French Music

[eschiss1]

By the way one of his brothers (hrm, I did not realize before that there were at least 12 children...) Pierre Kunc (1865-1941) has some biographical information available that may lead to something supplementary also (see Wikipedia-Fr here); Pierre and their father, I think, have some works scanned at IMSLP.  I don't know more at present unfortunately.

[jowcol]

Le Bal du Destin (Ballet, 1954) by   Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur


Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (ORTF),
Georges Tzipine, Conductor
Radio Broadcast, October 18, 1965
From the collection of Karl Miller

As far as I can determine (not knowing any French...), this is the complete ballet, as it runs over 40 minutes, and the suite is only supposed to run for 23 minutes.


Before I go any further, let me say I really like this work, and would be interested in anyone as has any Lesur they can share.  He reminds me somewhat of Koechlin, whom I adore, as well as "Petrushka"-era Stravinsky.   It is interesting that he as a member of a movement that was trying to place a more human voice to what was being developed in the Avante-Garde, and Virgil Thompson described the style as Neo-impressionism.

I did a quick search on youtube, and found another work I like (although quite differnent) called the Suite Mediévale, which pretty much lives up to its name.  For some reason, I can't stop listening to the second link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhB0c-cGuOU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QSPm4mY7Kc

He wrote a Dance Symphony in 1958 that I still need to listen to. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpGOXi_Bg-I

I guess the worst I can say about him is that what I've heard is episodic in nature, but some incredible color, strong rhythms, and some memorable lyric moments.  As he was an organist, I'll also be wanting to check out anything he's written for organ.

With all that out of the way, this is whatever else I've been able to dig up on him.  Any other insights are welcome.



Here is one blurb I found:
Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur, composer
Born: November 19, 1908, in Paris
Died: July 2, 2002, in Paris
Studied composition with: the organist-mystic Charles Tournemire

Co-founded: the group La Jeune France in 1936 with fellow composers Olivier Messiaen, André Jolivet, and Yves Beaudrier, who were attempting to re-establish a more human and less abstract form of composition

Other accomplishments: professor of counterpoint at the Schola Cantorum; director of the Opéra National de Paris from 1971-1973; administrator for Radio France, the Orchestre de Paris, the Paris Conservatoire; in 1973 appointed Inspector General for Music at the Ministry of Cultural Affairs

Le cantique des cantiques: his best-known work


Another blurb:
Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur, known often simply as Daniel-Lesur (November 19, 1908 – July 2, 2002) was a French organist and composer. His mother, Alice Lesur, was an accomplished composer in her own right; some of her music was even published.

Daniel-Lesur was a student of Charles Tournemire. In 1935 he became a professor of counterpoint at the Schola Cantorum under its new director, Nestor Lejeune.

The following year he co-founded the group La Jeune France along with composers Olivier Messiaen (with whom he would remain a lifelong friend), André Jolivet and Yves Baudrier, who were attempting to re-establish a more human and less abstract form of composition. La Jeune France developed from the avant-garde chamber music society La spirale, formed by Jolivet, Messiaen, and Daniel-Lesur the previous year.

That same year he, together with Jean Langlais and Jean-Jacques Grunenwald, gave the first performance of Olivier Messiaen's La Nativité du Seigneur.





This is a machine translation from a German Wiki



Jean Yves Daniel Lesur (eigentl. Daniel Jean Yves Lesur, * 19. November 1908 in Paris; † 2. July 2002 ebenda) was a French organist and composer.

The son of the Komponistin Alice Lesur studied de of Paris at the Conservatoire harmony teachings with Jean Gallon and Kontrapunkt with Georges Caussade. Besides it had piano instruction with arm and Ferté and organ and composition instruction with Charles Tournemire, whose assistant at Sainte Clotilde was he from 1927 to 1937. From 1937 to 1944 it was organist of the Benediktinerabtei Sainte Marie.

1935 became Daniel Lesur professor for counterpoint to the Schola Cantorum. it created 1936 with Yves Baudrier, André Jolivet and Olivier Messiaen the Groupe Jeune France, which used itself contrary to the prevailing Neoklassizismus for a expressiven composition style. From 1957 to 1961 he was a director of the Schola Cantorum. Beginning of the 1970er years was he inspector general for music at the French ministry for education and cultural.

Daniel Lesur composed operas, ballet, organ works, choir works and songs.

[britishcomposer]

Here is some more information on Samuel Sandmeier:

Born in 1932, titular organist and composer at Valentigney in Montbéliard, he studied piano with Robert Trimaille (licensee of Ecole Nationale Superieure de Paris) together with Jean  Claude Risset [a much better known avant-garde composer], then with Ms. BASCOURET, professor in the same school. He then turned to the organ, attended the summer organ academies and studied the instrument with Michael STRICKER (Strasbourg) and Michel Chapuis (Paris).

He gave many organ and chamber music concerts in France, Germany, Switzerland, in particular concerts of Baroque music in trio with J. François ALIZON (recorder, Strasbourg) and Niels FERBER (baroque oboe, Geneva) both graduates of the Academy of Basel. He studied writing (harmony, counterpoint ...) with Robert BREARD (Rome Prize) and Jean-Louis GHENT (director of the conservatory of Dijon).

His Concerto for Violin and Orchestra was first performed in 2002 at the International Festival of Music by Alexandre BRUSSILOWSKI Besancon. (Duration: 30 minutes)

The 1st String Quartet was premiered in Mexico in 1999 and broadcast by Mexican radio (duration: 21 minutes).

The Sonata for violin and piano was first performed at the "musicales internationales " of the department Hautes-Alpes by Otfrid NIES, first violin and professor at the University of Kassel (21 min).

Many premieres with the collaboration of teachers of the conservatories Belfort, Montbéliard and Besançon ...


Translated by Google, edited by me.

Source:
http://uncm.asso.free.fr/compositeurs.php?ordre=nom

[jowcol]

Thank you!

[Amphissa]

I've added a couple of pieces by Léon Ernest Boëllmann (1862-1897). The Symphony in F is especially enjoyable.

[Mark Thomas]

.. and the same performance was already uploaded by me here almost a year ago!  Thanks very much for the Dialogue Fantasie.

[Amphissa]

Correction --

I've added another piece by Léon Ernest Boëllmann (1862-1897). The Symphony in F that Mark previously uploaded is especially enjoyable.

[jowcol]

Saraband- Symphonic Poem with Chorus (1907) by Jean Roger-Ducasse


ORTF,  Conducted by A Girard
Radio Broadcast   Feb 2, 1969

From the collection of Karl Miller

If you like the last movement of Debussy's Nocturnes (Sirenes), you will very likely appreciate this work.


I've unearthed a couple of blurbs about the composer.

Short Bio:
A French composer and an educator. Formal name is Jean Jules Aimable Roger-Ducasse. He was born in Bordeaux on the 18th of April in 1873. After a basic musical education in his birthplace, he moved to Paris in 1892 and entered Paris Conservatory to study music under Emile Pessard, Gabriel Fauré, and Andre Gédalge. He was particularly influenced by Faure. After the three years of trials, he obtained the second prize of Prix de Rome in 1902 with his cantata "Alcyone". Then he succeeded the position, from Fauré, of the professor of composition class in Paris Conservatory. Later on, he also succeeded Paul Dukas's orchestration class in 1935 (because of the former professor's death). From 1909, he was appointed as the director of the department of singing in Paris educational committee. His compositional diction can be characterized as typical latter romantic idiom inheriting his teachers (such as G. Fauré or C. Saint-Saëns) dictions with hints of impressionistic colorations in harmonic content. He died in Taillan on the 19th of September in 1954.


Wiki Bio:

Jean Jules Amable Roger-Ducasse (Bordeaux, 18 April 1873 — Le Taillan-Médoc (Gironde), 19 July 1954) was a French composer.

Biography
Jean Roger-Ducasse studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Emile Pessard and André Gedalge, and was the star pupil and close friend of Gabriel Fauré. He succeeded Fauré as professor of composition, and in 1935 he succeeded Paul Dukas as professor of orchestration. His personal style was firmly rooted in the French school of orchestration, in an unbroken tradition from Hector Berlioz through Camille Saint-Saëns. Among his notable pupils are Jehan Alain, Claude Arrieu, Sirvart Kalpakyan Karamanuk, Jean-Louis Martinet, and Francis George Scott.

Compositions
Roger-Ducasse wrote music in nearly all classical forms, and was particularly known for his operatic stage works and orchestral compositions. These include:
•   Au Jardin de Marguerite, 1901-1905 Based on an episode in Goethe's Faust
•   Sarabande, 1907 Symphonic poem with chorus.
•   Suite française, Concerts Calonne, Paris, 1907
•   Marche française, 1914
•   Nocturne de printemps, 1920
•   Nocturne d'hiver, 1921
•   Epithalame for orchestra, 1923
•   Orphée mimodrame lyrique, Opéra Garnier, June 1936 Based on his own libretto, closely following the Greek myth. The production was mounted by Ida Rubinstein.
•   Cantegril, comédie lyrique, Paris Opéra-Comique, 6 February 1931. His most ambitious work, with thirty-two demanding roles, was directed by Masson and Ricou with Roger Bourdin as Cantegril.
•   Petite Suite
•   Variations sur un thème grave ("Pleasant Variations on a serious theme") for harp and orchestra.
•   Ulysse et les sirènes ("Odysseus and the Sirens"), 1937

His piano pieces and chamber music are also noteworthy. He composed a piano quartet, a Romance for cello and piano, and two string quartets; the second, his swan song, debuted 24 May 1953, at the Château de la Brède.

Roger-Ducasse wrote only one work for organ, entitled Pastorale, a masterpiece rarely played in France. Written in 1909 and published by Éditions Durand, it is a challenging virtuoso showpiece. The work has been eclipsed by more recent compositional styles, nevertheless it has remained popular with performers in the United States.

Like Paul Dukas and Maurice Duruflé, Roger-Ducasse was severely self-critical, destroying music that did not meet his exacting standards.

[jowcol]

Jean Louis Martinet : Symphonie en hommage à Jean Philippe Rameau (création)

ON ; M. Rosenthal
(1964-creation)
From the collection of Karl Miller
Radio Broadcast- possibly 1964


Note:  I've haven't been able to find much about Martinent in English, and what little I did was not able to shed much light on this symphony-- I found a French website that did not list this one, but an "In Memoriam" written in 1962-3.  I would describe this work as somewhat turbulent and dramatic, but definitely tonal and approachable,  and also quite engaging.


There is only a brief Wikipedia entry about him in English

Jean-Louis Martinet
Jean-Louis Martinet (born 8 November 1912, Sainte-Bazeille,died 20 December 2010[1]) is a French composer. He studied at the Schola Cantorum with Charles Koechlin and at the Conservatoire de Paris with Jean Roger-Ducasse and Olivier Messiaen. He also studied privately with René Leibowitz. In 1971 he was appointed professor at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal.[2]


However, if you speak French, this may be of more use:
http://www.musimem.com/martinet-autobio.htm

[jowcol]

Aubade for Strings (Op. 89) by Marcel Mihalovici

ORTF, Andre Girard, Cond.
Radio Broadcast, Date unknown

From the collection of Karl Miller


A Romanian by birth, but "considered" to be a French Composer. 

Wikipedia Bio

Marcel Mihalovici (Bucharest, 22 October 1898 – Paris, 12 August 1985) was a French composer born in Romania. He was discovered by George Enescu in Bucharest. He moved to Paris in 1919 (at age 21) to study under Vincent d'Indy. His works include his Sonata number 1 for violin and piano (1920), Mélusine opera (1920, libretto by Yvan Goll), his 1st string quartet (1923), 2nd string quartet (1931), Sonata number 2 for violin and piano (1941), Sonata for violin and cello (1944), Phèdre Opera (1949), Étude in two parts for piano and instrumental ensemble (1951) and Esercizio per archi (1960). Many of his piano works were first performed by his wife and renown concert pianist Monique Haas.

Mihalovici was the original composer for the music of Samuel Beckett's Cascando (1962). His Fifth Symphony features a soprano singing a setting of a Beckett poem, and he used Krapp's Last Tape as the basis for a small opera, Krapp, ou, La dernière bande. His memories of their friendship are recounted in the collected work Beckett at Sixty A Festschrift by John Calder, Calder and Boyars (1967).

[jowcol]

Symphonie pour courdes  by Pierre Dervaux

ORTF, Conductor  Andre Girard
May 2, 1969
Radio Broadcast

From the collection of Karl Miller

Wiki Bio:


Pierre Dervaux (born January 3, 1917 in Juvisy-sur-Orge, France; died February 20, 1992 in Marseilles, France) was a French operatic conductor, composer, and pedagogue. At the Conservatoire de Paris, he studied counterpoint and harmony with Marcel Samuel-Rousseau and Jean and Noël Gallon, as well as piano with Isidor Philipp, Armand Ferté, and Yves Nat. He also served as principal conductor of the Opéra-Comique (1947-53), and the Opéra de Paris (1956-72). In this capacity he directed the French première of Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites. He was also Vice-President of the Concerts Pasdeloup (1949-55), President and Chief conductor of the Concerts Colonne (1958-92), Musical Director of the Orchestre des Pays de Loire ((1971-79) as well as holding similar posts at the Quebec Symphony Orchestra (1968-75), where he collaborated with concertmaster Hidetaro Suzuki, and the Nice Philharmonic (1979-1982).

He taught at the École Normale de Musique de Paris (1964-86), the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal (1965-72) and was also president of the jury of the international conducting competition in Besançon.

Dervaux composed two symphonies, two concertos, a string quartet, a trio and several songs.

In addition to the Légion d'honneur, Dervaux also received the Ordre national du Mérite.

His recordings include: L'Enfance du Christ (Berlioz) in 1959, Les pêcheurs de perles (Bizet) in 1961, and Istar, Wallenstein and La Forêt enchantée (d'Indy) in 1975.

[jowcol]

Concerto pour trio d'anches et orchestra  by Noël Gallon


Trio Daraux
ORTF, Conducted by E Bigot
October 6, 1962
Radio Broadcast

From the collection of Karl Miller

I'd characterize this work as fairly light and playful-- although a  bit introspective in the middle.


Wiki Bio:

Noël Gallon (11 September 1891 - 26 December 1966) was a French composer and music educator. His compositional output includes several choral works and vocal art songs, 10 preludes, a Toccata for piano, a Sonata for flute and bassoon, a Fantasy for piano and orchestra, an Orchestral Suite, and the lyrical drama Paysans et Soldats (1911).

Born in Paris, Gallon was the younger brother of composer Jean Gallon with whom he studied harmony at the Paris Conservatoire. In 1910 he won the Prix de Rome with the cantata Acis et Galathée. In 1920 he joined the faculty of the conservatoire as a professor of solfège. He began teaching counterpoint at the school in 1926 . His many notable students include such well-known composers as Claude Arrieu, Tony Aubin, Jocelyne Binet, Gerd Boder, Paul Bonneau, Pierre Dervaux, Maurice Duruflé, Henri Dutilleux, Ulvi Cemal Erkin, Lukas Foss, Jean Hubeau, Paul Kuentz, Paule Maurice, Xian Xinghai, Olivier Messiaen, and René Saorgin.

[ttle]

Jean Louis Martinet : Symphonie en hommage à Jean Philippe Rameau (création)
[...]
Note:  I've haven't been able to find much about Martinent in English, and what little I did was not able to shed much light on this symphony-- I found a French website that did not list this one, but an "In Memoriam" written in 1962-3.  I would describe this work as somewhat turbulent and dramatic, but definitely tonal and approachable,  and also quite engaging.
[...]
However, if you speak French, this may be of more use:
http://www.musimem.com/martinet-autobio.htm

Since the list of his works was provided by the composer himself, it is definitely reliable. I cannot find the reference right now but I have always thought that the "In Memoriam" symphony and the "Symphonie en hommage à Jean-Philippe Rameau" were one and the same. What troubles me is that the movements of the "In Memoriam" do not quite match the description of the latter (http://boutique.ina.fr/audio/PHD07008870/jean-louis-martinet-symphonie-en-hommage-a-jean-philippe-rameau-creation.fr.html). My guess is that the "In Memoriam" is a revised, final version of the Rameau symphony but I shall try to check it.

[jowcol]

Music of Yves Baudrier



1. Eleanora Symphonic Poem after Poe
2. Radio Outro
ORTF, Andre Girard
Radio Broadcast, Date Unknown

3. Radio Intro
4. Le musicien dans la cité : poème cinématographique
ORTF, Daniel Chabrun
Radio Broadcast, Date Unknown

From the collection of Karl Miller

Baudrier as also a member of  La Jeune France-- (along with Jolivet and Lesur)  a group that tried to put a more "human" and mystical spin on what was brewing up in modernism, and led towards a style that Virgil Thompson called "Neo-Impressionism".

I've found very little about Baudrier in English.

The first work,  Eleonora, suite symphonique pour ondes martenots et petit orchestre d'après un poème d'Edgar Poe, was written in 1938 and used the Ondes Martenot pretty heavily-- I'd have to describe it as eerie-- but if it's dedicated to Poe I wouldn't have it any other way.

The second work was a cinemagraphic poem for an imaginary movie, in 12 continuous movements,  portraying a composer wandering  in Paris.  It was originally written in 1937, and revised twice more, ( in 1947, and in 1964 for a TV special).  I'm not sure which version this is.

[kyjo]

Your contributions to the Downloads here at UC are simply amazing, jowcol. There's some extremely rare music that you upload here, and the bios and piece descriptions are very informative. Your latest uploads in the French department are very interesting and enjoyable. Keep up the good work !