Marcel Caens (1919 – November 2006) was a French classical trumpeter.

Early life

Born in

Honfleur Honfleur () is a commune in the Calvados department in northwestern France. It is located on the southern bank of the estuary of the Seine across from le Havre and very close to the exit of the Pont de Normandie. The people that inhabit Honf ...

, Caens began studying the

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopr ...

at Villedieu-les-Poêles with Michel Havard.

Career

In 1937, he joined the army and met Bourvil and

Louiguy Louis Guglielmi (3 April 1916 – 4 April 1991), known by his pen name Louiguy (), was a Spanish-born French musician of Italian descent. He wrote the melody for Édith Piaf's lyrics of "La Vie en Rose" and the Latin jazz composition "Ceris ...

(composer of ''

La Vie en rose "La Vie en rose" (; ) is the signature song of popular French singer Édith Piaf, written in 1945, popularized in 1946, and released as a single in 1947. The song became very popular in the US in 1950, when seven versions reached the ''Billboard ...

''). He entered the Conservatoire de Paris with

Eugène Foveau Eugène Foveau (26 November 1886 – 5 January 1957) was a French trumpeter and cornetist. He was professor of trumpet at the Conservatoire de Paris from 1925 to 1947. Life Born in Dijon, Foveau is a former student of Merri Franquin at the Conser ...

where he won the 2nd Prize for cornet in 1939. From 1940 to 1943, he was a prisoner in Germany. In 1944, he won the 2nd Trumpet Prize and the First Prize in 1945. In 1946, he was hired by the Moroccan Radio Orchestra in

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populati ...

and at the where he also taught at the Conservatory. In 1954, he became a professor at the Conservatoire National de Région de Dijon as well as principal trumpet of the Orchestre du Théâtre. Marcel Caens is violinist Maurice Caens' nephew. He is the father of trumpeter

Thierry Caens Thierry Caens (born 1958) is a French classical trumpeter. Life Born in Dijon (Burgundy), Caens began studying the trumpet at the age of six with his father Marcel Caens (also father of the saxophonist Jean-Pierre Caens). He was a pupil of Rob ...

, saxophonist Jean-Pierre Caens, Hervé Caens, a music teacher, and Joëlle Caens (épouse Guidot).

Sources

Article de Jean-Pierre Mathez
pour le magazine international des cuivres BRASS BULLETIN No. 93 -I/1996, pages 68 to 78. {{DEFAULTSORT:Caens, Marcel 1919 births 2006 deaths People from Honfleur Conservatoire de Paris alumni French classical trumpeters Male trumpeters 20th-century French musicians French music educators 20th-century trumpeters 20th-century French male musicians 20th-century classical musicians