Yves Gérard


Yves Gérard is a French musicologist.

Life and career

Born on January 6 1932 in Châlons-sur-Marne, Yves Gérard studied philosophy at the Nancy-Université from 1949 to 1955. Following his graduation, he studied the piano for three years at the Nancy Conservatory. From 1955 to 1956 he studied at the Sorbonne under composer, musicologist and theoretician Jacques Chailley. At the Conservatoire de Paris he studied music history, musicology and aesthetics winning first prize in each of these subjects. He succeeded his teacher, Norbert Dufourcq, as professor of music history and musicology at the Conservatoire in 1975, and retained this post until he retired in 1997. From 1980 to 1983, Gérard served as president of the Société Française de
Musicologie, and he was the French representative to the International Musicological Society from 1982 until 1992.
Gérard is known especially for his scholarly works on the composers Luigi Boccherini and Camille Saint-Saëns. He has also made significant contributions to the study of the chamber music of late-18th century Italy, Spain, and Austria, and to French music of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians writes that his major work has been on the writings of Hector Berlioz. In 1983 he co-edited volume 4 of Berlioz's Correspondance générale, and in 1996 he co-edited Volume 1 of the composer's Critique musicale.

Selected writings

Writings