“Guitare et Musique” n° 65, January, 1971

 

 

I loved and respected Henri TOMASI as much for his human qualities as for the liveliness of his artistic talent. An ardent, passionate musician, his reputation as a ‘character’ stretched beyond the esthetic discrepancies that can separate artists whose individual experience takes them on divergent paths.

What struck me about Henri Tomasi’s personality was that he never ceased – however busy he was with his personal projects – to be interested in current events of every domain. He was always accessible, and would artlessly state his opinion, express his fears or his revolt concerning a variety of events that a hypersensitive nature such as his simply couldn’t overlook or ignore.

Reunited in their sorrow, all of Henri Tomasi’s friends have, I am certain, the same wish: that efforts made in recent times in France finally succeed in giving his lyrical composition the recognition it deserves.

Henri Dutilleux