Marie-Paul Achille Auguste Le Flem (18 March 1881 – 31 July 1984) was a French
composer and
music critic.
Biography
Born in
Radon, Orne, and living most of his life in
Lézardrieux
Lézardrieux (; br, Lezardrev) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department of Brittany in northwestern France.
The village is situated near the mouth of the estuary of the Trieux river - the suspension bridge ( Pont de Lézardrieux) across th ...
, Le Flem studied at the Schola Cantorum under
Vincent d'Indy
Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy (; 27 March 18512 December 1931) was a French composer and teacher. His influence as a teacher, in particular, was considerable. He was a co-founder of the Schola Cantorum de Paris and also taught at the P ...
and
Albert Roussel, later teaching at the same establishment, where his pupils included
Erik Satie (as a mature student) and
André Jolivet
André Jolivet (; 8 August 1905 – 20 December 1974) was a French composer. Known for his devotion to French culture and musical thought, Jolivet drew on his interest in acoustics and atonality, as well as both ancient and modern musical influe ...
. His music is strongly influenced by his native
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...
, the landscape of which is reflected in most of his work.
Before
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, Le Flem produced several major works, including his First Symphony, a Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra, and an opera. The war temporarily put an end to his compositional activities, and in its aftermath he devoted himself to music criticism and choral
conducting. He wrote numerous articles for the periodical ''Comoedia''.
In 1937, he began composing once again. Three additional symphonies and a second opera followed before he was finally forced to give up composition in 1976, at the age of 95, due to blindness. He died on 31 July 1984 at the age of 103.
Some of his dramatic works include the operas ''Le Rossignol de St-Malo'' (The Nightingale of St Malo) and ''La Magicienne de la mer'' (The Magician of the Sea), as well as a version of the
chante-fable ''
Aucassin et Nicolette
''Aucassin et Nicolette'' (12th or 13th century) is an anonymous medieval French fictional story. It is the unique example of a ''chantefable'', literally, a "sung story", a combination of prose and verse (similar to a ''prosimetrum'').
History ...
''. ''For the Dead'' and the seven ''Pièces enfantines'', both originally written in 1911, were orchestrated some years later. Two of the composer's children died young, and ''For the Dead'' is dedicated to their memory. In addition to his symphonies, Le Flem wrote evocative orchestral music such as ''En mer'' (At Sea) and ''La Voix du large'' (The Voice of the Open Sea). Le Flem also composed the music for
Jean Tedesco
Jean Tedesco (1895–1958) was a French film director, film critic and screenwriter. Chief editor of the ''Cinéa'' magazine he also was managing director of the théâtre du Vieux-Colombier between 1924 and 1934 where he showed avant-garde films ...
's short film ''The Great Gardener of France'' in 1942.
Le Flem was a member of the
Association des Compositeurs Breton; another member, the Irish-American
Swan Hennessy (1866–1929) dedicated his ''Petit trio celtique'', Op. 52 (1921) to Le Flem.
Personal life
Paul Le Flem, with his wife, Jeanne (Even), was the grandfather of actress
Marika Green
Marika is a feminine given name of Polish, Greek, and Japanese origin. It has its origin in the Hungarian and Greek nickname for Maria, or its Silesian diminutive "Maryjka". Marieke is the Dutch and Flemish equivalent. Marika is also a Fijian gi ...
and great-grandfather of actress
Eva Green
Eva Gaëlle Green (, ; born ) is a French actress and model. The daughter of actress Marlène Jobert, she began her career in theatre before making her film debut in Bernardo Bertolucci's '' The Dreamers'' (2003). She achieved international reco ...
by his daughter, Jeanne, who married
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
journalist Lennart Green.
He died in
Tréguier
Tréguier (; br, Landreger) is a port town in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. It is the capital of the province of Trégor.
Geography
Tréguier is located 36 m. N.W. of Saint-Brieuc by road. The port is situ ...
in 1984.
Selected compositions
Opera
*''Aucassin et Nicolette'' (1909)
*''La Fête du printemps'' (1937)
*''Le Rossignol de Saint-Malo'' (1938)
*''La Clairière des fées'' (1944)
*''La Magicienne de la mer'' (1947)
*''La Maudite'' (1968)
Orchestral
*Symphony No. 1 (1908)
*''Les Voix du large'' (1911)
*''Fantaisie'' (1911) for piano and orchestra
*''Le Village'' (1943)
*''La Ronde des fées'' (1943)
*Symphony No. 2 (1958)
*''Concertstück'' (1964) for violin and orchestra
*Symphony No. 3 (1967)
*Symphony No. 4 (1974)
Chamber music
*Sonata for violin and piano (1905)
*''Danse désuète'' for harp and string quartet (1909)
*Quintet for piano and string quartet (1910)
*''Pièce'' for flute and cello (1925)
*''Pièce'' for horn and piano (1952)
*''Sérénité'' for
Ondes Martenot
The ondes Martenot ( ; , "Martenot waves") or ondes musicales ("musical waves") is an early electronic musical instrument. It is played with a keyboard or by moving a ring along a wire, creating "wavering" sounds similar to a theremin. A player ...
and piano (1955)
*''Concertstück'' (1964) for violin and piano (1964)
Piano music
*''Éponine et Sabinius'' (1897)
*''Par landes'' (1907)
*''Par grèves'' (1907)
*''Avril'' (1910)
*''Le Chant des genêts'' (1910)
*''Vieux calvaire'' (1910)
*''Sept Pièces enfantines'' (1911)
*''Pavane de mademoiselle (Style Louis XIV)'' (undated)
Selected recordings
*''Paul Le Flem: Quintette & Sonate'', Timpani 1C1077 (2004), performed by Philippe Koch (vn), Alain Jacquon (pf), Quatuor Louvigny. Contains: Quintet for piano and strings; Violin Sonata.
*''Paul Le Flem: Complete Piano Works'', Grand Piano GP 695 (CD, 2016), performed by Giorgio Koukl. Contains: ''Avril''; ''Vieux calvaire''; ''Par landes''; ''Par grèves''; ''Le Chant des genêts''; ''Sept Pièces enfantines''; ''Les Korrigans – Valse bretonne''; ''Pour la main droite''; ''Mélancolie''; ''Éponine et Sabinius''; ''Pavane de mademoiselle (Style Louis XIV)''; ''Émotions''.
Bibliography
* Vendramini-Joseph, Cecile: ''Paul le Flem, musicien breton'' (Diss. Paris: Univ. Sorbonne, 1980).
* Vefa de Bellaing: ''Dictionnaire des compositeurs de musique en Bretagne'' (Nantes: Ouest Editions, 1992), .
* Bernard-Krauss, Geneviève: ''Hundert Jahre französischer Musikgeschichte in Leben und Werk Paul Le Flems'' (Frankfurt etc.: Peter Lang, 1993), .
* Gonin, Philippe: ''Vie et œuvre de Paul Le Flem'' (Villeneuve-d'Ascq: Presses universitaires du Septentrion, 2001).
References
External links
Compositeurs Bretons biography page, accessed 29 January 2010
{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Flem, Paul
1881 births
1984 deaths
20th-century classical composers
20th-century French composers
20th-century French male musicians
Breton musicians
French centenarians
French male classical composers
French opera composers
Male opera composers
Men centenarians
People from Orne