Henri Dutilleux dies aged 97

22 May 2013, 14:28 | Updated: 22 May 2013, 14:32

The French composer Henri Dutilleux died in Paris on May 16th, it has been reported, leaving behind him a small but influential catalogue of music.

Henri Dutilleux was born in 1916 in Maine-et-Loire. His musical output was heavily influenced by the likes of his his fellow countrymen Ravel and Debussy, as well as nodding to the serialist techniques and atonality of contemporaries in the Second Viennese School.

He is perhaps best known for his work for cello, Tout un monde lointain, which was commissioned by the great Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich in 1970.

Other frequently-performed works in his small catalogue include L'arbre des songes, a violin concerto commissioned and premiered by Isaac Stern, and 2007's Le temps l'horlage, which was written for Renée Fleming.

Aside from these works, Dutilleux leaves behind a catalogue of work that included symphonies, three concertos, chamber works and various piano and vocal works. He also composed a ballet, Le loup, in 1953.

Dutilleux was awarded various prizes in his career, notably the Gold Medal of the Royal Philharmonic Society in 2008.