He studied at Lycée Buffon in Paris. He earned his baccalauréat in elementary mathematics, then entered Paris National Conservatory of Music in 1944 and began studying piano under Armand Ferté, composition under Tony Aubin, and analysis under Olivier Messiaen. While at the conservatory, between 1948 and 1953 he received five first prizes (in piano, chamber music, analysis, composition, and harmony classes). He also won the Grand Prix de Rome in 1953 with his cantata La boîte de Pandore (Pandora's Box). The following year, he went to Rome, where he stayed at the Villa Medici until 1958. In 1960, he was appointed as a professor of solfège in the Paris National Conservatory, then counseller of piano study (Conseilleur aux Etudes) in 1966, and analysis in 1971. In addition, he taught composition at the Ecole Normale from 1983 to 1988, and analysis from 1988 to 1998. On an invitation from Chinese government, he became a professor of composition at the Central Academy in Beijing. He received numerous awards as a composer, among them the Paris Civil Award in 1991, the Charles Cros Award, and the Record Academy Award in 1995. His many works, which include symphonies, concertos, ballets, and ensemble and chamber music, are performed throughout France, Germany, and Italy as well as in the United States and Canada. His music is essentially melodic, often using modal scales over rich and varied structures.
Jacques Castérède Alto & Piano Sonata, III mvt.
Stage
Chamber Opera 'The Parace of Miracle' la cour des miracles (1954) {sop, msp, alto, btn, orch}
Oratorio 'The book of Job' le livre de Job (1958) {recit, tnr, btn, bss, choir, orch}
Ballet 'Basketball' (1959) {hrp, p, perc, orch}
Ballet 'Goal', But (1959)
Orchestral
String Symphony No.1, 1ère symphonie pour cordes (1952) {strings}
'La folle nuit de n'importe ou' (1955) {orch, clvcn, hrp, perc}
'A Great Fear', La grande peur (1955) {martenot, 2p, child-choir, sop, fl, orch}
'Five Symphonic Dances', Cinq danses symphoniques (1956) {orch, p, hrp}
'Music for a Novel of Poe', Musique pour un conte d'Edgar Allan Poe (1957) {hrp, clsta, xylo, vib, p, recit, orch}
'Three Movement Suite in the Memory of Honegger', Suite en trois mouvements à la memoire d'Honegger (1957)
'Rubens's Picture of Jesus's Descent from the Cross', La déscente de croix de Rubens (1958)
Symphonic Suite 'Ariane's Yarn', Le fil d'Ariane (1959)
Symphony No.2, Symphonie No.2 (1960)
Prelude and Fugue, Prélude et fugue (1960) {strings}
'Pamplemousse' (1962)
'Sophie-Dorothée' (1962)
'Promenade of Spring', Promenade printaniere (1963)
