Knowra Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (1892–1955) was a Swiss composer of orchestral, choral, and stage works. His best-known works include the symphonic poem Pacific 231 and the oratorio King David .
Pacific 231 : A 1923 symphonic movement by Honegger that depicts the motion of a steam locomotive through orchestral sound. Its driving rhythms and orchestral effects made it Honegger’s most famous piece.
Les Six : A group of six French composers associated with a diverse, anti-Romantic musical movement in the early twentieth century. Honegger was grouped with Les Six, though his musical style differed from several members’.
Paul Claudel : A French poet, playwright, and diplomat whose writing inspired major works by twentieth-century composers. Claudel wrote the texts for Honegger’s Joan of Arc at the Stake and Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher .
Le Havre : A port city in Normandy, France, where Arthur Honegger was born in 1892 to Swiss parents. Honegger’s birthplace links his Swiss family background to his early life in France.
Mouvement perpétuel : A 1910s piano work by Honegger, among his earliest published compositions. Its early popularity helped bring the young composer public attention.
King David : An oratorio by Honegger, first composed as incidental music for a biblical drama and later arranged for concert performance. Its success established Honegger as a major composer of dramatic choral music.
Symphonic poem : A one-movement orchestral work that develops a nonmusical subject or narrative through musical form. Pacific 231 adapts this genre to portray mechanical motion.
Jean Cocteau : A French poet, playwright, filmmaker, and artist associated with modernist circles in the early twentieth century. Cocteau supplied the libretto for Honegger’s opera Antigone .
Zurich : The largest city in Switzerland and a major center of the country’s German-speaking culture. Honegger studied music in Zurich before continuing his education in Paris.
Symphony No. 2 (Honegger) : Honegger’s 1941 symphony for strings and trumpet, composed during the Second World War. Its tense musical language reflects the pressures of wartime Europe.
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