Jean-Paul Liardet

Jean-Paul Liardet, was born in Lausanne on October 5, 1939. He completed his musical studies at the Geneva Conservatory in the classes of Bernard Reichel, Lionel Rogg, André-François Marescotti and Louis Hiltbrand.

Jean-Paul gave his first concerto for piano and orchestra in 1959 in Bern with the Collegium Musicum in Basel. In addition to piano works, his compositions include the Mass, the Requiem premiered in 1981 at Lausanne Cathedral, and the songs commissioned by the International Society of Contemporary Music (SIMC) in 1983.

The Piano Sonatas were composed between 1967 and 2018. Over such a long period, the piano cycle accompanies the artistic path of Jean-Paul Liardet.

The entire cycle is a neo-romantic work full of emotion: passionate movements and moments of calm are sometimes radically opposed to each other, as an expression of conflict and a mixture of revolt, anger and provocation, which also finds gentleness and comfort in the slow movements of their exhaustion.

The composer does not shy away from the many stylistic influences, from baroque music to jazz, that make this piano sonata cycle an exciting journey for listeners to discover some familiar elements in Jean-Paul Liardet's new work.