View source for René Leibowitz

{{Short description|Polish and French musician (1913–1972)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
[[File:Leibowitz.png|thumb|alt=black and white photograph of middle-aged man, balding|Leibowitz, c. mid-1960s]]

'''René Leibowitz''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|l|iː|b|ə|w|ɪ|t|s}}; {{IPA|fr|ʁəne lɛbɔwits|lang}}; 17 February 1913 – 29 August 1972) was a Polish and French composer, conductor, music theorist and teacher. He was historically significant in promoting the music of the [[Second Viennese School]] in Paris after the Second World War, and teaching a new generation of [[Serialism|serialist]] composers.

Leibowitz remained firmly committed to the musical aesthetic of [[Arnold Schoenberg]], and was to some extent sidelined among the French avant-garde in the 1950s, when, under the influence of Leibowitz's former student, [[Pierre Boulez]] and others, the music of Schoenberg's pupil [[Anton Webern]] was adopted as the orthodox model by younger composers.

Although his compositional ideas remained strictly serialist, as a conductor Leibowitz had broad sympathies, performing works by composers as diverse as [[Christoph Willibald Gluck|Gluck]], [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]], [[Johannes Brahms|Brahms]], [[Jacques Offenbach|Offenbach]] and [[Maurice Ravel|Ravel]], and his repertory extended to include pieces by [[George Gershwin|Gershwin]], [[Giacomo Puccini|Puccini]], [[Arthur Sullivan|Sullivan]] and [[Johann Strauss II|Johann Strauss]].

==Life and career==
===Early years===
The facts about Leibowitz's early years are problematical, complicated by his practice of reinventing his history,<ref name=Radcliffe>Radcliffe, David. ''[[American Record Guide]]'', vol. 68, issue 4, July/August 2005, p. 264</ref>{{refn|The musicologist [[Reinhard Kapp]] commented in 1988, "Trustworthy biographical data are almost impossible to find; instead there is a jumble of contradictions, assumptions, myths, and ill-considered conjectures."<ref name=rk>[[Reinhard Kapp|Kapp, Reinhard]]. "Shades of the Double's Original: René Leibowitz's Dispute with Boulez", ''[[Tempo (journal)|Tempo]]'', June 1988, p. 4 {{JSTOR|945132}}</ref>|group= n}} but it is known that he was born in Warsaw.<ref name=grove>Meine, Sabine. [https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.16331 "Leibowitz, René"], ''Grove Music Online'', Oxford University Press, 2001, retrieved 4 May 2018 {{subscription required}}</ref> According to his pupil and translator, [[Janet Maguire|Jan Maguire]], who wrote two studies of him for ''[[Tempo (journal)|Tempo]]'' magazine in the late 1970s, Leibowitz was of Russian Jewish parentage; his father was an art historian.<ref name=m1>Maguire, Jan. "Rene Leibowitz (1913–1972)", ''[[Tempo (journal)|Tempo]]'', December 1979, pp. 6–10 {{JSTOR|944986}} {{subscription required}}</ref> During the First World War the family was obliged to move from Warsaw to Berlin, where, Maguire writes, Leibowitz began a career as a concert violinist at the age of ten.<ref name=m1/> That career was interrupted when the family moved to Paris three years later. By Maguire's account Leibowitz taught himself "the fundamentals of harmony, counterpoint and score-reading" while in high school, and took his [[Baccalauréat]] when he was seventeen.<ref name=m1/> At this point, his history becomes unclear. By his own account, credited by Maguire and others, he then went to Vienna to study with [[Anton Webern]].<ref name=m1/> By other accounts he studied with [[Arnold Schoenberg]].<ref name=grove-boulez>[[Bill Hopkins (composer)|Hopkins, G. W.]], and [[Paul Griffiths (writer)|Paul Griffiths]], [http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000003708 "Boulez, Pierre"], ''[[Grove Music Online]]'', Oxford University Press, 2001, retrieved 4 May. 2018 {{subscription required}}</ref> Neither is now believed to be correct: Sabine Meine wrote in the ''[[Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians]]'' in 2001, "Leibowitz's claims of having met Schoenberg and studied with Webern in the early 1930s remain unsubstantiated",<ref name=grove/> and in 2012 Nicole Gagné wrote in the ''Historical Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Classical Music'', "despite his claims to the contrary, he never studied with Arnold Schoenberg or Anton Webern".{{sfn|Gagné|2012|p=158}} Other claims about Leibowitz's teachers – that he studied composition with [[Maurice Ravel]] and conducting with [[Pierre Monteux]] – have been discounted by some writers in the present century,<ref name=Radcliffe/> although as recently as 2010 in a study mainly focused on American composers Deborah Fillerup Weagel repeated the statement that Leibowitz was a pupil of Webern and Ravel.{{sfn|Weagel|2011|p=35}} There is no mention of Leibowitz in the biographies of Ravel by [[Arbie Orenstein]] (1991) and [[Roger Nichols (musical scholar)|Roger Nichols]] (2011) or of Monteux by John Canarina (2003).<ref>{{harvnb|Orenstein|1991|loc=index, p. 286}}; {{harvnb|Nichols|2011|loc=index, p. 420}}; and {{harvnb|Canarina|2003|loc=index, p. 349}}</ref>

===Paris===
In Paris, according to Maguire, Leibowitz earned his living as a jazz pianist and composed constantly. In his early twenties he married an artist from an illustrious French family and settled down in Paris, eventually taking French nationality.<ref name=m1/> During the early 1930s he was introduced to Schoenberg's [[twelve-note technique]] by the German pianist and composer [[Erich Itor Kahn]]. Maguire writes that Leibowitz easily fitted into "the ebullient intellectual and artistic climate of Paris in the pre-war years". His aesthetic interests were not confined to music, and he became friendly with leading figures from the world of modern art, notably [[André Masson]] and [[Pablo Picasso]], and with literary figures including [[Jean-Paul Sartre]], [[Simone de Beauvoir]] and [[Albert Camus]].<ref name=m2/> For Leibowitz, according to Maguire, composing was his most regular activity, and the one he thought most important, although he was known more for his commentaries, his critical and analytical writings, his conducting, and his teaching, all of which he considered secondary.<ref name=m2>Maguire, Jan. "René Leibowitz", ''[[Perspectives of New Music]]'', vol. 21, no. 1/2 (Autumn 1982 – Summer 1983), pp. 241–256 {{JSTOR|832875}}{{subscription required}}</ref>

When the Germans invaded France in the Second World War, Leibowitz was interned as an alien for a time. He did not succeed in emigrating, but, as the musicologist [[Reinhard Kapp]] puts it, "managed to survive somehow, partly hidden by [[Georges Bataille|[Georges] Bataille]] in Paris, at other times with his family in the Unoccupied Zone".<ref name=rk/> While in wartime Paris he clandestinely taught students from the [[Paris Conservatoire]].<ref name=jp>[[Joan Peyser|Peyser, Joan]]. "Rene Leibowitz (1913–1972)", ''[[The New York Times]]'', 10 September 1972, p. D26</ref> In 1944, just before the liberation of Paris, there was a party at the Left Bank apartment of the Swiss artist [[Balthus]] attended by artistic opponents of the Nazis, such as Picasso and others; Leibowitz provided the music.<ref name=m1/>

===Post-war===
After the liberation Leibowitz resumed his interrupted career, teaching, conducting and writing, drawing on the extensive material he had produced during his enforced wartime seclusion.<ref name=rk/> In 1947–48 and again in 1950 he visited Los Angeles to meet Schoenberg, whose [[cantata]] ''[[A Survivor from Warsaw]]'' he transcribed into full score.<ref name=rk/> Many of the works of the [[Second Viennese School]] were first heard in France at the International Festival of Chamber Music established by Leibowitz in Paris in 1947. Leibowitz was highly influential in promoting the reputation of the School, both through teaching in Paris after the war and through his book ''Schoenberg et son école'', published in 1947 and translated by [[Dika Newlin]] as ''Schoenberg and his School'' (US and UK editions 1949). The book was among the earliest theoretical treatises on Schoenberg's [[Twelve-tone technique|twelve-tone]] method of composition; Leibowitz (like [[Humphrey Searle]]) was among the first theorists to promulgate the term "serialism". The book attracted hostile criticism from composers on various points of the modernist continuum. [[Aaron Copland]] condemned its "dogmatic and fanatical" tone, and [[Milton Babbitt]] felt that its musical discussions were superficial, with misleading analogies between tonal and dodecaphonic music, but it was well received by the musical public.{{sfn|Shaw|Auner|2011|pp=252–253}}

Leibowitz's advocacy of the Schoenberg school was taken further by two of his pupils, [[Pierre Boulez]] and [[Jacques-Louis Monod]], each taking different paths in promoting the music of Schoenberg, Webern and the development of serialism. Meine writes in ''Grove'' that during the 1950s Leibowitz's writings came under attack from some of the younger generation: Boulez and others accused him of "dogmatic orthodoxy and academicism".<ref name=grove/> In the view of another pupil, Maguire, Boulez, having learned the twelve-tone technique from Leibowitz, "proceeded to apply it indiscriminately to every musical element, disregarding the most fundamental qualities, the essence of music". Leibowitz warned his former student, "But the public has not yet assimilated Schoenberg", and tried, unsuccessfully, to avoid a rancorous falling out.<ref name=m1/>

Although Leibowitz composed continually, he seldom pressed to have his works performed. When he died, leaving an oeuvre of nearly a hundred pieces, the magazine ''[[Esprit (magazine)|Esprit]]'' commented, "Modest, perhaps too modest, he never spoke of his works, unless obliged to do so, doing nothing to get them played. It is certainly no exaggeration to say that at least three quarters of his scores have never been heard."<ref name=esprit/> Since his death a representative sample of his works have been recorded. A 2013 CD set from the Divox label contains recordings of 22 of Leibowitz's works: 6 Mélodies, Op. 6; Flute Sonata, Op. 12b; ''Explanation of Metaphors'', Op. 15; Duo for Cello and Piano, Op. 23; 5 Pieces for clarinet and piano, Op. 29; Sérénade, Op. 38; 3 Poèmes, Op. 46; Violin Concerto, Op. 50; ''Marijuana variations non sérieuses'', Op. 54; Toccata, Op. 62; 3 Caprices, Op. 70; 2 Settings, Op. 71; 3 Poèmes, Op. 73; ''Motifs'', Op. 74; Petite suite, Op. 75; 2 poèmes, Op. 76a; ''Chanson dada'', Op. 76b; Suite, Op. 81; 4 Lieder, Op. 86; 3 Intermezzi, Op. 87; ''Laboratoire central'', Op. 88; and 3 Poèmes, Op. 92.<ref>Divox CD set CDX-21103-04</ref>

Although Leibowitz was receptive to a wide range of musical styles, he could not bear the music of [[Jean Sibelius|Sibelius]], and published a pamphlet about him under the title of ''Sibelius: the Worst Composer in the World'';{{sfn|Leibowitz|1955|loc=title page}} he also severely criticised [[Béla Bartók|Bartók]] for writing music that was too accessible: Leibowitz felt that by failing to adopt dodecaphony in his later works Bartók was pandering to popular taste rather than helping to move music away from tonality in accordance with Leibowitz's notions of historical inevitability and composers' duty.{{sfn|Fosler-Lussier|2007|pp=201–204}} For Leibowitz, to write a popular work like Bartók's [[Concerto for Orchestra (Bartók)|Concerto for Orchestra]] was a betrayal of modernism.{{sfn|Fosler-Lussier|2007|p=192}}

''Grove'' has articles on thirty-two composers who studied with Leibowitz in Paris or attended his sessions at [[Darmstädter Ferienkurse|Darmstadt]] or elsewhere: as well as Boulez and Monod, they include [[Vinko Globokar]]; [[Hans Werner Henze]]; [[Diego Masson]]; [[Serge Nigg]]; and [[Bernd Alois Zimmermann]].{{refn|The others are [[Leni Alexander]]; [[André Casanova]]; [[Franco Donatoni]]; [[Antoine Duhamel]]; [[Hans Ulrich Engelmann]]; Giuseppe Giorgio Englert; Werner Haentjes; [[Claude Helffer]]; [[Stanko Horvat]]; Keith Humble; [[Carlos Jiménez Mabarak]]; [[Dieter Kaufmann]]; [[Maurice Le Roux]]; Wolfgang Ludewig; [[Jean-Louis Martinet]]; [[Norbert Moret]]; [[Diether de la Motte]]; [[Tolia Nikiprowetzky]]; [[Will Ogdon]]; [[Yannis Andreou Papaioannou]]; Ron Pellegrino; [[Allan Pettersson]]; [[Michel Paul Philippot]]; [[Jean Prodromidès]]; [[Ruben Radica]]; and [[Armin Schibler]].<ref>"[http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/search?q=Leibowitz&searchBtn=Search&isQuickSearch=true Search results: Leibowitz"], ''Grove Music Online'', Oxford University Press, 2001, retrieved 5 May 2018 {{subscription required}}</ref> <!-- BETTER, AND WOULD BE OK IF RE-CITED TO COMPLY WITH [[WP:CITEVAR]] [[Marina Scriabina]] also studied with Leibowitz in Paris.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cohen |first=Aaron I. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/16714846 |title=International encyclopedia of women composers |date=1987 |isbn=0-9617485-2-4 |edition=Second edition, revised and enlarged |location=New York |pages=630 |oclc=16714846}}</ref>-->|group= n}}
The writer [[Joan Peyser]] summed up Leibowitz's career:
{{quote|one long splendid moment in his life, stretching from Paris in 1944 through Darmstadt in 1948, devoted to the promulgation of Schoenbergian ideas. When, in the late 40s and early 50s, Webern displaced Schoenberg as the venerated man and composers applied the serial idea beyond pitch, Leibowitz's time had passed. He refused to follow that path.<ref name=jp/>|}}
Leibowitz's obituarist in ''[[Esprit (magazine)|Esprit]]'' dismissed this as simplistic:
{{quote|Let us rise above the very "Parisian" (but untrue) cliché of a René Leibowitz, abandoned by his brilliant pupils, and fallen into oblivion after the 1950s. There were breaks, especially with Boulez, but that did not prevent later generations from coming to lean on him: the generation of [[Michel Puig|Puig]], [[Vinko Globokar|Globokar]], etc. It is also true that many myths were circulated about him, both by the academicians who did not forgive him for having introduced the virus of the atonal and by the avant-gardists who found him too conformist.<ref name=esprit>J.-M. M. "Rene Leibowitz", ''[[Esprit (magazine)|Esprit]]'' (1940–), no. 419 (12) (December 1972), pp. 943–944 {{JSTOR|24264155}} {{subscription required}}</ref>|}}

Leibowitz died suddenly in Paris on 29 August 1972, at the age of 59.<ref name=esprit/><!--CITEVAR PROBLEM<ref name="Meine">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Meine |first=Sabine |editor-first1=Claudia |editor-last1=Maurer Zenck |editor-first2=Peter |editor-last2=Petersen |encyclopedia=Lexikon verfolgter Musiker und Musikerinnen der NS-Zeit |date=2006 |publisher=LexM Universität Hamburg |location=Hamburg |url=https://www.lexm.uni-hamburg.de/object/lexm_lexmperson_00001423 |title=René Leibowitz |language=de |access-date=3 June 2019}}</ref>-->

==Recordings==
In the early LP era, in the 1950s, Leibowitz conducted complete recordings of seven operas, which were generally well received, and have mostly been reissued on CD. They were [[Bizet]]'s ''[[Les Pêcheurs de perles]]''; [[Gluck]]'s ''[[Alceste (Gluck)|Alceste]]'' and ''[[L'ivrogne corrigé]]''; [[Mozart]]'s ''[[Zaïde]]''; [[Jacques Offenbach|Offenbach]]'s ''[[La Belle Hélène]]'' and ''[[Orphée aux enfers]]''; and [[Maurice Ravel|Ravel]]'s ''[[L'Heure espagnole]]''.{{sfn|Sackville-West|Shawe-Taylor|1955|pp=126–127, 305, 512, 556–558, 615}} A set of Ravel's orchestral works was less well reviewed,{{sfn|Sackville-West|Shawe-Taylor|1955|p=612}} but Leibowitz received qualified praise for his set of Schoenberg's ''[[Gurre-Lieder]]'' ("Leibowitz makes a serious attempt to produce a convincing performance; his slow tempi find justification in Schoenberg's markings, but his artists cannot persuade us that ''Gurre-Lieder'' is other than an historical curiosity").{{sfn|Sackville-West|Shawe-Taylor|1955|p=652}}

In 1961 Leibowitz conducted the [[Royal Philharmonic Orchestra]] in a set of Beethoven's symphonies made by [[Decca Records|Decca]] for ''[[Reader's Digest]]'';<ref name=decca>Stuart, Philip. [http://images.cch.kcl.ac.uk/charm/liv/pubs/DeccaComplete.pdf ''Decca Classical 1929–2009''], accessed 5 May 2018.</ref> it was among the first to attempt to follow Beethoven's [[metronome]] markings, following the pioneering set made in Vienna three years earlier, conducted by [[Hermann Scherchen]].<ref name=taruskin/> Reviewers observed that although Scherchen had achieved tempos more closely approaching the composer's markings, Leibowitz, at speeds not much slower, had secured better ensemble than the earlier set achieved.<ref name=taruskin/> Initially the set was poorly received. ''[[The Stereo Record Guide]]'' called the performances "slack", "perfunctory" and "insensitive";{{sfn|Greenfield|March|Stevens|1963|p=688}} on its reissue in the 1980s a ''[[Gramophone (magazine)|Gramphone]]'' reviewer thought much of the set "light-weight" and "lacking in ''gravitas''", although he found the performance of the Seventh Symphony "magnificent".<ref>Sanders, Alan. "Compact Disc Round-Up", ''[[Gramophone (magazine)|Gramphone]]'', August 1988, p. 343</ref> In 1995 [[Richard Taruskin]], analysing a selection of Beethoven recordings, concluded that Leibowitz, like Scherchen, delivered performances that were musically and musicologically superior to more recent attempts by [[Historically informed performance|"authentic"]] conductors such as [[Christopher Hogwood]].<ref name=taruskin>{{harvnb|Taruskin|1995|pp=227–229}}</ref> By the 21st century the performances had come to seem old-fashioned, in the view of a critic in ''[[Fanfare (magazine)|Fanfare]]'', who found them more akin to those by [[Herbert von Karajan]] than to those by specialist authenticists such as [[Roger Norrington]] and [[John Eliot Gardiner]].<ref>Bayley, Lynn René. "Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 1–9. Egmont Overture. Leonore Overture No. 3", ''[[Fanfare (magazine)|Fanfare]]''; September/October 2014), pp. 125–127</ref>

With the Decca team, Leibowitz recorded eleven more albums between 1959 and 1962. They included large-scale works such as ''The Rite of Spring'', symphonies by Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, and concertos by Grieg, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Prokofiev, as well as short pieces by more than thirty composers ranging from [[Johann Sebastian Bach|Bach]] to [[George Gershwin|Gershwin]], from [[Richard Wagner|Wagner]] to [[Arthur Sullivan|Sullivan]], [[Giacomo Puccini|Puccini]] and [[Johann Strauss II|Johann Strauss]].<ref name=decca/>

==Works==
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*Piano Sonata op.1 (1939)
*10 Canons for wind trio op.2 (1939)
*String Quartet no.1 op.3 (1940)
*Symphony op.4 (1941)
*Double concerto for violin, piano and 17 instruments op.5 (1942)
*6 Songs for bass and piano op.6 (1942)
*''Tourist Death'', concert aria for soprano and chamber orchestra (T: [[Archibald MacLeish]]) op.7 (1943)
*4 Piano Pieces op.8 (1943)
*3 Songs for soprano and piano (T: [[Pablo Picasso]]) op.9 (1943)
*Chamber Concerto for nine instruments op.10 (1944)
*Wind Quintet op.11 (1944)
*Sonata for violin and piano op.12a (1944)
*Sonata for flute and piano op.12b (1944)
*''Empedokles'' for mixed a cappella chorus (T: [[Friedrich Hölderlin]]) op.13 (1944/45)
*Variations for orchestra op.14 (1945)
*''L'explication des métaphores/Explanation of Metaphors'' (T: [[Raymond Queneau]]) op.15 (1947)
*Chamber Symphony ("Kammersymphonie") for 12 instruments op.16 (1948)
*''La Nuit close'', music drama in three acts (T: [[Georges Limbour]]) op.17 (1947–50)
*4 Songs for soprano and piano (T: [[Michel Leiris]]) op.18 (1949)
*3 Piano Pieces op.19 (1949)
*Piano Trio op.20 (1950)
*''L'Emprise du Donné'' op.21 (1950)
*String Quartet no.2 op.22 (1950)
*Duo for cello and piano op.23 (1951)
*''Perpetuum Mobile: The City – A Dramatic Symphony for Narrator and Orchestra'' (T: [[William Carlos Williams]]) op.24 (1951)
*5 Songs for soprano and piano op.25 (1951)
*String Quartet no.3 op.26 (1951)
*Fantasy for piano op.27 (1952)
*6 Short Piano Pieces op.28 (1952)
*5 Pieces for clarinet and piano op.29 (1952)
*''La Circulaire de minuit'', opera in three acts (T: Georges Limbour) op.30 (1953)
*6 Orchestral Pieces op.31 (1954)
*Concerto for piano and orchestra op.32 (1954)
*''Träume vom Tod und vom Leben – Eine Symphonie für Soli, Sprecher, gemischten Chor und Orchester'' (T: [[Hans Arp]]) op.33 (1954–55)
*4 Songs for soprano and piano (T: [[James Joyce]]) op.34 (1954)
*''Concertino'' for viola and chamber orchestra op.35 (1954)
*''Rhapsodie Concertante'' for violin and piano op.36 (1955)
*''La notte'' (T: Angelo Poliziano), ''Epigramma'' (T: [[Torquato Tasso]]) and ''A se stesso'' (T: [[Giacomo Leopardi]]) for mixed chorus op.37 (1955)
*''Serenade'' for baritone and eight instruments (T: Friedrich Hölderlin, [[Clemens Brentano]]) op.38 (1955)
*Symphonic Fantasy for orchestra op.39 (1956)
*''The Renegade'' for mixed chorus and instruments (T: [[Lionel Abel]]) op.40 (1956)
*''Capriccio'' for high soprano and nine instruments (T: Friedrich Hölderlin) op.41 (1956)
*String Trio op.42 (1956)
*''Sonata quasi una fantasia'' for piano op.43 (1957)
*''Humoresque'' for six percussionists op.44 (1957)
*String Quartet no.4 op.45 (1958)
*''Trois Poèmes de Georges Limbour'' for soprano and six instruments (T: Georges Limbour) op.46 (1958)
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*''Concertino'' for piano duet op.47 (1958)
*Overture for orchestra op.48 (1958)
*''Damocles'', song cycle for soprano and piano (T: Michel Leiris) op.49 (1958)
*Concerto for violin and orchestra op.50 'dedicated to [[Ivry Gitlis]]' (1958)
*3 Bagatelles for string orchestra op.51 (1958)
*''Art for Art's Sake – A Fantasia for Jazz Orchestra'' op.52 (1959)
*''Concertino'' for trombone and orchestra op.53 (1960)
*''Marijuana – Variations non sérieuses op.54 (1960)
*''Sinfonietta da Camera'' op.55 (1961)
*Fantasy for violin solo op.56 (1961)
*Introduction, Funeral March and Fanfare op.57 (1961)
*Concerto for cello and orchestra op.58 (1962)
*String Quartet no.5 op.59 (1963)
*''Les Espagnols à Venise – Opera buffa'' in one act (T: Georges Limbour) op.60 (1964)
*''Quatre bagatelles'' for trombone and piano op.61 (1963)
*''Toccata pour piano'' op.62 (1964)
*Symphonic Rhapsody for orchestra op.63 (1965)
*''Trois Études miniatures'' for piano op.64 (1965)
*String Quartet no.6 op.65 (1965)
*''Suite'' for violin and piano op.66 (1965)
*2 Songs for soprano and piano (T: Aimé Cesaire) op.67 (1965)
*''A Prayer – A Symphonic Cantata'' for mezzo-soprano, male chorus and orchestra (T: James Joyce) op.68 (1965)
*''Sonatina'' for flute, viola and harp op.69 (1966)
*''Trois Caprices'' for vibraphone op.70 (1966)
*''Two Settings after William Blake'' for mixed chorus (T: [[William Blake]]) op.71 (1966)
*String Quartet no.7 op.72 (1966)
*''Trois Poèmes de Georges Bataille'' for bass and piano (T: [[Georges Bataille]]) op.73 (1966)
*''Motifs'' for speaker and instruments (T: Georges Limbour) op.74 (1967)
*''Petite Suite'' for piano op.75 (1966)
*''Deux Poèmes'' for soprano and piano (T: Michel Leiris) op.76a (1966)
*''Chanson Dada'', three melodramas for treble and instruments (T: [[Tristan Tzara]]) op.76b (1966)
*''Sonnet'' for soprano and five instruments (T: [[E. E. Cummings]]) op.77 (1967)
*''Rondo capriccioso'' for piano op.78 (1967)
*''Capriccio'' for flute and strings op.79 (1967)
*4 Songs for bass and piano (T: [[Carl Einstein]]) op.80 (1967)
*''Suite'' for nine instruments op.81 (1967)
*''Legend'' for soprano, piano and orchestra (T: [[Hart Crane]]) op.82 (1968)
*String Quartet no.8 op.83 (1968)
*Saxophone Quartet op.84 (1969)
*''Labyrinthe'', music drama in one act (T: René Leibowitz after [[Charles Baudelaire]]) op.85 (1969)
*4 Songs for bass and piano (T: [[Paul Celan]]) op.86 (1969)
*''Tre Intermezzi per pianoforte'' op.87 (1970)
*''Laboratoire Central – Short Cantata'' for speaker, female chorus and instruments (T: [[Max Jacob]]) op.88 (1970)
*''Scene and Aria'' for soprano and orchestra (T: [[Georg Heym]]) op.89 (1970)
*Clarinet Sextet op.90 (1970)
*''Todos Caeràn'', opera in 2 acts and 5 tableaux (T: René Leibowitz) op.91 (1971)
*''Trois Poèmes de Pierre Reverdy'' for vocal quartet and piano (T: [[Pierre Reverdy]]) op.92 (1971)
*String Quartet no.9 op.93 (1972)
{{col-end}}

==Discography (incomplete)==
===As conductor===
====Mono recordings====
* [[Georges Bizet|Bizet]]: ''[[Les Pêcheurs de perles]]''. [[Mattiwilda Dobbs]], Enzo Seri, [[Jean Borthayre]]; Paris Philharmonic Chorus and Orchestra. Preiser (CD)
* [[Gluck]]: ''[[Alceste (Gluck)|Alceste]]'' – Semser, Seri, Demigny, Mollien, Hoffmann, Lindenfelder, Chœur et Orch Phil de Paris, [[Jean-Pierre Rampal]], Orchestre Philharmonique de Paris (1950)
* Gluck: ''[[L'ivrogne corrigé]]'': [[Jean-Christophe Benoît]], Bernard Demigny, Claudine Collart, [[Freda Betti]] and Jean Hoffmann. (Nixa, 1951)
* [[Massenet]] & [[Puccini]]: ''A Portrait of Manon'' – [[Anna Moffo]], Giuseppe di Stefano, Flaviano Labo, Robert Kerns – RCA Italiana Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Testament (CD)
* [[Jacques Offenbach|Offenbach]]: ''[[La Belle Hélène]]''. Paris Philharmonic Chorus and Orchestra. Regis (CD)
* Offenbach: ''[[Orphée aux enfers]]'' – Paris Opera Chorus and Orchestra. Regis (CD), also Preiser (CD)
* Ravel: ''[[L'Heure espagnole]]'' – Janine Linda, [[André Dran]], Jean Mollien, Jean Hoffmann, Lucien Mans, Orch Radio-Symph de Paris (Vox PL7880)
* Rossini: overtures to ''L'Italiana in Algeri'', ''La gazza ladra'', ''Guillaume Tell'', ''Semiramide'' – [[Pasdeloup Orchestra]] (Urania-USD-1014)
* Roussel: ''[[Le festin de l'araignée|Le Festin de l'Araignée]]'' suite (1912) & ''Le Marchand de sable qui passe'' – Paris Philharmonic Orch (Counterpoint-Esoteric LP 5511)
* Schoenberg: ''[[Gurre-Lieder]]''. Ethel Semser, [[Nell Tangeman]], John Riley, Richard Lewis, [[Ferry Gruber]], Morris Gesell, Chœurs et Orchestre de la Nouvelle Association Symphonique de Paris.
* Schoenberg: Piano Concerto Op. 42. [[Claude Helffer]] (piano), Orchestre Radio-Symphonique de Paris. Counterpoint (LP)
* Schoenberg: ''[[Pierrot lunaire]]''. Ethel Semser, The Virtuoso Chamber Ensemble. Argo/Westminster (LP)

====Stereo recordings====
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*May 1959
**International Symphony Orchestra
***Schumann Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Op. 97 "Rhenish"
***Liszt Mephisto Waltz No. 1 S110/2
*June 1959
**"London Festival Orchestra" (New Symphony Orchestra of London)
***Stravinsky ''The Rite of Spring''
***Debussy ''Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune''
*June 1960
**Malcolm Frager (piano)
**Paris Conservatoire Orchestra
***Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor Op. 16
*June 1960
**Paris Conservatoire Orchestra
***Offenbach ''Orphée aux enfers'': Overture
***Debussy ''Petite Suite'': En bateau
***Ravel ''Bolero''
***Ravel ''La valse''
***Gounod ''Faust'': Ballet Music
***Gounod ''Funeral March of a Marionette''
***Saint-Saëns ''Danse Macabre'' Op. 40
***Pierné ''Marche des petits soldats de plomb''
***Borodin ''Prince Igor'': Overture & Polovtsian Dances
***Dukas ''L'apprenti sorcier''
***Bizet ''Carmen'': Suite
***Auber ''Les diamants de la couronne'': Overture
***Offenbach ''Les contes d'Hoffmann'': Barcarolle
***Puccini ''Manon Lescaut'': Intermezzo
***Mozart ''Le nozze di Figaro'' K492: Overture
*February 1961
**"London Festival Orchestra"
***Chopin Polonaise in A-flat Op. 53
***Gade ''Jealousy''
***Delibes ''La Source'': Intermezzo
***Waldteufel ''Les Patineurs'' – Waltz Op. 183
***Dinicu ''Hora Staccato''
***Dvořák ''Humoresque'' Op. 101/7 B187/7
***Ippolitov-Ivanov ''Procession of the Sadar'' Op. 10
***Bizet ''Carmen'': Habañera
***Bach-Gounod ''Ave Maria''
***Franck ''Panis Angelicus''
***Trad. ''Londonderry Air'' & ''Greensleeves''
***J. Strauss II ''Die Fledermaus'': Overture
***Falla ''El Amor Brujo'': Ritual Fire Dance
***Gershwin ''Porgy and Bess'': Excerpts
***Boccherini String Quintet in E G275: Minuet
***Sullivan ''HMS Pinafore'': Overture
***Rimsky-Korsakov ''Tsar Saltan'': Flight of the Bumble Bee
***Beethoven ''Die Ruinen von Athen'', Op. 113: Turkish March
{{col-break}}
*April, May and June 1961
**[[Inge Borkh]] (soprano), [[Ruth Siewert]] (contralto), [[Richard Lewis (tenor)|Richard Lewis]] (tenor), Ludwig Weber (bass), Royal Philharmonic Chorus; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
***Beethoven: Symphonies 1–9
*January and February 1962
**Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
***Mozart Symphony No. 41 in C, K551 "Jupiter"
***Wagner ''Tannhäuser'': Overture
***Bach-Leibowitz Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor BWV 582
***Schubert Symphony No. 9 in C, D944 "Great"
***Offenbach-Leibowitz ''La vie parisienne''
*February 1962
**Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
***Musorgsky-Ravel ''Pictures at an Exhibition''
***Mendelssohn ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' Overture Op. 21
***Mendelssohn Octet in E-flat Op. 20: Scherzo
***Mussorgsky-Leibowitz ''Night on the Bare Mountain''
***Beethoven ''Leonore'' Overture No. 3, Op. 72a
***Wagner ''Die Meistersinger'': Prelude to act 1
*October 1962
**Hyman Bress (violin)
**Earl Wild (piano)
**Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
***Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor Op. 64
***Grieg Piano Concerto in A minor Op. 16
***Beethoven ''Egmont'' Op. 84: Overture
*December 1962
**Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
***Weber ''Der Freischütz'' J277: Overture
***Schumann ''Manfred'' Op. 115: Overture
*March 1963
**Leonard Pennario (piano)
**London Symphony Orchestra
***Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat S124
***Liszt Piano Concerto No. 2 in A S125
{{col-end}}

==Publications by Leibowitz==
* 1947 ''Schoenberg et son école: l'étape contemporaine du langage musical''. [Paris]: J.B. Janin. (English edition, as ''Schoenberg and His School: The Contemporary Stage in the Language of Music''. Translated by Dika Newlin. New York: Philosophical Library, 1949).
*1948. ''Qu'est-ce que la musique de douze sons? Le Concerto pour neuf instruments, op. 24, d'Anton Webern''. Liège: Éditions Dynamo.
*1949. ''Introduction à la musique de douze sons. Les variations pour orchestre op. 31, d'Arnold Schoenberg''. Paris: L'Arche.
*1950. ''L'artiste et sa conscience: esquisse d'une dialectique de la conscience artistique''. Préf. de [[Jean-Paul Sartre]]. Paris: L'Arche.
*1950. ''Scènes de la vie musicale américaine''. Liège: Éditions Dynamo.
*1950. ''Arnold Schoenberg ou Sisyphe dans la musique contemporaine''. Liège: Éditions Dynamo.
*1951. ''L'évolution de la musique, de Bach à Schoenberg''. Paris: Éditions Corrêa.
*1957. ''Histoire de l'opéra''. Paris: Buchet Chastel.
*1969. ''Schoenberg''. Paris: Éditions du Seuil.
*1971. ''Le compositeur et son double: essais sur l'interprétation musicale''. Paris: Gallimard. (Ed. augm., version définitive. Paris: Gallimard, 1986.)
*1972. ''Les fantômes de l'opéra: essais sur le théâtre lyrique''. Paris: Gallimard.

==Notes, references and sources==
===Notes===
{{Reflist|group=n}}

===References===
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
{{div col|colwidth=45em}}
* {{cite book | last = Canarina | first = John | title = Pierre Monteux, Maître | location = Pompton Plains, New Jersey | publisher = Amadeus Press | year = 2003 | isbn = 978-1-57467-082-0 | url = https://archive.org/details/pierremonteuxmai00cana }}
* {{cite book | last= Fosler-Lussier| first=Danielle | title= The Cambridge Companion to Bartók|chapter =Bartók: reception in Cold War Europe |others=Amanda Bayley (ed)| year=2007 | location=Cambridge | publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn=978-0-521-66958-0 }}
* {{cite book | last= Gagné | first= Nicole | title= Historical Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Classical Music| year= 2012| location= Lanham, Maryland | publisher= Scarecrow Press | isbn= 978-0-8108-7962-1}}
* {{cite book | last1=Greenfield|first1=Edward|author1-link=Edward Greenfield|last2=March|first2=Ivan|author2-link=Ivan March|last3=Stevens|first3=Denis|author3-link=Denis Stevens| title= The Stereo Record Guide, Volume III | year=1963 | location= London| publisher=Long Playing Record Library | oclc=23222066 }}
* {{cite book | last= Leibowitz | first= René | title= Sibelius, le plus mauvais compositeur du monde | year= 1955| location= Liège | publisher= Éditions Dynamo| oclc= 28594116 }}
* {{cite book | last = Nichols | first = Roger | author-link = Roger Nichols (musical scholar) | title = Ravel | year = 2011 | location = New Haven, US and London | publisher = Yale University Press | isbn = 978-0-300-10882-8 | url = https://archive.org/details/mauriceravel00roge }}
* {{cite book | last = Orenstein | first = Arbie | author-link=Arbie Orenstein| title = Ravel: Man and Musician | year = 1991 | orig-year = 1975 | location = Mineola, US | publisher = Dover | isbn = 978-0-486-26633-6 }}
* {{cite book | last1=Sackville-West|first1=Edward|author1-link=Edward Sackville-West|last2=Shawe-Taylor|first2=Desmond|author2-link=Desmond Shawe-Taylor (music critic)|year=1955|title=The Record Guide|location=London|publisher=Collins|oclc=500373060}}
* {{cite book | last1= Shaw | first1= Jennifer Robin |last2=Auner|first2=Joseph Henry|title= The Cambridge Companion to Schoenberg| year= 2011| location= Cambridge | publisher= Cambridge University Press | isbn=978-0-511-78091-2}}
* {{cite book | last= Taruskin | first= Richard | author-link=Richard Taruskin|title= Text and Act: Essays on Music and Performance| year=1995 | location= New York | publisher= Oxford University Press | isbn=978-0-19-509458-9}}
* {{cite book | last= Weagel | first= Deborah Fillerup |title= Words and Music: Camus, Beckett, Cage, Gould | year= 2011| location= New York | publisher= Peter Lang | isbn=978-1-4331-0836-5 }}
{{div col end}}

{{Second Viennese School}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Leibowitz, Rene}}
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