Jacques de Menasce (August 19, 1905 – January 28, 1960) was a

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

, and

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governmen ...

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

, and later

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

, nationality. Jacques de Menasce was born in

Bad Ischl Bad Ischl (Austrian German ) is a spa town in Austria. It lies in the southern part of Upper Austria, at the Traun River in the centre of the Salzkammergut region. The town consists of the Katastralgemeinden ''Ahorn'', ''Bad Ischl'', ''Haiden' ...

, then in the German-speaking part of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, into a Jewish family with roots in Egypt where they had amassed considerable wealth as merchants and bankers and played prominent roles in the Jewish community that centred in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

. This was also the family from which sprang the Catholic writer

Jean de Menasce Jean de Menasce (1902–1973) was a French Catholic priest, of the Dominican Order, as well as an author and academic. He came from Jewish Egyptian and French parentage. Over his lifetime he mastered fifteen languages, including Hebrew, Syria ...

, who was a first cousin of the composer's father, Henri de Menasce. As a boy Jacques de Menasce's portrait was painted by Oskar Kokoschka. He studied at the Vienna Music Academy as a young man under teachers who included Joseph Marx,

Paul Pisk Paul Amadeus Pisk (May 16, 1893, Vienna – January 12, 1990, Los Angeles) was an Austrian-born composer and musicologist. A prize named in his honor is the highest award for a graduate student paper at the annual meeting of the American Musicolo ...

, and

Emil von Sauer Emil Georg Conrad von Sauer (8 October 186227 April 1942) was a German composer, pianist, score editor, and music (piano) teacher. He was a pupil of Franz Liszt and one of the most distinguished pianists of his generation. Josef Hofmann called vo ...

, and he was also much encouraged by

Alban Berg Alban Maria Johannes Berg ( , ; 9 February 1885 – 24 December 1935) was an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School. His compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with the twelve-tone technique. Although he left a relatively sma ...

, at whose instigation he composed his first piano concerto. His compositions include two piano concertos, the Sonata for Viola and Piano (championed by

Lillian Fuchs Lillian Fuchs (November 18, 1901 – October 5, 1995) was an American violist, teacher and composer. She is considered to be among the finest instrumentalists of her time. She came from a musical family, and her brothers, Joseph Fuchs, a viol ...

), ''Hebrew Melodies for Violin and Piano'', and the song cycles ''Quatre Chansons'', ''Outrenuit'', and ''Pour une Princesse''. There exist a few recordings of his works. The first, on

Vanguard Classics Vanguard Recording Society is an American record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York City. It was a primarily classical label at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, but also has a catalogue of recordings by a n ...

, contains performances of the second piano concerto along with his ''Divertimento on a Children's Song'' and the ''Petite Suite pour le Piano''. The conductor is the composer's friend Edmond Appia and the pianist is the composer himself. There is also a recording issued by

Composers Recordings, Inc. Composers Recordings, Inc. (CRI) was an American record label dedicated to the recording of contemporary classical music by American composers. It was founded in 1954 by Otto Luening, Douglas Moore, and Oliver Daniel, and based in New York City. ...

(CRI) that contains performances of the viola sonata, the second sonatina for piano, the first violin sonata, and ''Instantanés'', a collection of short piano pieces. His ''Deux Lettres d'Enfants'' appears on a Nimbus recording of

Hugues Cuénod Hugues-Adhémar Cuénod (; 26 June 19026 December 2010)

singing French song cycles.Satie's Socrate - French Song Cycles Cuenod NI5027 [GF]: Classical Music Reviews - September 2010 MusicWeb-International
/ref> There also exists a recording of Jacques de Menasce participating (together with the violinist Ángel Reyes) in a performance of the ''Sonatine'' for violin and piano of Henry Barraud (composer), Henry Barraud. The composer and Lillian Fuchs performed his Viola Sonata in One Movement for broadcast on WQXR new York on 12 May 1957 (with sonatas by Brahms and Milhaud. While this was not commercially released, a recording was made by Studio 70 New York on two 45-rpm lacquer discs, copies of which are held by Northern Vintage Recordings Archive (catalog not yet published).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Menasce, Jacques de 1905 births 1960 deaths Austrian classical composers American male classical composers American classical composers 20th-century classical composers People from Bad Ischl Jewish Egyptian history Austrian emigrants to the United States Pupils of Joseph Marx Pupils of Alban Berg 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians