Jef Le Penven (3 November 1919 - 30 April 1967) was a French composer, born in

Pontivy Pontivy (; ) is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France. It lies at the confluence of the river Blavet and the Canal de Nantes à Brest. Inhabitants of Pontivy are called ''Pontivyens'' in French. Map History ...

Morbihan Morbihan ( , ; br, Mor-Bihan ) is a department in the administrative region of Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Morbihan (''small sea'' in Breton), the enclosed sea that is the principal feature of the coastli ...

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

. Le Penven was the twelfth child of a family of

cabinet maker A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves and/or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood (s ...

s. He was brought up in an atmosphere of traditional

vernacular music Vernacular music is ordinary, everyday music such as popular and folk music. It is defined partly in terms of its accessibility, standing in contrast to art music. Vernacular music may overlap with non-vernacular, particular in the context of musica ...

, learning to play the

bombard __NOTOC__ Bombard may refer to the act of carrying out a bombardment. It may also refer to: Individuals *Alain Bombard (1924–2005), French biologist, physician and politician; known for crossing the Atlantic on a small boat with no water or food ...

(Breton oboe) as a child. He studied at the

Schola Cantorum The Schola Cantorum de Paris is a private conservatory in Paris. It was founded in 1894 by Charles Bordes, Alexandre Guilmant and Vincent d'Indy as a counterbalance to the Paris Conservatoire's emphasis on opera. History La Schola was founded i ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, working with

Marcel Dupré Marcel Jean-Jules Dupré () (3 May 1886 – 30 May 1971) was a French organist, composer, and pedagogue. Biography Born in Rouen into a wealthy musical family, Marcel Dupré was a child prodigy. His father Aimable Albert Dupré was titular o ...

.Vefa de Bellaing, Jef Le Penven, Coop Breizh, 1999. In 1940, he became the conductor or the ''Orchestre de Bretagne''. Le Penven's music expresses his attachment to Brittany and

Celtic culture Celtic culture may refer to: *the culture of Celts *the culture of Celts (modern) *the culture of Celtic nations: **Culture of Ireland **Culture of Scotland **Culture of the Isle of Man **Culture of Wales **Culture of Cornwall ** Culture of Brittan ...

. He attempts to integrate traditional and symphonic music. His major works use conventional symphonic and choral forms but typically include bagpipe music. Le Penven was also well known for his organ improvisations, of which he was a virtuoso. His setting of the poem ''Me zo ganet e kreiz ar mor'' by

Yann-Ber Kalloc'h Yann-Ber Kalloc'h (born ''Jean-Pierre Calloc'h'' in French; 21 July 1888 – 10 April 1917) was a Breton war poet who wrote in both Breton and French. Life Yann-Ber Kalloc'h was born on the island of Groix, near Lorient, on July 24, 1888. He w ...

has been interpreted by a number of Breton musicians including

Gilles Servat Gilles Servat is a French singer, born in Tarbes in southern France in 1945, into a family whose roots lay in the Nantes region of Brittany. He is an ardent promoter ardent of the Breton culture, and sings in both French and Breton, as well as ...

and

Alan Stivell Alan Stivell (; born Alan Cochevelou on 6 January 1944) is a French, Breton and Celtic musician and singer, songwriter, recording artist, and master of the Celtic harp. From the early 1970s, he revived global interest in the Celtic (specifically ...

Compositions

* ''Tir Na Nog, La Marche des Bretons'' * ''Les Celtes'' * ''Cantate du Bout du Monde'' * ''Symphonie du Morbihan''

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Penven, Jef 1919 births 1967 deaths People from Pontivy Breton musicians French male composers Schola Cantorum de Paris alumni 20th-century French composers 20th-century French male musicians