René Gerber (1908 - 2006)

René Gerber was a pupil of Volkmar Andreae in Zurich and then opted, like many of his French-speaking colleagues, for a comparison with French teachers, including Paul Dukas, Pierre Dupont and Nadia Boulanger. He thus underwent a definitive influence in the direction of French clarity and the well-defined, diatonic structures favoured by neo-Classicism. He was director of the Neuchâtel Conservatory until 1951, when he retired to devote himself to his own art gallery and composition. Gerber was a prolific orchestral composer and also wrote two operas, a genre little frequented by Swiss composers.