Tailleferre (Born Taillefesse), (Marcelle) Germaine

Parc St.-Maur, near Paris, Apr. 19, 1892; d. Paris, Nov. 7, 1983. Tailleferre studied harmony, SOLFÈGE, and accompaniment at the Paris Conservatory, taking several prizes for excellence. She also had informal lessons with MAURICE RAVEL.

Tailleferre received recognition as the only female member of the group of French composers known as LES SIX (the others were ARTHUR HONEGGER, DARIUS MILHAUD, FRANCIS POULENC, GEORGES AURIC, and LOUIS DUREY). Her style of composition was NEOCLASSICAL. Indeed, most of her works possess a fragile charm of unaffected joie de jouer la musique (joy of playing music).

Jean Cocteau compared Germaine Tailleferre to a young French woman painter, Marie Laurencin, saying that Tailleferre's music was to the ear what the painter's pastels were to the eye.

Tailleferre was married to an American author, Ralph Barton, in 1926, but soon divorced him and married a French lawyer, Jean Lageat. She visited the U.S. in 1927 and again in 1942.

Tailleferre composed six operas, an OPERETTA, a BALLET, CONCERTOS for PIANO, duo pianos, HARP, and other orchestral works. Her chamber music includes Image for piano, flute, clarinet, string quartet, and celesta (1918), SONATAS and other works for violin, clarinet, and flute, solo sonatas for clarinet and harp, a string quartet (1917-19), and a piano trio (1978). Tailleferre also composed piano works and distinguished vocal music, including Chansons françaises for voice and instruments (1930), Cantate du Narcisse for voice and orchestra (1937), and Concerto des vaines paroles for baritone and orchestra (1956).