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Les Six Reunions - 1950s Onwards

Tailleferre's life from the 1950s onwards, as she continued to write her trademark inventive music, including commissions from Radio France and an experiment with serialism.

Germaine Tailleferre, celebrated as a member of "Les Six" continues to write her trademark inventive music, with several commissions from Radio France and a brief experiment with serialism.

There can't be many instances where studying music is likened to being a street-walker on one of the most shady streets in Paris. That was the accusation Germaine Tailleferre's father hurled at her, a child prodigy who wanted to take her music studies more seriously. It fell to Tailleferre's enterprising mother to come up with a solution. After her father left for work, Tailleferre was escorted to her music lessons each day by some obliging local nuns.
This unpromising start turned into a long and largely successful career in which Tailleferre continued to write music up to her death, at the age of 91, in 1983.
Fame found Tailleferre early on, in the 1920s, when she was a member of the group of musicians eventually titled "Les Six". Initially championed by Erik Satie and Jean Cocteau, two of the most influential voices among the Parisian avant-garde, the group, which comprised Darius Milhaud, Arthur Honegger, Georges Auric, Francis Poulenc, Louis Durey and Tailleferre, prospered in a heady environment of artistic expression and friendship. Extending across the Arts, they collaborated with Picasso, Georges Braque and Marie Laurencin and poets like Paul Claudel, Paul Valery, Guillaume Apollinaire and Max Jacob.
Two disastrous marriages and the occupation of France during the second world war curtailed Tailleferre's musical activities and may at least in part explain why her early fame dwindled in later years. Yet, while much of her music remains in manuscript form, including a large body of music for film, television and radio, happily this shadowy figure among "Les Six" is returning to the limelight. Presenting her work for the first time on "Composer of the Week", Tailleferre's published legacy reveals a rich treasure trove of chamber works, solo piano, concertos, ballets, operas and songs.

Today Donald Macleod explores Tailleferre's life from the 1950s onwards. Punctuated by a series of commemorations marking her association with the artistic group of friends "Les Six", Tailleferre's projects were as varied as ever, including a series of comic operas and a chamber opera, "The Little Mermaid", after the famous story by Hans Christian Andersen.

1 hour

Last on

Fri 17 Apr 2015 18:30

Music Played

  • Germaine Tailleferre

    Romance Du Prisonnier

    Performer: Claude Collet. Singer: Mario Hacquard.
    • Polymnie Pol 160650.
    • Polymnie.
    • 8.
  • Germaine Tailleferre

    La Petite Sirene - Excerpt from Act 1

    Singer: Berthe Kal. Conductor: Michel Le Conte. Orchestra: Orchestre national de France. Singer: André Vessières.
  • Germaine Tailleferre

    Partita For Piano

    Performer: Judith Pfeiffer.
    • Drey-Gaido: CD 21004.
    • Drey-Gaido.
    • 22.
  • Germaine Tailleferre

    Sonata For Clarinet Solo

    Performer: Deborah Marshall.
    • Troubadisc: Tro CD 01406.
    • Troubadisc.
    • 9.
  • Germaine Tailleferre

    Hommage A Rameau For 2 Pianos And Percussion

    Performer: Gianluca Carollo. Performer: Carolo Miotto. Performer: Renator Maioli. Performer: Antonio Marotta. Performer: Aldo Orvieto. Performer: Tommaso Castiglioni. Conductor: Guido Facchin.
    • Dynamic CDS 720/1-2.
    • Dynamic.
    • 1.
  • Germaine Tailleferre

    Trio For Piano, Violin And Cello

    Performer: Renate Eggebrecht. Performer: Friedemann Kupsa. Performer: Angela Gassenhuber.
    • Troubadisc: Tro CD 01406.
    • Troubadisc.
    • 17.
  • Germaine Tailleferre

    Pancarte Pour Une Porte D'Entree

    Performer: Anna Tilbrook. Singer: Ruby Hughes.

Broadcasts

  • Fri 17 Apr 2015 12:00
  • Fri 17 Apr 2015 18:30

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