Henri Pousseur

Henri Pousseur was born on 23 June 1929 in Malmedy (Belgium). His youth was shaped by the changes and cruelties of World War II in which Malmedy was conquered by the German Nazi regime in 1940, freed by the American Allies in September 1944, overran by a German attack in December, recaptured and accidentally bombed by the Allies shortly afterwards. That means Henri Pousseur alternately attended Belgian and German schools before he finally finished school in 1947. In preparation for his musical studies he took course under Ocatve and Eugene Micha in Stavelot, a small neighbour village to Malmedy.
In 1947 Henri Pousseur moved to Liege to study at the local conservatory under Pierre Froidebise (organ) and later completed his studies at the Brussels conservatory.
After his studies Henri Pousseur became connected with the leading avant-garde circles of his time. He worked at the Studio für elektronische Musik of the Westdeutscher Rundfunk in Cologne, where he met Karlheinz Stockhausen and joined the emerging group of composers exploring serialism and electronic sound. Henri Pousseur’s own works of this period show an increasing interest in open form and structural flexibility, culminating in pieces such as Scambi (1957), one of the earliest modular tape compositions. During the 1960s Pousseur developed his distinctive “generalized mobility” approach, integrating serial procedures with quotation techniques and variable forms. Works such as Votre Faust (1968), written in collaboration with Michel Butor, exemplify his attempt to reconcile avant-garde innovation with broader cultural and dramatic frameworks. His compositional language frequently combined strict organisation with performer choice, and he remained committed to the idea of music as a social and communicative art.
Beside his activities as a composer Henri Pousseur held significant academic positions in Cologne, Basel, and in the United States at SUNY Buffalo, as well as in his native Belgium. From 1970 until his retirement in 1988 he taught at the University and Conservatory of Liege, where he also founded the Centre de recherches et de formation musicales de Wallonie, in 2010 renamed as Centre Henri Pousseur. 
Henri Pousseur died on 6 March 2009 in Brussels (Belgium).

Humeurs du Futur quotidien

In my possession is the autograph working manuscript of the composition "Humeurs du futur quotidien" by Henri Pousseur. The work is scored for 2 narrators and orchestra and was completed on 7 February 1978 in Malmedy, sccording to the manuscript. The text used in the composition was written by Michel Butor and Henri Pousseur.

The title page of the manuscript shows that Henri Pousseur was uncertain about the title of the composition. It seems that a first title was "Echappees sur le futur quotidien" and subtitled "d'apres '100 phrases pour les eventails d'Arnold Schoenberg' ". A second version was "Cent phrases pour les eventails du jeune chien (ou echappees sur le futur quotidien)". Both title versions are written side by side on the title page, but the first version is encircled and the title crossed out with the new title "Humeurs du futur quotidien".

The work was premiered shortly after its completion on 12 March 1978 in Paris by an unknown orchestra and narrators. Only the conductor Charles Bruck is known to my knowledge. The score was later published by Suvini Zerboni.