Your Top 10 Favorite French Composers

Started by Christo, January 24, 2018, 10:27:43 PM

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Dancing Divertimentian

Berlioz
Ravel
Debussy
Messiaen
Rameau
Lully
Dutilleux
Saint-Saens
Charpentier
Poulenc
Veit Bach-a baker who found his greatest pleasure in a little cittern which he took with him even into the mill and played while the grinding was going on. In this way he had a chance to have the rhythm drilled into him. And this was the beginning of a musical inclination in his descendants. JS Bach

Daverz

Roussel
Berlioz
Dutilleux
Milhaud
Debussy
Saint-Saëns
Ravel
Dukas
Franck
Poulenc
Honegger






Baron Scarpia

I would have put Honegger, but I didn't think that Suisse Romande counts as French.  (Not sure who I would have taken out.)

amw


Cato

Quote from: Baron Scarpia on January 25, 2018, 03:44:02 PM
I would have put Honegger, but I didn't think that Suisse Romande counts as French.  (Not sure who I would have taken out.)

I think being born in France, living many years in Paris, and being part of Les Six should make Honegger just a little French!  ;)

But...I am not in charge of the rules!  $:)   0:)
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André

There are no « hard » rules  ;). Some have mentioned Franck (a belgian), others Honegger, Gouvy (born in Germany), Hahn (foreign born). What's important is that they all had a very important french connection, mainly through citizenship and the use of the French language.

Baron Scarpia

Quote from: Cato on January 25, 2018, 04:16:36 PM
I think being born in France, living many years in Paris, and being part of Les Six should make Honegger just a little French!  ;)

But...I am not in charge of the rules!  $:)   0:)

That's good enough for me. By knowledge of his biographical data came from CD booklets, which always seemed to describe him as Swiss.

Quote from: André on January 25, 2018, 05:54:21 PM
There are no « hard » rules  ;). Some have mentioned Franck (a belgian), others Honegger, Gouvy (born in Germany), Hahn (foreign born). What's important is that they all had a very important french connection, mainly through citizenship and the use of the French language.

In view of that, Honegger is restored to my list.

Undersea

I don't know if I can make 10 but I'll give it a shot:

Debussy
Ravel
Messiaen
Poulenc
Faure
Saint-Saens
Berlioz


Nope... that's it - only 7. :)

some guy

Bokanowski
Ferreyra
Groult
Radigue
Ferrari
Dhomont
Gobeil
André
Gibello
Berlioz

ComposerOfAvantGarde

Damn, I forgot Ferrari..........who is not Italian like I sometimes forget!!!!!!

some guy

Well, be fair, his name is Italian (because his ancestry is Italian), and he did die in Italy....

Bokanowski isn't Polish, either.

And Ferreyra was born in Argentina.

The whole "nationality" thing is as fraught with peril as race and gender are.

Christo

Quote from: some guy on January 27, 2018, 06:01:37 AMThe whole "nationality" thing is as fraught with peril as race and gender are.
No, it isn't at all - or rather: only for those who hold nationality to be something sacred, or who think that there's something wrong with people with multiple or ambiguous nationalities. But just like with racism, antisemitism or anti-muslim hatred, the only real problem are these resentful persons themselves.  ::)
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948

The One

Quote from: Christo on January 27, 2018, 06:53:26 AM
No, it isn't at all - or rather: only for those who hold nationality to be something sacred, or who think that there's something wrong with people with multiple or ambiguous nationalities. But just like with racism, antisemitism or anti-muslim hatred, the only real problem are these resentful persons themselves.  ::)

There is Chopin under French composers on wikipedia  ;)

Christo

Quote from: The One on January 27, 2018, 07:21:36 AMThere is Chopin under French composers on wikipedia  ;)
Both Polish and French - as indeed he was.  :)
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948

The One

Quote from: Christo on January 27, 2018, 07:34:55 AM
Both Polish and French - as indeed he was.  :)
Yes, but despite his long period there, could you call him a French composer?  ::)

Dancing Divertimentian

Quote from: The One on January 27, 2018, 08:03:58 AM
Yes, but despite his long period there, could you call him a French composer?  ::)

Chopin was neither French, nor Polish, nor Turkish, nor Icelander...nor whatever. He was one of the greatest "island" composers of all time. He shot out of nowhere, had no obvious antecedents, and carved his own path relying solely on his own instincts. He's as unclassifiable as it gets.

I like calling him French because he rose to fame there. I want to say he could've rose to fame almost anywhere where his talents would've been nurtured. But France it is. :)
Veit Bach-a baker who found his greatest pleasure in a little cittern which he took with him even into the mill and played while the grinding was going on. In this way he had a chance to have the rhythm drilled into him. And this was the beginning of a musical inclination in his descendants. JS Bach

Spineur

Reynaldo Hahn should be considered as French as his family settled in France when he was only 3.  Except for his baby life, everything about him is french.

This is not the case of Eugene Ysaye (great composer !) who never took the french nationality.

The case of Meyerbeer is sort of in between.

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Rameau
Fauré
Charpentier, M.-A.
Saint-Saëns
Clérambault
Couperin, F.
Lully
Debussy
Berlioz
Ravel
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André

Quote from: Spineur on January 27, 2018, 10:56:21 PM
Reynaldo Hahn should be considered as French as his family settled in France when he was only 3.  Except for his baby life, everything about him is french.

This is not the case of Eugene Ysaye (great composer !) who never took the french nationality.

The case of Meyerbeer is sort of in between.

Jacques Offenbach, that quintessential french composer, was born Jacob Eberst in Cologne, Germany, where his father was the synagogue's cantor. He came to Paris at the age of 14. According to Wikipedia, Paris was the only place where a jewish musician could develop a career at the time (1833). The author of La vie parisienne and countless can-cans seems to have been French almost by accident. No problem, we'll gladly take him !

Mahlerian

Quote from: André on January 28, 2018, 07:44:19 AM
Jacques Offenbach, that quintessential french composer, was born Jacob Eberst in Cologne, Germany, where his father was the synagogue's cantor. He came to Paris at the age of 14. According to Wikipedia, Paris was the only place where a jewish musician could develop a career at the time (1833). The author of La vie parisienne and countless can-cans seems to have been French almost by accident. No problem, we'll gladly take him !

Wasn't Mendelssohn in the middle of his career around that time, though?  Perhaps his case is different because of his family's conversion.
"l do not consider my music as atonal, but rather as non-tonal. I feel the unity of all keys. Atonal music by modern composers admits of no key at all, no feeling of any definite center." - Arnold Schoenberg