Thierry de Brunhoff (born 9 November 1934) is a French pianist and

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monk.

Biography

Thierry de Brunhoff is the son of

Jean Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jea ...

and Cécile de Brunhoff, creators of

Babar the elephant Babar the Elephant (, ; ) is an elephant character who first appeared in 1931 in the French children's book ''Histoire de Babar'' by Jean de Brunhoff. The book is based on a tale that Brunhoff's wife, Cécile, had invented for their children. ...

, and younger brother of

Laurent de Brunhoff Laurent de Brunhoff (born 30 August 1925) is a French author and illustrator, known primarily for continuing the Babar the Elephant series of children's books that was created by his father, Jean de Brunhoff. Early life Brunhoff was born in Pari ...

. He started taking piano lessons from

Alfred Cortot Alfred Denis Cortot (; 26 September 187715 June 1962) was a French pianist, conductor, and teacher who was one of the most renowned classical musicians of the 20th century. A pianist of massive repertory, he was especially valued for his poeti ...

at the age of 11. Cortot was his greatest musical influence, as he testified several times: Thereafter he also studied with

Edwin Fischer Edwin Fischer (6 October 1886 – 24 January 1960) was a Swiss classical pianist and conductor. He is regarded as one of the great interpreters of J.S. Bach and Mozart in the twentieth century. Biography Fischer was born in Basel and studied ...

, before becoming a teacher himself at the

École normale de musique de Paris The École Normale de Musique de Paris "Alfred Cortot" (ENMP) is a leading conservatoire located in Paris, Île-de-France, France. At the time of the school's foundation in 1919 by Auguste Mangeot, Alfred Cortot. The term ''école normale'' (Engl ...

« Les pianistes à Paris », émission de France Musique
31 August 2014. for over ten years. Among his students was

Hüseyin Sermet Hüseyin Sermet (born in Istanbul, 1955) is a Turkish pianist and composer.Hüseyin Sermet.
hexagone.ne ...

. He is particularly known for his interpretations of Chopin and

Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

(one senses in this the very deep mark of his first master, Cortot), but his repertoire is very broad, from

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

and

Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

, through

Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (18 or 19 November 17865 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and critic who was one of the first significant composers of the Romantic era. Best known for his opera ...

, whose ostracism Brunhoff regrets, even the condescension with which he would be treated by musicians. His preference, however, goes to Chopin, whom he praises in these terms: In 1974, he retired as a monk to the in the

Tarn department Tarn ( or ; ) is a department in the Occitania region in Southern France. Named after the river Tarn, it had a population of 389,844 as of 2019.

and became Brother Thierry Jean. In this regard, he declared in 2004 in a letter to Rodolphe Bruneau-Boulmier: He was also a devoted fan of

Maria Callas Maria Callas . (born Sophie Cecilia Kalos; December 2, 1923 – September 16, 1977) was an American-born Greek soprano who was one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century. Many critics praised her ''bel cant ...

. Pianist and radio producer

Philippe Cassard Philippe Cassard (born 12 September 1962) is a French classical pianist. Biography Born in Besançon, Cassard was trained at the Conservatoire de Paris where he won two first prizes, for piano (Dominique Merlet's class) and for chamber mus ...

devoted several series of programs to Thierry de Brunhoff on France Musique between 2008 and 2015.

Discography

In 2004,

EMI Classics EMI Classics was a record label founded by Thorn EMI in 1990 to reduce the need to create country-specific packaging and catalogues for internationally distributed classical music releases. After Thorn EMI demerged in 1996, its recorded musi ...

published a double record in the series "Les Rarissimes",See . with interpretations of works by Chopin, Weber and Schumann, revealing this pianist who was almost forgotten at the time.

References

External links

Que viva Thierry de Brunhoff !
''

Mediapart ''Mediapart'' is an independent French investigative online newspaper created in 2008 by Edwy Plenel, former editor-in-chief of ''Le Monde''. ''Mediapart'' is published in French, English and Spanish. ''Mediapart's'' income is solely derived ...

'' (8 November 2014)
''Le piano de Thierry de Brunhoff''
(''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'') (16 April 2010)
Thierry de Brunhoff
on AllMusic
Hommage à Thierry de Brunhoff pour ses 80 ans
on

France Musique France Musique is a French national public radio channel owned and operated by Radio France. It is devoted to the broadcasting of music, both live and recorded, with particular emphasis on European classical music, classical music and jazz. Hist ...

, 8 November 2014
''Thierry de Brunhoff, fils du papa de Babar''
on

Théâtre des Champs-Élysées The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées () is an entertainment venue standing at 15 avenue Montaigne in Paris. It is situated near Avenue des Champs-Élysées, from which it takes its name. Its eponymous main hall may seat up to 1,905 people, while th ...

Thierry de Brunhoff
on

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

Thierry de Brunhoff performs Von Weber (1967), Invitation à la danse, Sonata n°2
(YouTube) {{DEFAULTSORT:Brunhoff, Thierry 20th-century French male classical pianists French Benedictines Academic staff of the École Normale de Musique de Paris 1934 births Living people