Jean Françaix

Jean René Désiré Françaix (May 23, 1912 – September 25 1997) was a French neoclassical composer, pianist, and orchestrator, known for his prolific output and vibrant style.

Life

Françaix's natural gifts were encouraged from an early age by his family: his father a musicologist, composer, and pianist, and his mother, a teacher of singing. He was only six when he took up composing, and his first publication, in 1922, caught the attention of a composer working for the publishing house who steered the gifted boy toward a gifted teacher, Nadia Boulanger. She encouraged Françaix's career, often conducting his works herself. Françaix himself often played his own works, to public acclaim; he was an accomplished pianist from an early age, and was sought after for accompanying as well as solo performances.

Related Topics:
Musicologist - Singing - 1922 - Nadia Boulanger

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He was considered a virtuoso pianist and a skilled orchestrator, but his primary occupation was his extraordinarily active compositional career. He remained prolific throughout his life; even in 1981 he described himself as "constantly composing", barely finishing one piece before beginning another, and continued thus until his death in 1997.

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