Ballif, Claude (André François)

Ballif, Claude (André François), French composer and pedagogue; b. Paris, May 22, 1924. After training at the Bordeaux Cons. (1942–48), he took courses with Aubin, N. Gallon, and Messiaen at the Paris Cons. (1948–51). He then studied with Blacher and Rufer at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik (1953–55), and also attended Scherchen’s classes in Darmstadt. He was associated with the French Radio and Television in Paris (1959–63), and then was a prof. there at the École Normal de Musique (1963–65). After serving as a prof. at the Rheims Cons. (1964–71), he was prof. of analysis (1971–90) and assoc. prof. of composition (1982–90) at the Paris Cons. He subsequently was prof. of composition at the Sevran Cons, from 1990 to 2000. In 1984 he was made a Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres and in 1994 a Commandeur de l’Ordre National du Mérite. As a composer, Bailiff has followed an independent course, developing a system he describes as metatonality, notable for its avoidance of the extremes of diatonicism and chromaticism.