L’anneau du Roi.

During this period he studied Vincent d’Indy’s treatise on music and discovered Stravinsky, Bartók, and serialism, but always remained at the margins of these different aesthetic worlds. In 1942 he was appointed as choir conductor of the Paris Opera, and in 1945 became head of musical illustrations for Radio France, a position he held until 1963. This highly enriching experience allowed him to rub shoulders with all artistic movements.

Dutilleux was internationally renowned both as a composer and as a teacher. His teaching work was extensive: he became a composition professor at the École Normale Supérieure in 1961, then at the Conservatoire supérieur de Paris from 1970 to 1984. He was also invited abroad as a guest professor and lecturer on numerous occasions; twice, in 1995 and in 1998, he held a residency at the Tanglewood Music Center.

Henri Dutilleux became an associate member of the Belgian Royal Academy in 1973, an honorary member of the Royal Academy of London in 1966, was named to the UNESCO International Music Council, the American Academy and the Institute of Arts and Letters of New York in 1981, was appointed to the Accademia Nazionale Santa Cecilia in Rome in 1993, and became a member of the Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste in Munich in 1998.

Dutilleux’s first compositions premiered during the Second World War: Quatre mélodies for voice and piano in 1943, Geôle for voice and orchestra in 1944. Roger Désormière and the Orchestre National premiered Dutilleux’s first symphony in 1951 and the Compagnie Roland Petit premiered his first ballet, Le Loup, in 1953. In Boston, Charles Münch premiered his Second Symphony in 1959 and his Métaboles in 1965; the latter is one of his most frequently performed works. His string quartet Ainsi la nuit (1977) was also exceptionally successful. He wrote pieces for his wife, the pianist Geneviève Joy, as well as for many other renowned performers; for example, his concerto for cello and orchestra, Tout un monde lointain (1970), was a commission from Mislav Rostropovitch. In 2002, he composed Sur un même accord for violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, and in 2003 composed Correspondances for soprano Dawn Upshaw.

Over the course of his lifetime, Henri Dutilleux received many awards and honors. In 1967 he was awarded the Grand Prix National de Musique for his entire oeuvre; and in 1983 the Grand Prix International du Disque by the Montreux Music Festival. In 1987, he received first prize in the Maurice Ravel International Composition Competition as well as the International Music Council Prize. In 1994, he was awarded the Praemium Imperiale of Japan for his entire oeuvre. For his composition The Shadows of Time he was awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society Award in 1998 and the Prix de Cannes in 1999. That same year he won the Grand Prize of the Presse Musicale Internationale. In 2005, he was awarded the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize.