GERMAINE TAILLEFERRE  

(1892 - 1983)

One of the lesser-known members of Les Six in Paris in the 1920s, Germaine Tailleferre was associated directly with Auric, Honegger and Milhaud in Cocteau’s satirical Les Mariés de la Tour Eiffel. Influenced by the clarity and simplicity of Satie, and by her teacher Ravel, she wrote music that later ventured into explorations of new techniques, without ever deserting her original inspiration.
Stage Works
Tailleferre’s stage works include the 1921 collaboration with other members of Les Six Les Mariés de la Tour Eiffel. Other works for the theatre range from the 1923 ballet Le Marchand d’oiseaux (‘The Bird-Seller’) to the 1961 chamber opera Le Maître (‘The Master’), based on Ionesco.
Chamber Music
Examples of Tailleferre’s chamber music are found in her two violin sonatas and her Violin Sonatina, as well as in her Jeux de plein air (‘Games in the Open Air’) for two pianos.

Chamber Music - SAINT-SAENS, C. / MILHAUD, D. / DEBUSSY, C. / HONEGGER, A. (French Music for Clarinet and Piano) (Veglianti, Polimanti)
Naxos Regular CD 9.70166 
Arabesque Germaine Tailleferre – Ouverture - 1953 recording
Valérie Milot – Sonata for Solo Harp / I. Allegretto Various Artists – Atmosphere: Winter
Alexandre Tharaud – Tailleferre: Valse lente  – Autograph
Manuel Zigante – Trio Pour Piano, Violon Et Violoncelle (1916-17, Rev. 1978) Ed. Lemoine: I. Allegro Animato Cristina Ariagno, Massimo Marin, Manuel Zigante – Germaine Tailleferre: Chamber Music
Manuel Zigante – Trio Pour Piano, Violon Et Violoncelle (1916-17, Rev. 1978) Ed. Lemoine: III. Moderato Cristina Ariagno, Massimo Marin, Manuel Zigante – Germaine Tailleferre: Chamber Music
Germaine Tailleferre – Fleurs de France: I. Jasmin de Provence Cristina Ariagno – Tailleferre: Chamber Music and Piano Music
Germaine Tailleferre – Fleurs de France: II. Coquelicot de Guyenne Cristina Ariagno – Tailleferre: Chamber Music and Piano Music
Germaine Tailleferre – Fleurs de France: III. Rose d'Anjou Cristina Ariagno – Tailleferre: Chamber Music and Piano Music
Germaine Tailleferre – Fleurs de France: IV. Tournesol du Languedoc Cristina Ariagno – Tailleferre: Chamber Music and Piano Music
Germaine Tailleferre – Fleurs de France: V. Anthémis du Roussillon Cristina Ariagno – Tailleferre: Chamber Music and Piano Music
Germaine Tailleferre – Fleurs de France: VI. Lavandin de Haute-Provence Cristina Ariagno – Tailleferre: Chamber Music and Piano Music
Germaine Tailleferre – Images  Porter String Quartet – Tailleferre: The Music of Germaine Tailleferre
Germaine Tailleferre – Bretagne Porter String Quartet – Tailleferre: The Music of Germaine Tailleferre
Cristina Ariagno – Concertino for Harp and Piano: I. Allegretto   – Tailleferre: Musique pour Piano, Harpe, Chant
Cristina Ariagno – Concertino for Harp and Piano: II. Lento   – Tailleferre: Musique pour Piano, Harpe, Chant
Cristina Ariagno – Concertino for Harp and Piano: III. Rondo  – Tailleferre: Musique pour Piano, Harpe, Chant
Jennifer Swartz – 5 Preludes: No. 1. Quietude Various Artists – Grandjany / Hindemith / Lizotte / Salzedo / Tailleferre: Solo Harp Music
Jennifer Swartz – 5 Preludes: No. 2. Iridescence Various Artists – Grandjany / Hindemith / Lizotte / Salzedo / Tailleferre: Solo Harp Music
Jennifer Swartz – 5 Preludes: No. 3. Introspection Various Artists – Grandjany / Hindemith / Lizotte / Salzedo / Tailleferre: Solo Harp Music
Jennifer Swartz – 5 Preludes: No. 4. Lamentation Various Artists – Grandjany / Hindemith / Lizotte / Salzedo / Tailleferre: Solo Harp Music
Jennifer Swartz – 5 Preludes: No. 5. Whirlwind Various Artists – Grandjany / Hindemith / Lizotte / Salzedo / Tailleferre: Solo Harp Music
Jennifer Swartz – Suite Galactique, Op. 39: I. Exosphere Various Artists – Grandjany / Hindemith / Lizotte / Salzedo / Tailleferre: Solo Harp Music
Jennifer Swartz – Suite Galactique, Op. 39: II. Hymne au Bon Combat Various Artists – Grandjany / Hindemith / Lizotte / Salzedo / Tailleferre: Solo Harp Music
Jennifer Swartz – Suite Galactique, Op. 39: III. Scherzo del Pueblo Various Artists – Grandjany / Hindemith / Lizotte / Salzedo / Tailleferre: Solo Harp Music
Marcia Eckert, piano/Ruth Ehrlich, violin – Violin Sonata No. 2: I. Allegro non troppo Germaine Tailleferre – Tailleferre, G.: Violin Sonatas Nos. 1 and 2 / Pastorales / Berceuse / Romance / Impromptu / Rondo / Choral / Gaillarde
Marcia Eckert/Ruth Ehrlich – Violin Sonata No. 2: II. Adagietto Germaine Tailleferre – Tailleferre, G.: Violin Sonatas Nos. 1 and 2 / Pastorales / Berceuse / Romance / Impromptu / Rondo / Choral / Gaillarde
Marcia Eckert/Ruth Ehrlich – Violin Sonata No. 2: III. Finale: Allegro Germaine Tailleferre – Tailleferre, G.: Violin Sonatas Nos. 1 and 2 / Pastorales / Berceuse / Romance / Impromptu / Rondo / Choral / Gaillarde
Marcia Eckert/Ruth Ehrlich – Violin Sonata No. 1: I. Modere sans lenteur Germaine Tailleferre – Tailleferre, G.: Violin Sonatas Nos. 1 and 2 / Pastorales / Berceuse / Romance / Impromptu / Rondo / Choral / Gaillarde
Marcia Eckert/Ruth Ehrlich – Violin Sonata No. 1: II. Scherzo: Pas tres vite et sans rigueur Germaine Tailleferre – Tailleferre, G.: Violin Sonatas Nos. 1 and 2 / Pastorales / Berceuse / Romance / Impromptu / Rondo / Choral / Gaillarde
Marcia Eckert /Ruth Ehrlich– Violin Sonata No. 1: III. Assez lent Germaine Tailleferre – Tailleferre, G.: Violin Sonatas Nos. 1 and 2 / Pastorales / Berceuse / Romance / Impromptu / Rondo / Choral / Gaillarde
Marcia Eckert /Ruth Ehrlich– Violin Sonata No. 1: IV. Final: Tres vite Germaine Tailleferre – Tailleferre, G.: Violin Sonatas Nos. 1 and 2 / Pastorales / Berceuse / Romance / Impromptu / Rondo / Choral / Gaillarde
 

Louis Durey

The role of Sadko today is being played by Louis XIV. Scooter the Wonder Dog will be played by Louis Hayward.   The role of the Bobsie Twins is being played by Louis Tiffany and Louis Vuitton. The role of Ken Moss is being played by Louis Pasteur.  The role of Brian Carpenter is being played by Louis Armstrong . In the third half of the program, the role of Lenny the Listener will  be played by Louis Prima. Our featured French composer and member of Les Six is Louis Durey
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 importance in Durey’s productivity. His L'Offrande Lyrique (1914) has been called the first piece of French twelve-tone music.The first of his works to gain recognition in the music world was for a piano duet titled Carillons. At a 1918 concert this work attracted the interest of Maurice Ravel, who recommended him to his publisher.
Durey communicated with his colleague, Darius Milhaud, and asked him to contribute a piano piece that would bring together the six composers who, in 1920 were dubbed Les Six. This joint project was L'Album des Six. Despite the acclaim they received, Durey did not participate in the group's 1921 collaborative work Les mariés de la tour Eiffel, a decision which was a source of great irritation to Jean Cocteau.
After the Les Six period, Durey continued with his career. Never feeling the need to belong to the musical establishment, he voiced his growing left-wing ideals that put him in an artistic isolation that lasted for the rest of his life.
Following the break with Cocteau, Durey withdrew to his home in Saint-Tropez, Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, in the south of France. In addition to chamber music, at Saint-Tropez he wrote his only opera, L'occasion. In 1929, he married Anne Grangeon and moved back to Paris the following year. In the mid-thirties he joined the Communist Party and became active in the newly formed Fédération Musicale Populaire. During the years of the Nazi occupation of World War II, he worked with the French Resistance as a prominent member of the Front National des Musiciens and wrote anti-Fascist songs. After the war he embraced hard-line communism and his uncompromising political attitudes hindered his career. Needing to earn a living, in 1950 he accepted the post of music critic for a communist newspaper in Paris.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s he continued to compose but produced nothing of significance. His work on Vietnamese themes in the 1960s, based on his disgust with the turmoil France had left in Vietnam (formerly French Indochina) and the ensuing Vietnam War, seemed at that time in Paris to be a voice in the wilderness. He set poems by Ho Chi Minh and Mao Zedong. Other works include a string quartet, a flute sonatina, and Images à Crusoe.
Probably the least remembered of Les Six, Louis Durey died at Saint-Tropez in 1979.
Arundo-Donax Ensemble – Anime (Louis Durey)  – Les Six - I Sei
Arundo-Donax Ensemble – Lento (Louis Durey) – Les Six - I Sei
Arundo-Donax Ensemble – Tres Anime (Louis Durey) – Les Six - I Sei
Louis Durey – Le printemps au fond de la mer - 1953 recording  Les Six – Le Groupe des Six: Selected Works 1915-1945
Maria Lagios / Elizabeth Buccheri – La Tortue: Louis Durey  Maria Lagios, soprano Elizabeth Buccheri, piano – Songs of Les Six
Maria Lagios / Elizabeth Buccheri – Le Cheval: Louis Durey Maria Lagios, soprano Elizabeth Buccheri, piano – Songs of Les Six
Maria Lagios / Elizabeth Buccheri – Le Serpent: Louis Durey Maria Lagios, soprano Elizabeth Buccheri, piano – Songs of Les Six
Maria Lagios / Elizabeth Buccheri – La Puce: Louis Durey Maria Lagios, soprano Elizabeth Buccheri, piano – Songs of Les Six
Maria Lagios / Elizabeth Buccheri – La Sauterelle: Louis Durey Maria Lagios, soprano Elizabeth Buccheri, piano – Songs of Les Six
Maria Lagios / Elizabeth Buccheri – Le Poulpe: Louis Durey Maria Lagios, soprano Elizabeth Buccheri, piano – Songs of Les Six
Maria Lagios / Elizabeth Buccheri – Le Boeuf: Louis Durey Maria Lagios, soprano Elizabeth Buccheri, piano – Songs of Les Six
Louis Durey – Trois pièces brèves for oboe solo: Nr. 1, Modéré  Leo Lencsés – Various Composers: Fantaisies Pastorales
Louis Durey – Trois pièces brèves for oboe solo: Nr. 2, Modéré  Leo Lencsés – Various Composers: Fantaisies Pastorales
Louis Durey – Trois pièces brèves for oboe solo: Nr. 3, Allegro scherzando  Leo Lencsés – Various Composers: Fantaisies Pastorales
Maria Lagios / Elizabeth Buccheri – La Chévre Du Thibet: Louis Durey Maria Lagios, soprano Elizabeth Buccheri, piano – Songs of Les Six
Louis Durey – Sonatine, Nonchalant Ransom Wilson – Flute Music by Les Six, Milhaud, Poulenc Honegger, Durey, Tailleferre, Auric
Louis Durey – Sonatine, Lent et soutenu, assez animé Ransom Wilson – Flute Music by Les Six, Milhaud, Poulenc Honegger, Durey, Tailleferre, Auric
Louis Durey -Romance sans Paroles, op.21, Mathias Weber, piano

Georges Auric

The role of Sadko today is being played by George Burns. Scooter the Wonder Dog will be played by George Will.   The role of the Bobsie Twins is being played by George W. and George H.W. Bush. The role of Ken Moss is being played by George Gershwin.  The role of Brian Carpenter is being played by George Stephanopoulos . In the third half of the program, the role of Lenny the Listener will  be played by  George Orwell . Our featured French composer and member of Les Six is Georges Auric . Georges Auric (15 February 1899 – 23 July 1983) was a French composer, born in Lodève, Hérault. He was an early film composer and considered one of Les Six, a group of artists informally associated with Jean Cocteau and Erik Satie. Before he turned 20 he had orchestrated and written incidental music for several ballets and stage productions.
Georges Auric – Roman Holiday - Original Soundtrack Theme from "Vacanze romane"  Princess Anne embarks on a highly publicized tour of European capitals. When she and her royal entourage arrive in Rome, she begins to rebel against her restricted, regimented schedule. One night Anne sneaks out of her room, hops into the back of a delivery truck and escapes her luxurious confinement. A sedative she was forced to take earlier starts to take effect, and the Princess is soon fast asleep on a public bench. She is found by Joe Bradley, an American newspaper reporter stationed in Rome. He takes her back to his apartment. The next morning Joe dashes off to cover the Princess Anne press conference, unaware that she is sleeping on his couch. Once he realizes his good fortune, Joe promises his editor an exclusive interview with the Princess.
Georges Auric – scherzo Peter Verhoyen – Poulenc, Milhaud, Auric, Mower and others, Original works for piccolo and piano
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra – Orphee Suite: Main Title  – Georges Auric: Orphee / Ruy Blas / Thomas I'imposteur
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra – Orphee Suite: Orpheus And The Princess – Georges Auric: Orphee / Ruy Blas / Thomas I'imposteur
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra – Orphee Suite: In Zone I – Georges Auric: Orphee / Ruy Blas / Thomas I'imposteur
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra – Orphee Suite: Looking For The Princess – Georges Auric: Orphee / Ruy Blas / Thomas I'imposteur
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra – Orphee Suite: Orpheus And Eurydice – Georges Auric: Orphee / Ruy Blas / Thomas I'imposteur
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra – Orphee Suite: In Zone II - Finale – Georges Auric: Orphee / Ruy Blas / Thomas I'imposteur
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra – Orphee et Eurydice (arr. G. Auric): Complainte d'Eurydice – Georges Auric: Orphee / Ruy Blas / Thomas I'imposteur
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra – Les Parents Terribles – Georges Auric: Orphee / Ruy Blas / Thomas I'imposteur
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra – Thomas I'imposteur Suite: Main Title – Georges Auric: Orphee / Ruy Blas / Thomas I'imposteur In the First World War, when Paris is expected to fall to the Germans, the attractive widow, Princesse de Bormes, organises a convoy of cars to evacuate the wounded from the front, and bring them back to her villa in Paris to recuperate. The authorities will not give them passes until an innocent 16-year-old boy, Guillaume Thomas de Fontenoy, joins them and is mistaken as the nephew of the popular General de Fontenoy. The Princess is enraptured by Thomas and her daughter, Henriette, falls in love with him. Thomas feels impelled to see more of the action of the war.
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra – Thomas I'imposteur Suite: Meeting The Bishop – Georges Auric: Orphee / Ruy Blas / Thomas I'imposteur
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra – Thomas I'imposteur Suite: Clemence And Henriette – Georges Auric: Orphee / Ruy Blas / Thomas I'imposteur
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra – Thomas I'imposteur Suite: On The Fringes Of The Drama - The Spirit Of Adventure – Georges Auric: Orphee / Ruy Blas / Thomas I'imposteur
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra – Thomas I'imposteur Suite: Across The Dunes On Motorbikes – Georges Auric: Orphee / Ruy Blas / Thomas I'imposteur
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra – Thomas I'imposteur Suite: Hell At Rheims - Finale – Georges Auric: Orphee / Ruy Blas / Thomas I'imposteur
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra – Ruy Blas Suite: Main Title – Georges Auric: Orphee / Ruy Blas / Thomas I'imposteur
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra – Ruy Blas Suite: Festival – Georges Auric: Orphee / Ruy Blas / Thomas I'imposteur
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra – Ruy Blas Suite: Through Mountains And Gorges – Georges Auric: Orphee / Ruy Blas / Thomas I'imposteur
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra – Ruy Blas Suite: The Bouquet – Georges Auric: Orphee / Ruy Blas / Thomas I'imposteur
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra – Ruy Blas Suite: The Wounded Messenger – Georges Auric: Orphee / Ruy Blas / Thomas I'imposteur
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra – Ruy Blas Suite: Conversation Between Ruy Blas And The Queen – Georges Auric: Orphee / Ruy Blas / Thomas I'imposteur
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra – Ruy Blas Suite: Ruy Blas' Fortune – Georges Auric: Orphee / Ruy Blas / Thomas I'imposteur
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra – Ruy Blas Suite: Love Scene - Return Of Don Cesar - Death Of Don Guritan – Georges Auric: Orphee / Ruy Blas / Thomas I'imposteur
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra – Ruy Blas Suite: The Meeting In The Park – Georges Auric: Orphee / Ruy Blas / Thomas I'imposteur
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra – Ruy Blas Suite: The Queen's Escape - Nocturnal Procession – Georges Auric: Orphee / Ruy Blas / Thomas I'imposteur
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra – Ruy Blas Suite: The Poison - Finale – Georges Auric: Orphee / Ruy Blas / Thomas I'imposteur
Bonjour Tristesse OST
Cecile, decadent young girl who lives with her rich playboy father Raymond. When Anne, Raymond's old love interest, comes to Raymond's villa, Cecile is afraid for her way of life.

Darius Milhaud

The role of Sadko today is being played by Darius Campbell. Scooter the Wonder Dog will be played by Darius Slay.   The role of the Bobsie Twins is being played by Darius and Davis Miles. The role of Ken Moss is being played by Darius Denesh.  The role of Brian Carpenter is being played by Darius Mockus.   In the third half of the program, the role of Lenny the Listener will  be played by  Darius Grala. Our featured French composer and member of Les Six is Darius Milhaud. 

Milhaud, Darius 1892-1974. Concertos,violin, orchestra,no. 2

Milhaud conducting his Second Violin Concerto, Concertino

de printemps [and] Danses de Jacarémirim.

Capitol Classics, [1949?] Louis Kaufman, violin; Artur Balsam, piano (in 3d work); members of the French National Radio Diffusion Orchestra, the composer conducting (in 1st and 2d works)

Milhaud, Darius 1892-1974. 

Les Choéphores. Text by Paul Claudel. Columbia[1963]. 

Incidental music to Paul Claudel's version of Choephori, 

by Aeschylus  Vera Zorina, as Choéphore, Irene Jordan, as Electra, and 

McHenry Boatwright, as Orestes;  Virginia Babikian, soprano; 

 Schola Cantorum of New York, Hugh Ross, director; New York Philharmonic; 

 Leonard Bernstein, conductor. 

Milhaud, Darius 1892-1974. Suite provençale ; La création du monde  

 New York RCA Victor, [1962] Soria series Boston Symphony Orchestra; 

Charles Munch, conductor. 

Milhaud, Darius 1892-1974. The four seasons (Les quatre saisons) 

Epic [1960] Spring (Concertino de printemps) for violin and chamber 

orchestra (Szymon Goldberg, violin)--Summer (Concertino 

d'été) for viola and ensemble of 9 (Ernst Wallfisch, 

viola)--Autumn (Concertino d'automne) for 2 pianos and 

ensemble of 8 (Geneviève Joy, Jacqueline Bonneau, pianos)-

-Winter (Concertino d'hiver) for trombone and string 

orchestra (Maurice Suzan, trombone)Ensemble des solistes des concerts

 Lamoureux; the composer conducting. 

Arthur Honegger

The role of Sadko today is being played by Arthur Godfrey. Scooter the Wonder Dog will be played by Arthur Schnitzler.   The role of the Bobsie Twins is being played by Arthur Sullivan and W.S. Gilbert. The role of Ken Moss is being played by Arthur Ferrante.  The role of Brian Carpenter is being played by Arthur Crudup.   In the third half of the program, the role of Lenny the Listener will  be played by  Arthur Elwell Fisher. Our featured French composer and member of Les Six is Arthur Honegger. 
 Honegger, A. Concerto da camera for flute, English horn and string orchestra. 
William Kosinski, English Horn; Arthur Glegghorn, flute; Gerald Caylor, clarinet;  Don Christlieb, bassoon; Los Angeles Chamber Symphony; Harold Byrns, conductor. 
 Arundo-Donax Ensemble – Allegro Tristemente (Arthur Honneger) Les Six
Arundo-Donax Ensemble – Romanza (Arthur Honneger) Les Six
Arundo-Donax Ensemble – Allegro Con Fuoco (Arthur Honneger)  Les Six
Arturo Sacchetti – Deux Pièces Pour Orgue: Fugue (Honneger)  – Organ History: Erik Satie & French Rarities Of The XXth Century
Arturo Sacchetti – Deux Pièces Pour Orgue: Choral (Honneger)– Organ History: Erik Satie & French Rarities Of The XXth Century
New Orchestral Society of Boston – Honneger: Pacific 231 
Honegger, Arthur, 1892-1955. Symphony no. 2, for strings and trumpet. Angel, [1969] Orchestre de Paris; Charles Munch, conductor. 

Francis Poulenc

Poulenc, Francis,1899-1963. 4 Motets pour un temps de penitence. Laudes de Saint-
Antoine de Padoue. Music Guild,  [1969?] Jocelyn Chamonin, soprano; 

Stephane Caillat Vocal Ensemble; Stephane Caillat, conductor. 

Frankie Laine, Ghost Riders in the Sky

Frank Black and the Catholics, The Man who was Too Loud.

Frank Sinatra, My Way 

Poulenc, Francis,1899-1963. Concerto in G minor, for organ, strings and tympani. 
Columbia,  [1963] E. Power Biggs, organ; Philadelphia Orchestra; Eugene

Ormandy, conductor.  

Gloria. Piano concerto. Angel 1976. 
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Chorus; Louis Frémaux, conductor, 

with (in the 1st work) Norma Burrowes, soprano, and the C.B.S.O. Chorus,

and (in the 2d work) Cristina Ortiz, piano.  

Frank Zappa, Twenty Small Cigars, Chunga's Revenge

Donovan, Prayer of St. Francis, Brother Sun, Sister Moon