Alexandre Dénéréaz

Alexandre Dénéréaz composed more than 130 musical works, including four symphonies, several symphonic poems; a piano, violin and cello concerto; string quartets, cantatas, choral works, organ and piano pieces, and songs. His best known publication was the book La musique et la vie intérieure, in which he described the history of the development of musical composition. He first studied in Lausanne then moved to Dresden in 1892. Back in Lausanne in 1896 he was appointed professor at the Lausanne Conservatorium. The same year, he became the organist at Saint-François Church, a position that he held until his death.

His composition submitted for the 1928 art competitions was called Le Cirque and had been composed as early as 1911. Under the name Scènes de la vie de cirque (Scenes from a Circus Life) the symphonic variations were released on CD in 2008. The work consists of 10 parts named Introduction, The Jugglers, Entry of Athletes, The Athletes, The Snake-Charmer, The Beautiful Horsewoman, The Clown, Africans, African Dance and Epilogue.