Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective
Jean-Michel Defaye
French pianist and composer (1932–2025) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Remove ads
Jean-Michel Defaye (18 September 1932 – 1 January 2025) was a French pianist, composer, arranger and conductor known for his collaboration with French poet and singer-songwriter Léo Ferré.
.jpg)
Remove ads
Life and career
Summarize
Perspective
Defaye was born in Saint-Mandé, Val-de-Marne, near Paris, on 18 September 1932.[1] At aged ten he entered the Paris Conservatoire[2] and completed his musical training in theory, piano and composition, taking in Nadia Boulanger's accompaniment class.[3] In his early years, he was interested in jazz.[4] Defaye's primary instrument was the piano, but he also played trombone and trumpet.[5] He attended the composition classes of Darius Milhaud and Tony Aubin.[5][6] In 1952 he won second prize of the Grand Prix de Rome;[3] and the following year he won the Lili Boulanger Prize of Harvard[3] and the second prize in composition for the Belgian Queen Elisabeth Competition.[3][7]
As a composer he wrote mostly for brass,[3] especially trombone; he wrote pieces for trombone and piano in the style of classical composers such as Bach, Brahms, Debussy, Schumann, Stravinsky and Vivaldi.[8] He composed chamber music with brass instruments, pieces for competitions, concertos for clarinet, saxophone, trumpet and trombone, and many educational pieces. His writing was often influenced by jazz.[3]
Defaye wrote several film scores, including Pouic-Pouic.[2] As an arranger, he worked for decades with singer-songwriter Léo Ferré.[3] He also collaborated with Juliette Gréco, Zizi Jeanmaire and Les Branquignols.[2]
Defaye died on 1 January 2025, at the age of 92.[2]
Remove ads
Classical compositions
Compositions by Defaye include:[9][10]
- Suite Marine
- Morceau de Concours I (SG 1–2)
- Morceau de Concours II (SG 3–4)
- Morceau de Concours III (SG 5)
- Deux Danses, for trombone and piano (1954)
- Quatre pièces, for trombone quartet (1954)
- Sonatine for trumpet and piano (1956)[11]
- Mouvement, for trombone and piano (1972)
- Fluctuations, for solo trombone, 6 trombones and 2 percussions (1987)
- À la manière de Bach, for trombone and piano (1990)
- Suite entomologique, for trombone and piano (1992)
- Œuvre de concours I, for trombone and piano (1993)
- Œuvre de concours II, for trombone and piano (1993)
- Œuvre de concours III, for trombone and piano (1993)
- À la manière de Schumann, for trombone and piano (2000)
- À la manière de Debussy, for trombone and piano (2001)
- À la manière de Vivaldi, for trombone and piano (2002)
- À la manière de Stravinsky, for trombone and piano (2005)
- À la manière de Brahms, for trombone and piano (2011)
- Musique à Curitiba, for trombone solo and 16 trombones
Remove ads
Film scores
Defaye composed film scores including:[12]
- 1961: Tire-au-flanc 62 (The Army Game)
- 1963: Les Veinards (People in Luck)
- 1963: Pouic-Pouic
- 1965: Le Bonheur
- 1965: Fifi la plume (Circus Angel)
- 1977: Arrête ton char... bidasse!
Discography
Dafaye collaborated as pianist, arranger and musical leader for albums and recitals by Léo Ferré, including:
- 1957: Les Fleurs du mal[13]
- 1960: Paname[14]
- 1961: Les Chansons d'Aragon[15]
- 1961: Léo Ferré à l'Alhambra (live)[16]
- 1962: La Langue française[17]
- 1964: Ferré 64[18]
- 1964: Verlaine et Rimbaud[19]
- 1966: Léo Ferré 1916-19...[20]
- 1967: La Marseillaise[21]
- 1967: Léo Ferré chante Baudelaire[22]
- 1969: L'Été 68[23]
- 1969: Les Douze Premières Chansons de Léo Ferré[24]
- 1970: Amour Anarchie[25]
- 1972: La Solitudine[26]
- 2003: Les Chansons interdites... et autres (recorded in 1961)[27]
Remove ads
References
External links
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Remove ads