Ida Gotkovsky

Ida Rose Esther Gotkovsky was a French composer and pianist. She was a professor of music theory at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique in France.

Gotkovsky was born on 26 August 1933 in Calais. Her father was the violinist Jacques Gotkovsky of the Loewenguth Quartet and her mother also played the violin. Both her brother Ivar (a pianist) and her sister Nell (a violinist) became accomplished musicians. Gotkovsky began composing at the age of eight. She studied at the Paris Conservatoire, where her teachers included Olivier Messiaen and Nadia Boulanger.

She won six prestigious first prize music awards for her compositions, including the Prix Blumenthal (1958), Prix Pasdeloup (1959), Prix de Composition Concours International de Divonne les Bains (1961), Médaille de la Ville de Paris (1963), Grand Prix de la Ville de Paris (1966) and the Prix Lili Boulanger (1967).

Gotkovsky’s output includes chamber music, symphonies, instrumental music, vocal music, ballets, and operas. Notably, she contributed many solo and chamber pieces for the saxophone. Her Concerto for Trombone (1978) has been compared to Messiaen, and her Suite for Tuba and piano (1959) reveals influences of Hindemith. She is also recognized for having written important works for band.

Gotkovsky's music credo was: "To create a universal musical art and to realize the oneness of musical expression through the ages by means of a contemporary musical language with powerful structures."

Biography taken from Wikipedia.
Photo: gotkovsky.com