Françaix, Jean - PTNA Piano Music Encyclopedia

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Françaix, Jean 1912 - 1997

Author: Saitoh, Noriko

Last updated：September 1, 2008

Note: This article is automatically translated from the original Japanese text. The author of the original work did not supervise this translation.

A French composer who also worked as a pianist. Works featuring the piano include Piano Concertino (1932), Piano Concerto (1936), Eight Exotic Dances for two pianos, Five Portraits of Young Girls (1936) for solo piano, and Piano Sonata (1960).

He was born to a father who served as the director of the conservatory in his hometown of Le Mans, and a mother who taught vocal music and conducted the choir at the same institution. He studied composition with Nadia Boulanger and piano with Isidor Philipp at the Paris Conservatoire. After graduating, he engaged in performance activities as an accompanist while composing for various ensembles. His works span a wide range, from operas, orchestral pieces, and ballets, to concertos for various instruments, chamber music, oratorios, cantatas, and vocal works. The era in which Françaix was active was when the so-called avant-garde was emerging. Françaix's style is characterized by a coexistence of melodies that evoke words like elegance, sophistication, and grace, lively rhythms, clarity, and wit. His works were performed at events such as the ISCM World Music Festival in 1932 and the Palermo Music Festival in 1949. Françaix's originality can also be observed in his use of instruments.