The Complete Compositional Index

The twelve-tone system is not a constraint, but the very condition of structural clarity and musical truth.

René Leibowitz, 1949

Categorized Works

From early symphonic works to mature serialist structures, including his Chamber Concerto and major orchestral variations.

A top-class collection of string quartets, wind quintets, and many other varieties of chamber genres, representing his high skills and mastery in chamber music composition.

Settings of poetry in beautiful Lieder, choral works and the fascinating world of Opera. Integrating serial counterpoint between vocal and instrumental textures.

Key Works: Piano solo, Duets, Trios, String Quartets 1–9, Saxophone Quartet, Woodwind Quintet, Sextets...

Key Works: Lieder, Operas, Chorals, Vocal ensembles...

Key Works: Symphony, Variations, Symphonic Fantasy, Overture, Bagatelles, Symphonic rhapsody...

By: Roland de Lassus, Frescobaldi, Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Schönberg...

Carefully crafted tributes, arrangements, adaptations and transcriptions that René Leibowitz created based on works by other composers. Some of these were also for his own personal study.

Catalogue of Works

OPUS Duration Date

Posth. Impromptu for solo violin 2' 15 -

Posth. Two melodies for voice and piano - 1932-51

Posth. Klavierstück - 1949

1 Sonata for piano 14' 20" 1939

2 Ten Canons for Three Instruments: oboe, clarinet and bassoon 12' 1939

3 String Quartet No. 1 21' 30" 1939-40

4 Symphony 26' 10" 1939-41

5 Concerto for violin, piano and orchestra 20' 1941-42

6 Six melodies for bass voice and piano 5' 40" 1937-42

7 Tourist's death - Concert aria for soprano and orchestra 4' 30" 1949

8 Four pieces for piano 7' 42" 1942-43

9 Three melodies for Pablo Picasso - for soprano and piano 3' 05" 1943

10 Chamber Concerto for nine instruments c. 22' 1943-44

11 Wind Quintet 10' 1944

12a Sonata for flute and piano 8' 1944

12b Sonata for violin and piano 8' 1944

13 Empedokles - for mixed a cappella choir 2' 05" 1948

14 Variations for Orchestra c. 16' 1944-45

15 The Explanation of Metaphors - for narrator, two pianos, harp and percussion 5' 25" 1947

16 Chamber Symphony 12' 50" 1946-48

17 La nuit close - Opera in three acts c. 1h 30' 1947-50

18 Four melodies for soprano and piano 4' 8" 1949

19 Three pieces for piano 8' 15" 1949-50

20 Trio for violin, cello and piano 14' 30" 1950

21 The Grip of the Given - for voices and six instruments 3' 50" 1950

22 String Quartet No. 2 12' 50" 1948-50

23 Duo for cello and piano 17' 1951

24 Perpetuum mobile: The City - Dramatic Symphony for narrator and orchestra 8' 45" 1951

25 Five songs for voice and piano 4' 05" 1950-51

26 String Quartet No. 3 8' 25 1951-52

27 Fantasia for piano 5' 40" 1952

28 Six short pieces for piano in the form of a suite 4' 05" 1952

29 Five pieces for clarinet and piano 5' 1952

30 Circulaire de minuit - Opera in three acts c. 24' 1952-53

31 Six pieces for orchestra 7' 15" 1954

32 Concerto for piano and orchestra 14' 32" 1954

33 Träume vom Tod und vom Leben - Funeral Symphony 18' 25" 1954-55

34 4 chansons for soprano and piano 3' 42" 1954

35 Concertino for viola and chamber orchestra c. 17' 1954

36 Concertante Rhapsody for Violin and Piano 7' 10" 1955

37 Three pieces for mixed choir 6' 05" 1955

38 Serenade for baritone and eight instruments 6' 55" 1955

39 Symphonic Fantasy for large orchestra 16' 1956

40 The Renegade - for choir and eight instruments c. 5' 1956

41 Capriccio - for soprano for six instruments and percussion 3' 40" 1956

42 String trio 9' 40" 1956-57

43 Sonata quasi una fantasia for piano c. 15' 1957

44 Humoresque for seven instruments and percussion 5' 35" 1957

45 String Quartet No. 4 c. 20 1957-58

46 Three poems for voice, flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello and piano c. 5' 1958

47 Concertino for piano four hands 5' 1958

48 Overture 5' 15" 1958

49 Damoclès - five poems for voice and piano c. 5' 1958

50 Concerto for Violin and Orchestra 20' 1958

51 Three Bagatelles for string orchestra 5' 40" 1958

52 Art for Art's Sake - Fantasy for jazz orchestra 4' 30" 1959

53 Concertino for trombone and orchestra 12' 20" 1960

54 Marijuana - Non-serious variations for violin, trombone, vibraphone and piano 6' 1960

55 Sinfonietta da camera 9' 30" 1960-61

56 Fantasy for solo violin 8' 1961

57 Introduction, funeral march and fanfare - for brass and percussion c. 3' 30" 1961

58 Concerto for Cello and Orchestra c. 16' 1962

59 String Quartet No. 5 c. 22' 1962-63

60 Les Espagnols à Venise - Opera in one act 40' 1963

61 Four Bagatelles for Trombone and Piano 3' 45" 1963

62 Toccata for piano c. 10' 1964

63 Symphonic Rhapsody - for large orchestra c. 22' 1964-65

64 Three miniature études for piano 2' 20" 1965

65 String Quartet No. 6 c. 18' 1965

66 Suite for violin and piano c. 14' 1965

67 Two melodies for voice and piano 2' 35" 1965

68 A Prayer - for contralto, male choir and orchestra 5' 20" 1965

69 Sonatina for flute, viola and harp 6' 45" 1966

70 Three Caprices for Vibraphone 3' 1966

71 Two songs for choir a cappella 3' 20" 1966

72 String Quartet No. 7 with bass voice 11' 50" 1966

73 Three poems by Georges Bataille for bass voice and piano 1' 50" 1966

74 Motifs - for narrator, flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano 5' 10" 1966-67

75 A Little Suite for piano 5' 15" 1966

76a Two poems by Michel Leiris for voice and piano c. 1' 1966

76b Chanson Dada - 3 melodramas for children’s voices, clarinet, horn, cello and piano 4' 35" 1968

77 Sonnet - for soprano, flute, clarinet, horn, violin and cello 2' 10" 1967

78 Rondo capriccioso for piano 5' 35" 1967

79 Capriccio for flute and strings 12' 1967

80 Four Lieder for voice and piano 2' 35" 1967

81 Suite for nine instruments 12' 15" 1967

82 Legend - for solo soprano, piano and orchestra 8' 50" 1968

83 String Quartet No. 8 c. 9' 1968

84 Saxophone quartet 14' 1969

85 Labyrinthe - A one-act musical drama 45' 1969

86 Four Lieder for bass voice and piano 3' 50" 1969

87 Three Intermezzi for Piano 7' 1970

88 Laboratoire central - A little cantata for narrator, women’s choir and six instruments 8' 35" 1970

89 Scene and Aria - for soprano and orchestra 4' 15" 1970

90 A Little Suite for clarinet sextet 13' 1970

91 Todos caerán - Opera in two acts and five scenes c. 1h 30' 1972

92 Three poems by Pierre Reverdy for vocal quartet and piano 2' 45" 1971

93 String quartet (unfinished) - 1971

Created by Margherita Parise, president of the Association Rene Leibowitz.

List of Arrangements and Transcriptions

Roland de Lassus

• LAUTATE DOMINUM - 12 voices Motet - Transcription for 12 instruments and Etude [1949]

G. Frescobaldi

• TOCCATA cromaticha per l’elevatione, F 12.16 & RECERCAR dopo il Credo, F 12.42 - Transcribed for String Orchestra

J. S. Bach

• CHACONNE, BWV 1004, from the 4th Partita for Solo Violin - Transcribed for orchestra

• PASSACAGLIA AND FUGUE, BWV 582 - Instrumented for 2 Orchestras [1958]

• TOCCATA AND FUGUE, BWV 565 - Orchestrated

W. A. Mozart

• FANTASIA FOR MECHANICAL ORGAN, K.V. 594 - Instrumented for two String Orchestras [1958]

• FUGUE, KV. 401 - Transcribed for 2 Violins and 2 Violoncellos (score not in the association domain)

• FUGUE, KV. 401- Instrumented for 2 String Orchestras (score not in the association domain)

• RONDO, K.V. 616 - Instrumented for Double Woodwind Quintet (score not in the association domain)

• ARIA DE CONCERT - Der Liebe Himmlisches Gefühl - Instrumented for voice and orchestra

• ARIA DE CONCERT - In te spero, o sposo amato - Instrumented for voice and orchestra

F. Schubert

• FANTASIA for piano 4-hands, op. 103 - Orchestrated

• FANTASIA for violin and piano, D. 934 - Instrumented for Violin and Orchestra

• GRAND DUO, op. 140 - Orchestrated

• LEBENSTURME, op. 144 - Orchestrated

G. Verdi

• SEI CANTI - for Soprano and Orchestra (score not in the association domain)

• SEI CANZONE - for Soprano and Orchestra (score not in the association domain)

M. Mussorgsky

• NIGHT ON BALD MOUNTAIN - Orchestration after Rimsky-Korsakov arrangement

A. Schoenberg

• THREE SONGS, op. 48 - Instrumented for Low Voice and Chamber Ensemble

A. Berg

• FOUR SONGS, op. 2 - Instrumented for Soprano and Orchestra (score not in the association domain)

Traditional tunes

• Greensleeves - arrangement for strings and harp (score not in the association domain)

• Londonderry Air - arrangement for strings (score not in the association domain)

Arrangement in collaboration with Janet Maguire

• Paris by Night

Writings

Schoenberg et son École
Paris, L’Arche, 1947

Alban Berg's Five Orchestral Songs after postcard texts by Peter Altenberg, op. 4
1948

Schoenberg and His School
Translated by Dr. Dika Newlin
New York, Philosophical Library, 1949

Qu'est-ce que la musique de Douze Sons?
Liège, Dynamo, 1949

Introduction à la Musique de Douze Sons
Les Variations pour Orchestre, opus 31, d'Arnold Schoenberg
Paris, L'Arche, 1949

L'Artiste et sa Conscience
Esquisse d'une Dialectique de la Conscience Artistique
Paris, L’Arche, 1950

Possibilités de l'Opéra
Liège, Dynamo, 1950

L’Évolution de la Musique
De Bach à Schoenberg
Paris, Corréa, 1951

Histoire de l'Opéra
Paris, Buchet/Chastel, 1957

Erich-Itor Kahn (in collaboration with Konrad Wolff)
Un Grand Représentant de la Musique Contemporaine
Paris, Corréa, 1958

Thinking for Orchestra (in collaboration with Jan Maguire)
Practical Exercises in Orchestration
New York, G. Schirmer, Inc., 1960

Il Pensiero Orchestrale
Esercizi Pratici di Orchestrazione
Bari, Musicali Salvati, 1964

Schoenberg
Paris, Éditions du Seuil, 1969

Le Compositeur et son Double
Paris, Gallimard, 1971

Storia dell’Opera
Milano, Garzanti, 1966

Les Fantômes de l’Opéra
Essais sur le Théâtre Lyrique
Paris, Gallimard, 1972

Traité de Composition (unpublished)
Paris/New York/Paris, 1949-50

Un traité inconnu de la technique de la variation (XIVe siècle)
Translated and annotated by R. Leibowitz

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