La Jeune France
Encyclopedia
La jeune France was the name of two related French societies in the 1930s and 1940s.
along with composers Olivier Messiaen
, Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur
, Pierre Schaeffer
and Yves Baudrier, who were attempting to re-establish a more human and less abstract form of composition. It developed from the avant-garde chamber music
society La spirale, formed by Jolivet, Messiaen, and Lesur the previous year. The name originated with Hector Berlioz
. 'La jeune France' composers are associated with mysticism
. However, Virgil Thomson
describes the group as neo-Impressionist rather than post or neo-Romantic: "An addiction to religious subject matter, common all over post-war Europe, is no more significant in Messiaen than is orientalism
with Jolivet or the classical humanism of Rosenthal
(and Malipiero
)."
'La jeune France' vocal compositions are included on the album of the same title: Jolivet's Épithalame, Messiaen's Cinq rechants, and Daniel-Lesur's Le cantique des cantiques.
as part of the Révolution nationale
initiative of the Vichy regime. It was launched on August 15, 1940, and named after the music society (after asking permission to use the title).
Its goal was a French cultural renewal, in the context of German occupation, through developing youth-oriented cultural and artistic events like theatrical performances, concerts, and exhibitions. Another aim was to employ unemployed artists. It also sponsored the creation of the short-lived artistic commune in Oppède
(near Marseilles) founded in 1940 by Bernard Zehrfuss
.
The organization was chaired by pianist Alfred Cortot
, and its cultural advisor was the philosopher Emmanuel Mounier
. The dramatic performers involved included Jean Vilar
, Raymond Rouleau, Pierre Fresnay
, Pierre Renoir
, along with visual artists like Jean René Bazaine
, Jean Bertholle
, Jean Le Moal
, and Alfred Manessier
, the architect Auguste Perret
, among others.
The Vichy regime dissolved the organization in March 1942.
Musical organization
Jeune France was founded in 1936 (by some estimates 1940) by André JolivetAndré Jolivet
André Jolivet was a French composer. Known for his devotion to French culture and musical thought, Jolivet's music draws on his interest in acoustics and atonality as well as both ancient and modern influences in music, particularly on instruments used in ancient times...
along with composers Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen was a French composer, organist and ornithologist, one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex ; harmonically and melodically it is based on modes of limited transposition, which he abstracted from his early compositions and improvisations...
, Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur
Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur
Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur, known often simply as Daniel-Lesur was a French organist and composer. His mother, Alice Lesur, was an accomplished composer in her own right; some of her music was even published....
, Pierre Schaeffer
Pierre Schaeffer
Pierre Henri Marie Schaeffer was a French composer, writer, broadcaster, engineer, musicologist and acoustician of the 20th century. His innovative work in both the sciences —particularly communications and acoustics— and the various arts of music, literature and radio presentation after the end...
and Yves Baudrier, who were attempting to re-establish a more human and less abstract form of composition. It developed from the avant-garde chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
society La spirale, formed by Jolivet, Messiaen, and Lesur the previous year. The name originated with Hector Berlioz
Hector Berlioz
Hector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts . Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works; as a...
. 'La jeune France' composers are associated with mysticism
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
. However, Virgil Thomson
Virgil Thomson
Virgil Thomson was an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music...
describes the group as neo-Impressionist rather than post or neo-Romantic: "An addiction to religious subject matter, common all over post-war Europe, is no more significant in Messiaen than is orientalism
Orientalism
Orientalism is a term used for the imitation or depiction of aspects of Eastern cultures in the West by writers, designers and artists, as well as having other meanings...
with Jolivet or the classical humanism of Rosenthal
Manuel Rosenthal
Manuel Rosenthal was a French composer and conductor who held leading positions with musical organizations in France and America...
(and Malipiero
Gian Francesco Malipiero
Gian Francesco Malipiero was an Italian composer, musicologist, music teacher and editor.-Early years:Born in Venice into an aristocratic family, the grandson of the opera composer Francesco Malipiero, Gian Francesco Malipiero was prevented by family troubles from pursuing his musical education in...
)."
'La jeune France' vocal compositions are included on the album of the same title: Jolivet's Épithalame, Messiaen's Cinq rechants, and Daniel-Lesur's Le cantique des cantiques.
Political organization
The cultural / political organization Jeune France was founded by composer Pierre SchaefferPierre Schaeffer
Pierre Henri Marie Schaeffer was a French composer, writer, broadcaster, engineer, musicologist and acoustician of the 20th century. His innovative work in both the sciences —particularly communications and acoustics— and the various arts of music, literature and radio presentation after the end...
as part of the Révolution nationale
Révolution nationale
The Révolution nationale was the official ideological name under which the Vichy regime established by Marshal Philippe Pétain in July 1940 presented its program...
initiative of the Vichy regime. It was launched on August 15, 1940, and named after the music society (after asking permission to use the title).
Its goal was a French cultural renewal, in the context of German occupation, through developing youth-oriented cultural and artistic events like theatrical performances, concerts, and exhibitions. Another aim was to employ unemployed artists. It also sponsored the creation of the short-lived artistic commune in Oppède
Oppède
Oppède is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.- History :It is in fact two villages: Oppède-le-Vieux , built against the Petit Luberon and dating back to the 12th century, and Oppède-les-Poulivets , today known as "le village", down...
(near Marseilles) founded in 1940 by Bernard Zehrfuss
Bernard Zehrfuss
Bernard Louis Zehrfuss was a French architect.-Life:From a family that had fled from the Alsace in 1870 after the Franco-Prussian War, Zehrfuss's father was killed in the First Battle of the Marne in 1914...
.
The organization was chaired by pianist Alfred Cortot
Alfred Cortot
Alfred Denis Cortot was a Franco-Swiss pianist and conductor. He is one of the most renowned 20th-century classical musicians, especially valued for his poetic insight in Romantic period piano works, particularly those of Chopin and Schumann.-Early life and education:Born in Nyon, Vaud, in the...
, and its cultural advisor was the philosopher Emmanuel Mounier
Emmanuel Mounier
Emmanuel Mounier was a French philosopher.Mounier was the guiding spirit in the French Personalist movement, and founder and director of Esprit, the magazine which was the organ of the movement. Mounier, who was the child of peasants, was a brilliant scholar at the Sorbonne...
. The dramatic performers involved included Jean Vilar
Jean Vilar
Jean Vilar was a French man of the theatre, who created in 1947 the Avignon theatre festival.After he gave up his literature studies, in 1932 he followed in Paris a course of philosophy of Alain and the theatre courses of Charles Dullin...
, Raymond Rouleau, Pierre Fresnay
Pierre Fresnay
Pierre Fresnay was a French stage and film actor.Born Pierre Jules Louis Laudenbach in Paris, France in 1897, he was encouraged by his uncle, the actor Claude Garry, to pursue a career in theater and film...
, Pierre Renoir
Pierre Renoir
Pierre Renoir was a French stage and film actor and served briefly as the director of the Théâtre de l'Athénée in Paris, taking over after the death of Louis Jouvet in 1951....
, along with visual artists like Jean René Bazaine
Jean René Bazaine
Jean René Bazaine was a French painter, designer of stained glass windows, and writer. He was the great great grandson of the English Court portraitist Sir George Hayter.-Studies:...
, Jean Bertholle
Jean Bertholle
Jean Bertholle was a French painter of the new Paris School....
, Jean Le Moal
Jean Le Moal
Jean Le Moal was a French painter of the new Paris school, designer of stained glass windows, and one of the founder members of the Salon de Mai.-Biography:...
, and Alfred Manessier
Alfred Manessier
Alfred Manessier was a non-figurative French painter, stained glass artist, and tapestry designer, part of the new Paris School and the Salon de Mai.-Biography:...
, the architect Auguste Perret
Auguste Perret
Auguste Perret was a French architect and a world leader and specialist in reinforced concrete construction. In 2005 his post-WWII reconstruction of Le Havre was declared by UNESCO one of the World Heritage Sites....
, among others.
The Vichy regime dissolved the organization in March 1942.
Sources
- this page translated from its French equivalent accessed 9/16/2010