Philippe Fénelon was born in France in 1952. He began studying piano at the Conservatoire d’Orléans, taught by Claude Ardent and Janine Coste. He continued his studies at the Conservatoire de Paris (CNSMDP), in the composition class of Olivier Messiaen, graduating with highest honors in 1977. Encouraged by André Boucourechliev, Fénelon dedicated his Ballade pour hier (1976) to him. In parallel, he studied at the École nationale des langues orientales vivantes (now INALCO). He won the Jury Prize at the Stockhausen Competition in Bergamo in 1980 and held a residency at the Casa Vélazquez in Madrid from 1981 to 1983.

Fénelon’s fascination with poetry and dramaturgy have been a cornerstone of his aesthetic from the beginning, and his commitment to prioritizing narrative structure in the construction of his musical work can be heard in his earliest compositions, such as Les trois hymnes primitifs (based on poems by Segalen, 1974) or Les chants du héros (based on poems by Rabindranath Tagore, 1975). This led him to create a significant body of vocal compositions, notably operas: his first, Chevalier imaginaire (1984-1986), based on the work of Cervantes and Kafka, premiered in 1992 and was followed by Rois (1988-1989), Salammbô, after Flaubert (1992-1996), Faust (2003-2004), Judith (2006-2007), and then La cerisaie, after Chekov (2008-2009). For the three-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Fénelon composed JJR, citoyen de Genève with a libretto by Ian Burton, which premiered at the Grand Théâtre de Genève in September 2012.

Much of his other work draws on great literary texts, or weaves in forms and references drawn from ancient poetry and music, such as Dix-huit Madrigaux (1996), based on Rilke’s Duino Elegies; In darkness (1998), inspired by Renaissance settings of Lamentations and based on Elizabethan poetry; the Magnificat (2002); Leçons de ténèbres (2003); Deux airs de concert (1999-2006); and Ich lasse dich nicht (2007), inspired by the motet. He has continued to produce vocal compositions including Les fourmis, a “suite philosophique“ for baritone, piano, and drum (2008) and Les portes de Babel for four vocalists and string quartet (2009).

In addition to his vocal compositions, Fénelon has written numerous instrumental pieces. His first instrumental compositions, Lointain for ensemble (1977) and “Du, meine Welt !” (1979) show already the great freedom of his style, melding aleatory sequences and set structure. Maipù 994 and Diagonal in 1983, Onze Inventions for string quartet (1988) and his instrumental cycle Mythologies (1989-1990) all affirm this desire for experimentation. Gloria for large orchestra (2004-2005), a ballet piece for ensemble titled Pasodoble (2006), and compositions for soloists such as Le calme des puissances for piano (2008) or Anima for tenor viola da gamba (2010) are more mature examples of his approach.

Fénelon has won many international awards and honors, including the Prix Georges Wildenstein in 1983, the Prix Hervé Dugardin in 1984, and the Prix Villa Medicis hors les murs in 1991. He was invited to Berlin as a DAAD composer-in-residence in 1988 and received a fellowship from the Fondation Beaumarchais in 1990 for his third opera, Salammbô; in 1992, he was awarded the Prix des nouveaux talents en musique dramatique by the Société des auteurs et compositeurs dramatiques (SACD), which awarded him a second prize in 2004. The Académie des Beaux-Arts awarded him the Prix Rossini in 2006 and the SACEM awarded him the Grand prix de la musique symphonique in 2007. He is a Chevalier de l’Ordre national du mérite and a Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur.

In 2018, Philippe Fénelon donated his archives to the Bibliothèque nationale de France.