Les Six

The Groupe des Six or short Les Six was a rather loose association of six French composers ( five men and one woman).

Belonged to Group

The group was formed in 1918 by the writer Jean Cocteau, her musical mentor was Erik Satie. It got its name in 1920 by a newspaper article of the group critic Henri Collet related. He is an allusion to the Russian Group of Five.

The members joined less an aesthetic program, but rather the common rejection of the romantic (notably Wagnerian ) music, the turning away from the musical impressionism of Claude Debussy and the move to contemporary forms of popular music, such as Jazz, vaudeville and circus music. Some of her works can be assigned to the neoclassicism.

The group as a productive unit had only the first of the 1920 inventory, then each composer pursued its own development and remained a kind of friends.

Joint works

Although it was not the stated goal of the group to collaborate on compositions, however five occasions were within 32 years, in which at least some of the group members worked together. Only once every six ware involved and sometimes worked with composers außerhal the group. Auric and Poulenc were involved in any collaboration, Milhaud at four, Honegger and Tailleferre to three, Durey at a.

  • L' Album des Six
  • Les Mariés de la Tour Eiffel ( The Wedding on the Eiffel Tower ), ballet based on a text by Jean Cocteau; 1921
  • L' éventail de Jeanne, children's ballet, 1927 by Auric, Milhaud and Poulenc, as well as seven other composers.
  • Movements du coeur, 1949, song cycle for baritone or bass and piano in memory of the 100th anniversary of the death of Frédéric Chopin; by Auric, Milhaud and Poulenc, as well as Jean Françaix, Léo Preger and Henri Sauget.
  • La guirlande de Campra, 1952, orchestral work on the motives of André Campras opera Camille ( 1717); Collaboration of Auric, Honegger, Poulenc, Tailleferre and three others.
  • Groupe des Six
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