To be completely honest, coming into this class, I was not very excited. I am a choir girl through and through, and I knew that 1920’s Paris was known much more for its instrumental music than its choral music. Being a student who also hasn’t gone through music history classes yet, I knew little to […]
Author: Madeline Peterson
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Tailleferre who?
I honestly can’t find any reviews of Tailleferre’s Piano Concerto (1924). I can’t find the program from the premiere or any reviews of the premiere. Finding information on Tailleferre was noticeably more difficult than finding information on the rest of Les Six in the first place. Finding information on this specific piano concerto is a […]
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Queer? Here?
I am much more convinced by Moore’s arguments than Dorf’s regarding themes of homosexuality in music. . Samuel Dorf focuses on Satie’s Socrate, commissioned by the Princess de Polignac, who used her salon as a space for her to embrace her own homosexuality. Christopher Moore focuses on camp in Poulenc’s ballets, such as Les Biches. Dorf […]
Josephine Baker and Le Revue Nègre completely changed the music scene in 1920’s Paris. Jazz was seen as a direct extension of la musique nègre, and was therefore highly controversial. The people of Paris were simultaneously captivated by the dancing and amplified stereotypes of a new culture, and repulsed by them1. This new jazz phenomenon led […]
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The Forgotten Member of Les Six
Germaine Tailleferre was born Germaine Taillefesse on April 19th, 1892. She attended the Paris Conservatory where she met the other members of Les Six. Tailleferre was the only female member of the group. Coincidentally, Tailleferre is the least documented, and some might say appreciated, member of Les Six, despite her active participation in the French […]
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Appreciative Appropriation?
The most relateable aspect of French debates of national identity is the issue of foreign influences and whether or not they are acceptable in music. This is a conversation we are still having today, manifested in today’s American society as the appropriation conversation. It is rightfully looked down upon to take musical influences from other […]