Life
Olivier Alain was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, into a musical family. His father was the organist and composer Albert Alain (1880–1971), as well as his elder brother Jehan Alain (1911–1940), and his sister, French organist Marie-Claire Alain (1926–2013). Olivier studied at the Paris Conservatory, where he received first prizes in composition (1951, class of Tony Aubin) and musical analysis (1950, class of Olivier Messiaen).
In 1950, he became director of the conservatory in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, where he worked until 1964. From 1960-1974, he served as director of the École César Franck in Paris, and in 1976 founded the Conservatoire National de Région in Paris, whose director he was until 1985, and where he taught classes in musical analysis and chamber music. His notable students include composers Alain Gagnon.
Olivier Alain's catalog of musical compositions contains almost 170 compositions of various genres, most of which are still unpublished. He also published a book on harmony (Paris, 1965) and a monograph on Johann Sebastian Bach (Paris, 1970). His comprehensive chronology and analysis of the life and complete works of J. S. Bach is still unpublished. His discovery of the 14 Canons on the first 8 fundamental notes of the aria from the Goldberg Variations (BWV 1087) in Strasbourg in 1974 is often regarded as one of the greatest Bach-source finds of the 20th century.
Olivier Alain died in 1994 in Paris, France.
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