François Lesure (Paris, 23 May 1923 - 21 June 2001) was a French musicologist.
He studied the Sorbonne, the École nationale des chartes, the École pratique des hautes études and the Conservatoire de Paris: his education was as much as a historian as an archivist and musicologist. In 1950, he became a curator of the music department of the National Library of France, then the main conservator of that institute from 1970 to 1988. In 1965 he was appointed professor of musicology at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and in 1973 he studied Solange Corbin as main studies Director d'études) at the 'École pratique des hautes études'. Lesure organized major exhibitions at the Bibliothèque Nationale and the Opéra (Mozart, 1956; Debussy, 1962; Berlioz, 1969; Two Centuries French Opera, 1972); Debussy and Symbolism in the Villa Medici in Rome (1984) From 1953 to 1967 he became charged with the central secretariat of the Répertoire International des Sources Musicales (RISM), and led the publication of the parts dedicated to the printed collections of the 16th and 17th centuries (Munich, 1960), after the 18th century (Munich, 1964) , as well as the writings of music (Munich, 1971). He led the collection of le Pupitre, published by Heugel, and dedicated to old music from 1800 until 1967. From 1983 he led the editions of the complete work of Claude Debussy at Durand publishing house.
François Lesure is known as a specialist of the 16th century and of the music sociology. He was chairman of the Société Française musicology from 1971 to 1974. We also thanked important publications about Claude Debussy: including a catalog of œuvres (1977), with an overview of all his compositions. When he died, he was the Knight in the Legion of Honor and the National Order of Merit, Commander in the Order of Arts and Literature, Honorary Music Librarians of the National Library of France, and still employed as Director of Ethics. the École Pratique des Hautes Études. He died of heart attack and left his wife, the musicologist Anik Devriès-Lesure. Publications (selection)
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