French Music

[jowcol]

Thanks, although none of this would have been possible without Karl Miller, who provided me with a LOT of material to share here.  He is a strong advocate that music like this (which is not commercially supported) needs to be shared for it to stay alive, and the worse "collections" of this type of music are the ones that don't share, and worse yet, are on media that is deteriorating over time.

All I've been doing is "ripping" the sources he sends, and trying to add a little information about each artist or work.  (I would hesitate to call this research-- it is more like "Scrap Booking"- it's a matter of what I can find a a few minutes).  I still have a couple more discs of less well known  French composers to share, so stay tuned! 

[kyjo]

Thanks for being so unselfish, jowcol. Gosh, what would we do without Karl Miller (or you, of course )!

[jowcol]

Symphony 2 by Elsa Barraine


Orchestra Nationale, P. de Frietas-Branco
Radio broadcast, Feb 5, 1952
From the collection of Karl Miller

NOTE: This is evidently a different performance than the Barraine 2nd already posted.

Wikipedia Bio on Barraine:

Elsa Jacqueline Barraine (13 February 1910 – 20 March 1999) was a French composer. Born in Paris, she was the daughter of cellist Alfred Barraine. She studied with Jean Gallon (harmony), Abel Estyle (piano), George Caussade (Fugue), and Paul Dukas (composition) at the Conservatoire de Paris. She won first prize for both harmony (1925) and piano accompaniment (1927) from the conservatory.[1]

In 1929 Barraine won first prize at the Prix de Rome for her cantata La Vierge guerrière; having received second prize at the contest the year before for her Heracles à Delpes. From 1936-1939 she was the directorof vocal music for Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française. During World War II she was an active member of the Front National des Musiciens which resisted German occupation. From 1944-1946 she was director of the Orchestre National de France and music director of the record label and music publishing house Le Chant du Monde. She participated in the Association des musiciens progressistes in 1949 along with Serge Nigg, Roger Desormiere, Louis Durey, and Charles Koechlin.[1]

Barraine joined the faculty of the Conservatoire de Paris in 1953, initially as a teacher of harmony. She later taught musical analysis at the conservatoire from 1969-1973. She served as the Director of Music at the French Ministry of Culture from 1972-1974.[1]

[jowcol]

Tableaux Hindous by Jean Hubeau


ORTF,  Conductor E. Bigot
Radio Broadcast, Date Unknown

From the collection of Karl Miller

WOW!!

I really, really, really love this work!  Of all of the esoteric ORTF broadcasts I've been posting over the last couple of weeks, this one is the winner! 
It sounds to me like a very organic blend of late 19th century orientalism, early 20th Century impressionism, and a couple inspirational passages that Vaughan Williams or Bax would have approved of.  Wonderful orchestration, some haunting melodies.. I've been unable to listen to anything else for the last couple of days.

I have not been able to find much on the web about this work or when it was written, but I'd have to nominate Hubeau as the Unsung Composer of the Month^TM.

(or course, your mileage may vary...)

Wikipedia Bio:

Jean Hubeau (22 July 1917 – 19 August 1992) was a French pianist, composer and pedagogue.

Admitted at the age of 9 years to the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, he studied composition with Paul Dukas, piano with Lazare Lévy, harmony with Jean Gallon, and counterpoint with Noël Gallon. He received a first prize in piano in 1930 at 13 years.

In 1934, he received the second Prix de Rome with his cantata The legend of Roukmani (first prize was awarded to Eugène Bozza). The following year, he was honored by Louis Diémer.

In 1941, when Claude Delvincourt was appointed director of the Conservatoire, Hubeau was appointed to the vacancy left by Delvincourt at the head of the Music Academy in Versailles. In addition, he took the post of professor of chamber music of the Paris Conservatory from 1957 to 1982 where he trained many students such as Jacques Rouvier, Géry Moutier, Olivier Charlier and Sonia Wieder-Atherton.

He was also a pianist known especially for his recordings of Gabriel Fauré, Robert Schumann and Dukas, which are recognized as benchmark versions.

[kyjo]

The Hubeau is a really cool piece ! I wonder what else he composed besides the cantata mentioned. Thanks as always, jowcol!

[JimL]

E. Bigot is Eugène Bigot (1888-1965).