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Jean Wiéner (Piano, Composer, Arranger)

Born: March 19, 1896 - Paris, France
Died: June 8, 1982 - Paris, France

The French pianist and composer of Austrian descent, Jean Wiéner [Wiener], was trained by André Gédalge at the Conservatoire in Paris, where he studied alongside Darius Milhaud, and worked with Erik Satie.

After his studies, Jean Wiéner embarked on a career as concert impresario, composer and pianist. He was the house pianist at the Gaya bar, and later at Le Boeuf sur le Toit. From 1920 to 1924 he presented the Concerts Jean Wiéner, devoted to the energetic propaganda of new music; he presented several premieres of works by modem French composers, including his friends in the Les Six (Milhaud, Francis Poulenc, etc.); also performed pieces by Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, and Anton Webern. He was the first Frenchman to proclaim jazz as a legitimate art form. In 1924 a chance encounter with Clement Doucet (who succeeded him at Le Boeuf) brought him into the world of popular music. Already a jazz enthusiast, Wiener found fame with Doucet in the music halls of Europe as a piano duet, under the name "Wiener and Doucet" in which they performed classical music, hot dance and jazz. The two friends recorded many duets between 1925 and 1937. After the end of the war in 1945, Wiener devoted himself fully to composition, notably film music (working on more than 300), as well as the opening theme music for ORTF's film history program "History speechless" (History without words).

His compositions reflect his ecumenical convictions, involving the use of jazz informed by French wit and elegance, as exemplified in such works as Concerto franco-americain for clarinet and strings (1923) and a desegregationist operetta, Olive chez les nègres (1926). He also wrote an Accordion Concerto (1957) and a Concerto for 2 Guitars (1966), but he became famous mainly for his idiosyncratic film music.

Jean Wiener published his memoirs in 1978 as Allegro Appassionato. His daughter Elizabeth Wiener is an actress, singer and singer-songwriter.

Compositions

Film Scores:
1920’s: La Femme de nulle part (1922)
1930’s: L'Âne de Buridan (1932), L'Homme à l'Hispano (1933), Une Vie perdue (1933), Knock ou le triomphe de la médecine (1933), Le Paquebot Tenacity (1934), Runaway Ladies (1934), Les Affaires publiques (1934), Le Voyage imprévu (1934), L'Aventurier (1934), Maria Chapdelaine (1934), Le Clown Bux (1935), Quand minuit sonnera (1935), La Bandera (1935), L'Équipage (1935), L'Homme sans cœur (1936), Le Crime de Monsieur Lange (1936), La Garçonne (1936), Klokslag twaalf (1936), Les Bas-fonds (1936), Vive la vie (1937), La Femme du bout du monde (1937), L'Homme du jour (1937), Nuits de feu (1937), De Man zonder hart (1937), Le Dernier tournant (1939)
1940’s: L'Or de Cristobal (1940), L'Épouvantail (1943), Les Passagers de la Grande Ourse (1943), Untel père et fils (1943), Le Voyageur de la Toussaint (1943, non crédité), Madame et le mort (1943), Le Voleur de paratonnerres (1944), Le Père Goriot (1945), La Fille aux yeux gris (1945), Le Capitan (1946), Impasse (1946), Il suffit d'une fois (1946), Macadam (1946), Panique (1947), Pour une nuit d'amour (1947), Le Diable souffle (1947), Les Frères Bouquinquant (1948), La Carcasse et le tord-cou (1948), Le Point du Jour (1949), Rendez-vous de juillet (1949)
1950’s: Maître après Dieu (1951), Ein Lächeln in Sturm (1951), Sous le ciel de Paris (1951), Les Poussières (1953), Je suis un mouchard (1953), Paris mon copain (1954), Paris (1954), Station 307 (1954), Touchez pas au grisbi (1954), La Rafle est pour ce soir (1954), Futures vedettes (directed by Marc Allégret, 1955; composer and actor (playing a piano teacher), Le Rendez-vous des quais (1955), Le Comte de Monte-Cristo (1954), La Soupe à la grimace (1955), Sur le banc (1955), Voici le temps des assassins (1956), La Vie est belle (1956), Les Lumières du soir (1956), Notre-Dame - Cathédrale de Paris (1957), Pot-Bouille (1957), Le Septième ciel (1958), Ni vu, ni connu (1958), Sois belle et tais-toi (1958), La Femme et le Pantin (1959), La Création du monde (1959), Ein Engel auf Erden (1959), Arrêtez le massacre (1959)
1960’s: Au voleur! (1960), La Revenante (1960), Pantalaskas (1960), Les Bras de la nuit (1961), Les Démons de Minuit (1961), Quatre-vingt-treize (1962, TV), Le Match (1964, TV), Le Tigre se parfume à la dynamite (1965), Merlusse (1965, TV), A la belle étoile (1966), Au hasard Balthazar (1966), Mouchette (1967), Le Golem (1967, TV), Une Femme douce (1969)
1970’s: Reportages sur un squelette ou Masques et bergamasques (1970, TV), La Faute de l'abbé Mouret (1970), Le petit théâtre de Jean Renoir (1970, TV), La Cavale (1971), Les Gens de Mogador (1972, TV), Féminin-féminin (1973), Les Roses de Manara (1976, TV), Duelle - une quarantaine(1976), Inutile d'envoyer la photo (1977)
1980’s: Square X (1981), Lettres d'amour en Somalie (1982), Le Crime d'amour (1982)

Stage Works:
Olive chez les nègres, opera (1926)
Les Taureaux, oprea bouffe (1957)

Orchestral:
Concerto franco-américain for piano & string orchestra (1923)
Suite de danses n° 1 (1954)
Suite de danses n° 2 (1955)
Concerto for accordion & orchestra (1957)
Concerto for 2 guitars & orchestra (1966)
Concerto for orchestra & piano principal (1970)

Piano:
Sonatine syncopée (1923)
Charleston Blues (1925)
Georgians Blues (1925)
Sonate for piano (1926)
Deuxième sonatine (1928)
Rêve (1929)
Dancing Étude
Quatre petites pièces radio (1947)
Chicken reel - Histoires sans paroles, Ragtime for flute composé in 1910 by Joseph M. Daly, after a traditional theme (manuscrit, arranged Paul Lay)
Trois Danses (1955)
Sonate sans nom (1973)
Sonate "démodée", in the memory of Darius Milhaud (1974)
Trois Moments de musique (1981)
Pour Pierre Cornevin (1981)
One Step (du village de Le Blanc)
Blues
Haarlem (Tempo di Blues)

Mélodies (Songs):
Deux Mélodies : Aéronautes et Souvenirs d'enfance (1921)
Trois Blues for singer & piano (1923)
Deux Poèmes de Jean Cocteau (1924)
Sept Petites Histoires (1924)
Trois chants pathétiques (1941)
12 Chansons de nos métiers (1950)
Chantefables pour les enfants sages, 30 petites mélodies (1955)
Chantefleurs, 50 petites mélodies (1959)

Cantatas for soloists, choir & orchestra:
Le Psaume de la Quarantaine (A. Mella) (1961)
La Mort de Lénine (Mayakowski)
Lamento pour les enfants assassinés (H. Bassin)
Chants pour les morts en montagne (Samivel)
Dernière Nuit (P. Eluard) (1975)

Chamber:
Suite for violon & piano (1925)
Petit allegro alla Jean-Sébastien, muni de deux variations: syncopée et valse lente, pour la trompette du petit Jean-Christophe (1961)
Sonate for violoncello & piano (1968)
Sonate for violoncelle & piano (1970)


Source: Wikipedia Website (September 2012); Claude Torre Website; Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of 20th Century Classical Musicians (1997)
Contributed by
Aryeh Oron (October 2012)

Jean Wiéner: Short Biography | Recordings of Instrumental Works | Piano Transcriptions: Works | Recordings

Links to other Sites

Jean Wiener (Wikipedia)
Jean Wiener (IMDB)

Jean Wiener (Mes musiques régénérées Jewish Music - Claude Torres) [French]


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