Germaine Tailleferre
composer
As a composer, Germaine Tailleferre not only had to prove herself in general in the face of a sceptical male world, but also specifically to her father and her two husbands. Neither of them consistently supported her artistic ambitions. She even changed her name from Taillefesse to Tailleferre to distance herself from her father, who refused to finance her music studies.
Thanks to her great talent, she was accepted at the Conservatoire de Paris at an early age and won the admiration of Maurice Ravel and Erik Satie. Tailleferre became famous in the lively art scene of the French capital in the 1920s as the only female member of the so-called [Groupe des Six], whose name alludes to the Russian [Groupe des Cinq] led by Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov. However, Tailleferre and her colleagues Auric, Durey, Honegger, Milhaud and Poulenc did not establish themselves as a group on their own initiative, but as the result of an article by a journalist. Although Milhaud emphasised the different preferences and personalities of the group members, there was a consensus on the rejection of Wagner’s influence and Debussy’s elitist understanding of art. Tailleferre was also primarily focused on music that, in her own words, was intended to “amuse”. Until shortly before her death at the age of 91, Germaine Tailleferre continued to compose, living in financially straitened circumstances, especially after her two divorces. Her creative output includes works in almost all genres. She set texts by poets such as Ionescu, Valéry and Apollinaire, and was also a keen composer of chamber music. Also worthy of special mention are several works for harp, one of Tailleferre’s favourite instruments from her conservatory days, when she became friends with harpist Caroline Luigini-Tardieu.
