Work(s) Overview

• Composer: Jean Françaix
• Period: Modern (1910-1949)

Review

French composer Jean Françaix exemplifies all that is truly French in twentieth century French music. Although fundamentally a conservative composer, Françaix's supple and expressive melodies, his highly refined harmonic sensibility, his brilliant surfaces, and tremendous depths make him far more than merely a lesser Poulenc or Milhaud. Françaix successfully wrote in every medium, from his passionately grand operas, especially La Princesse de Cleves (The Princess of Cleves) (1965), to his lightly droll ballet Les demoiselles de la nuit (The Girls of the Night) (1948); from his cataclysmic oratorio L'apocalypse de St. Jean (The Apocalypse of Saint John) (1939) to his affectionate yet playful Cinq portraits de jeunes filles for piano (Five Portraits of Young Girls) (1936). Françaix's style and music did not develop over his long career: He was already wholly himself at the premiere of his piano concerto (1936) when he 17 and his personality deepened, but did not change over time. ~ All Music Guide