Ida Gotkovsky
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Ida Rose Esther Gotkovsky (26 August 1933 – 15 October 2025) was a French composer and pianist. She was a professor of music theory at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique in France.
Gotkovsky was born in Calais on 26 August 1933. Her father was the violinist Jacques Gotkovsky of the Loewenguth Quartet and her mother also played the violin. Both her brother Ivar (a pianist) and her sister Nell (a violinist) became accomplished musicians. Gotkovsky began composing at the age of eight. She studied at the Paris Conservatoire, where her teachers included Olivier Messiaen and Nadia Boulanger.
She won six prestigious first prize music awards for her compositions, including the Prix Blumenthal (1958), Prix Pasdeloup (1959), Prix de Composition Concours International de Divonne les Bains (1961), Médaille de la Ville de Paris (1963), Grand Prix de la Ville de Paris (1966) and the Prix Lili Boulanger (1967).[1]
Compositions
Gotkovsky's output includes chamber music, symphonies, instrumental music, vocal music, ballets, and operas. Notably, she has contributed many solo and chamber pieces for the saxophone. Her Concerto for Trombone (1978) has been compared to Messiaen, and her Suite for Tuba and piano (1959) reveals the influence of Hindemith.[2] She is also recognized for having written important works for band.[3][4]
Gotkovsky's music credo is: "To create a universal musical art and to realize the oneness of musical expression through the ages by means of a contemporary musical language with powerful structures."
Death
Gotkovsky died on 15 October 2025, at the age of 92.[5]
