Rouget, Gilbert

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Rouget, Gilbert

Rouget, Gilbert , French ethnomusicologist; b. Paris, July 9, 1916. He studied at the Sorbonne in Paris under André Schaeffner and Constantin Brāiloiu (1935–42). He joined the ethnomusicology dept. at the Musée de l’Homme in 1941, succeeding Schaeffner as director in 1965; also became director of research at CNRS in 1972. During expeditions to equatorial and western Africa (1946–70), he made 3 films in collaboration with J. Rouch: Sortie des novices de Sakpata; Batteries dogon: Éléments pour une étude des rhythmes; and Danses des reines a Porto-Novo. His field of study focuses on the music of Africa, particularly that of southern Benin; he has collected many recordings and written a number of articles, the originality and scholarship of which have made substantial contributions to African ethnomusicology.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire