Germaine Tailleferre
Encyclopedia
Germaine Tailleferre was a French
composer
and the only female member of the famous composers' group Les Six
.
, Val-de-Marne
, France
, as a young woman she changed her last name to "Tailleferre" to spite her father who had refused to support her musical studies. She studied piano
with her mother at home, composing short works of her own, after which she began studying at the Paris Conservatory
where she met Louis Durey
, Francis Poulenc
, Darius Milhaud
, Georges Auric
and Arthur Honegger
. At the Paris Conservatory her skills were awarded with prizes in several categories. Most notably Tailleferre wrote 18 short works in the Petit livre de harpe de Madame Tardieu for Caroline Tardieu, the Conservatory’s Assistant Professor of Harp
.
With her new friends, she soon was associating with the artistic crowd in the Paris
districts of Montmartre
and Montparnasse
including the sculptor Emmanuel Centore who would eventually marry her sister Jeanne. It was in the Montparnasse atelier of one of her painter friends where the initial idea for Les Six
began. The publication of Jean Cocteau
's manifest Le coq et l'Arlequin resulted in Henri Collet
's media articles that led to instant fame for the group, of which Tailleferre was the only female member.
In 1923, Tailleferre began to spend a great deal of time with Maurice Ravel
at his home in Monfort-L'Amaury. Ravel encouraged her to enter the Prix de Rome
Competition. In 1925, she married Ralph Barton
, an American caricaturist, and moved to Manhattan
, New York
. She remained in the United States
until 1927 when she and her husband returned to France. They divorced shortly thereafter.
Tailleferre wrote many of her most important works during the 1920s, including her 1st Piano Concerto, The Harp Concertino, the Ballets "Le marchand d'oiseaux" (the most frequently performed ballet in the repertoire of the Ballets Suédois
during the 1920s) and "La nouvelle Cythère" which was commissioned by Diaghilev for the ill-fated 1929 season of the famous Ballets Russes
, and "Sous le ramparts d'Athènes" in collaboration with Paul Claudel, as well as several pioneering film scores, including "B'anda" in which she used African themes.
The 1930s was even more fruitful, with the Concerto for Two Pianos, Choeurs, Saxophones and Orchestra, the Violin Concerto, The Operas "Zoulaïna" and "Le marin de Bolivar",and her masterwork, "La cantate de Narcisse" in collaboration with Paul Valéry. Her work in film music included "Le petit chose" by Maurice Cloche and a series of documentaries.
At the outbreak of World War II
, she was forced to leave the majority of her scores at her home in Grasse, with the exception of her recently completed Three Études for Piano and Orchestra. Escaping across Spain
to Portugal
, she found passage on a boat that brought her to America where she lived the war years in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
.
After the war, in 1946, she returned to her home in France where she composed orchestra
l and chamber music
, plus numerous other works including the ballets "Paris-Magie" (with Lise Delarme) and "Parisiana" (for the Royal Ballet of Copenhaugen), The Operas "Il était un petit navire" (with Henri Jeanson
), "Dolores", "La petite sirène" (with Philip Soupault, based on Hans Christian Andersen
's story "The Little Mermaid
") and "Le maître" (to a libretto by Ionesco), The Musical Comedy "Parfums", The Concerto des vaines paroles, for baritone voice, piano and orchestra, the Concerto for Soprano and Orchestra, the Concertino for Flute, Piano and Orchestra, the Second Piano Concerto, the Concerto for Two Guitars and Orchestra, her Second Sonata for Violin and Piano, her Sonata for Harp as well as an impressive number of film and television scores. The majority of this music was not published until after her death.
In 1976, she accepted the post of accompanist for a children's music and movement class at the École alsacienne, a private school in Paris. During the last period of her life, she concentrated mainly on smaller forms, due to increasing problems with arthritis in her hands. She nevertheless produced the Sonate champêtre
for oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and piano, The Sonata for Two Pianos, Choral and Variations for Two Pianos or Orchestra, a series of children's songs (on texts by Jean Tardieu) and pieces for young pianists. Her last major work was the Concerto de la fidelité pour coloratura soprano and orchestra, which was premièred at the Paris Opera the year before her death.
Germaine Tailleferre continued to compose right up until a few weeks before her death, on 7 November 1983 in Paris. She is buried in Quincy-Voisins
, Seine-et-Marne
, France.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and the only female member of the famous composers' group Les Six
Les Six
Les six is a name, inspired by The Five, given in 1920 by critic Henri Collet in an article titled "" to a group of six composers working in Montparnasse whose music is often seen as a reaction against the musical style of Richard Wagner and impressionist music.-Members:Formally, the Groupe des...
.
Biography
Born Marcelle Taillefesse at Saint-Maur-des-FossésSaint-Maur-des-Fossés
Saint-Maur-des-Fossés is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 11.7 km. from the center of Paris.-The abbey:...
, Val-de-Marne
Val-de-Marne
Val-de-Marne is a French department, named after the Marne River, located in the Île-de-France region. The department is situated to the southeast of the city of Paris.- Geography :...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, as a young woman she changed her last name to "Tailleferre" to spite her father who had refused to support her musical studies. She studied piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
with her mother at home, composing short works of her own, after which she began studying at the Paris Conservatory
Conservatoire de Paris
The Conservatoire de Paris is a college of music and dance founded in 1795, now situated in the avenue Jean Jaurès in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, France...
where she met Louis Durey
Louis Durey
-Life:Louis Durey was born in Paris, the son of a local businessman. It was not until he was nineteen years old that he chose to pursue a musical career after hearing a performance of a Claude Debussy work. As a composer he was primarily self-taught. From the beginning, choral music was of great...
, Francis Poulenc
Francis Poulenc
Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and a member of the French group Les six. He composed solo piano music, chamber music, oratorio, choral music, opera, ballet music, and orchestral music...
, Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud was a French composer and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as The Group of Six—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions are influenced by jazz and make use of polytonality...
, Georges Auric
Georges Auric
Georges Auric was a French composer, born in Lodève, Hérault. He was a child prodigy and at age 15 he had his first compositions published. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Georges Caussade, and under the composer Vincent d'Indy at the Schola Cantorum...
and Arthur Honegger
Arthur Honegger
Arthur Honegger was a Swiss composer, who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. He was a member of Les six. His most frequently performed work is probably the orchestral work Pacific 231, which is interpreted as imitating the sound of a steam locomotive.-Biography:Born...
. At the Paris Conservatory her skills were awarded with prizes in several categories. Most notably Tailleferre wrote 18 short works in the Petit livre de harpe de Madame Tardieu for Caroline Tardieu, the Conservatory’s Assistant Professor of Harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
.
With her new friends, she soon was associating with the artistic crowd in the Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
districts of Montmartre
Montmartre
Montmartre is a hill which is 130 metres high, giving its name to the surrounding district, in the north of Paris in the 18th arrondissement, a part of the Right Bank. Montmartre is primarily known for the white-domed Basilica of the Sacré Cœur on its summit and as a nightclub district...
and Montparnasse
Montparnasse
Montparnasse is an area of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail...
including the sculptor Emmanuel Centore who would eventually marry her sister Jeanne. It was in the Montparnasse atelier of one of her painter friends where the initial idea for Les Six
Les Six
Les six is a name, inspired by The Five, given in 1920 by critic Henri Collet in an article titled "" to a group of six composers working in Montparnasse whose music is often seen as a reaction against the musical style of Richard Wagner and impressionist music.-Members:Formally, the Groupe des...
began. The publication of Jean Cocteau
Jean Cocteau
Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, playwright, artist and filmmaker. His circle of associates, friends and lovers included Kenneth Anger, Pablo Picasso, Jean Hugo, Jean Marais, Henri Bernstein, Marlene Dietrich, Coco Chanel, Erik Satie, María...
's manifest Le coq et l'Arlequin resulted in Henri Collet
Henri Collet
Henri Collet was a French composer and music critic who lived in Paris. Today his music is seldom performed and he is best remembered for his 1920 article in Comoedia in which he coined the term Groupe des six to designate a young group of musicians at the Conservatoire de Paris which included...
's media articles that led to instant fame for the group, of which Tailleferre was the only female member.
In 1923, Tailleferre began to spend a great deal of time with Maurice Ravel
Maurice Ravel
Joseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
at his home in Monfort-L'Amaury. Ravel encouraged her to enter the Prix de Rome
Prix de Rome
The Prix de Rome was a scholarship for arts students, principally of painting, sculpture, and architecture. It was created, initially for painters and sculptors, in 1663 in France during the reign of Louis XIV. It was an annual bursary for promising artists having proved their talents by...
Competition. In 1925, she married Ralph Barton
Ralph Barton
Ralph Barton was an American artist best known for his cartoons and caricatures of actors and other celebrities...
, an American caricaturist, and moved to Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. She remained in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
until 1927 when she and her husband returned to France. They divorced shortly thereafter.
Tailleferre wrote many of her most important works during the 1920s, including her 1st Piano Concerto, The Harp Concertino, the Ballets "Le marchand d'oiseaux" (the most frequently performed ballet in the repertoire of the Ballets Suédois
Ballets Suédois
The Ballets suédois was a predominantly Swedish dance ensemble that, under the direction of Rolf de Maré , performed throughout Europe and the United States between 1920 and 1925, rightfully earning the reputation as a “synthesis of modern art” .The Ballets suédois created pieces that negotiated...
during the 1920s) and "La nouvelle Cythère" which was commissioned by Diaghilev for the ill-fated 1929 season of the famous Ballets Russes
Ballets Russes
The Ballets Russes was an itinerant ballet company from Russia which performed between 1909 and 1929 in many countries. Directed by Sergei Diaghilev, it is regarded as the greatest ballet company of the 20th century. Many of its dancers originated from the Imperial Ballet of Saint Petersburg...
, and "Sous le ramparts d'Athènes" in collaboration with Paul Claudel, as well as several pioneering film scores, including "B'anda" in which she used African themes.
The 1930s was even more fruitful, with the Concerto for Two Pianos, Choeurs, Saxophones and Orchestra, the Violin Concerto, The Operas "Zoulaïna" and "Le marin de Bolivar",and her masterwork, "La cantate de Narcisse" in collaboration with Paul Valéry. Her work in film music included "Le petit chose" by Maurice Cloche and a series of documentaries.
At the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, she was forced to leave the majority of her scores at her home in Grasse, with the exception of her recently completed Three Études for Piano and Orchestra. Escaping across Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
to Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, she found passage on a boat that brought her to America where she lived the war years in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
.
After the war, in 1946, she returned to her home in France where she composed orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
l and chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
, plus numerous other works including the ballets "Paris-Magie" (with Lise Delarme) and "Parisiana" (for the Royal Ballet of Copenhaugen), The Operas "Il était un petit navire" (with Henri Jeanson
Henri Jeanson
Henri Jeanson, was a French writer and journalist. He was a "satrap" in the "College of Pataphysics".- As a journalist before World War II :...
), "Dolores", "La petite sirène" (with Philip Soupault, based on Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish author, fairy tale writer, and poet noted for his children's stories. These include "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," "The Snow Queen," "The Little Mermaid," "Thumbelina," "The Little Match Girl," and "The Ugly Duckling."...
's story "The Little Mermaid
The Little Mermaid
"The Little Mermaid" is a popular fairy tale by the Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen about a young mermaid willing to give up her life in the sea and her identity as a mermaid to gain a human soul and the love of a human prince...
") and "Le maître" (to a libretto by Ionesco), The Musical Comedy "Parfums", The Concerto des vaines paroles, for baritone voice, piano and orchestra, the Concerto for Soprano and Orchestra, the Concertino for Flute, Piano and Orchestra, the Second Piano Concerto, the Concerto for Two Guitars and Orchestra, her Second Sonata for Violin and Piano, her Sonata for Harp as well as an impressive number of film and television scores. The majority of this music was not published until after her death.
In 1976, she accepted the post of accompanist for a children's music and movement class at the École alsacienne, a private school in Paris. During the last period of her life, she concentrated mainly on smaller forms, due to increasing problems with arthritis in her hands. She nevertheless produced the Sonate champêtre
Sonate Champêtre (Tailleferre)
The "Sonate champêtre" is a chamber work for oboe, B clarinet, bassoon and piano written by Germaine Tailleferre in 1972...
for oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and piano, The Sonata for Two Pianos, Choral and Variations for Two Pianos or Orchestra, a series of children's songs (on texts by Jean Tardieu) and pieces for young pianists. Her last major work was the Concerto de la fidelité pour coloratura soprano and orchestra, which was premièred at the Paris Opera the year before her death.
Germaine Tailleferre continued to compose right up until a few weeks before her death, on 7 November 1983 in Paris. She is buried in Quincy-Voisins
Quincy-Voisins
Quincy-Voisins is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.-Twin towns:The town is twinned with the village of Braunston in Northamptonshire, England.-External links:* * *...
, Seine-et-Marne
Seine-et-Marne
Seine-et-Marne is a French department, named after the Seine and Marne rivers, and located in the Île-de-France region.- History:Seine-et-Marne is one of the original 83 departments, created on March 4, 1790 during the French Revolution in application of the law of December 22, 1789...
, France.
Selected bibliography
- Janelle Gelfand "Germaine Tailleferre (1892-1983) Piano and Chamber works", Doctoral Dissertation, 1999 University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music
- Laura Mitgang "Germaine Tailleferre : Before, During and After Les Six" in The Musical Woman, Vol. 11 Judith Lang Zaimont, editor (Greenwood Press 1987)
- Caroline Potter/Robert Orledge : Germaine Tailleferre (1892-1983) : A Centenary Appraisal" Muziek & Wetenshap 2 (Summer 1992) pp. 109-130
- Robert Shapiro "Germaine Tailleferre : a bio-Bibliography" (Greenwood Press 1994)
- Samuel Anthony Silva "In Her Own Voice: Exploring the Role of the Piano in the Deuxieme Sonate pour Violine et Piano by Germaine Taillferre", Doctoral Dissertation, 2008 University of Memphis Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music
External links
- Suite Burlesque for piano duet (1981) in YoutubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....