Honegger pronunciation

Arthur Honegger (10 March 1892 - 27 November 1955) was a Swisscomposer, who was born in Le Havre, France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. He was a member of the group of composers called Les Six. His most popular piece of music is an orchestral work called Pacific 231, which imitates the sound of a steamlocomotive.

His full name was Oscar-Arthur Honegger, but his first name was never used. He studied harmony and violin in Paris until his parents moved to Zürich, Switzerland, when he studied at the Conservatory there. He then went back to Paris to study with Charles-Marie Widor and Vincent d'Indy. He wrote a balletLe dit des jeux du monde in 1918. In 1926 he married Andrée Vaurabourg, a pianist and fellow student at the Paris Conservatoire. They often went on tour together, and his wife played the piano parts to his compositions. The couple had one daughter, Pascale, born in 1932. Honegger also had a son, Jean-Claude (1926-2003) whose mother w John williams composer biography!