Léo Ferré (; 24 August 1916 – 14 July 1993) was a
Monégasque poet and composer, and a dynamic and controversial live performer. He released some forty albums over this period, composing the music and the majority of the lyrics. He released many hit singles, particularly between 1960 and the mid-1970s. Some of his songs have become classics of the
French chanson repertoire, including "
Avec le temps", "C'est extra", "Jolie Môme" and "Paris-Canaille".
Early life
Ferré was the son of Joseph Ferré, French staff manager at
Monte Carlo Casino, and Marie Scotto, a Monégasque dressmaker of Italian descent from
Piedmont
Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...
; he had a sister, Lucienne, two years older.
Ferré had an early interest in music. At age seven, he joined the choir of the
Monaco Cathedral and discovered
polyphony
Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice ( monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chord ...
through singing pieces by
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and
Tomás Luis de Victoria. His uncle, former violinist and secretary at the Casino, used to bring him to performances and rehearsals at the
Monte Carlo Opera. Ferré listened to such musicians as bass singer
Feodor Chaliapin, discovered
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...
under the baton of
Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orche ...
(
Coriolanus), and was deeply moved by the
Fifth Symphony. But it was the sweet presence of composer
Maurice 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 ...
during ''
L'Enfant et les Sortilèges'' rehearsals that impressed him the most.
At age nine, Ferré entered Saint-Charles College of
Bordighera, run by the Brothers of the Christian Schools in Italy. He remained there for eight long years of severe discipline and boredom.
He wrote about this lonely and caged childhood in an
autofiction (''Benoît Misère'', 1970). He graduated from high school in Monaco, but his father did not let him attend the Conservatory of Music.
Career
In 1945, while still a "farmer" and a Jack-of-all-trades at
Radio Monte-Carlo, Ferré met
Edith Piaf
Edith is a feminine given name derived from the Old English word , meaning ''wealth'' or ''prosperity'', in combination with the Old English , meaning '' strife'', and is in common usage in this form in English, German, many Scandinavian lang ...
, who encouraged him to try his luck in Paris.
In April 1947, Ferré agreed to tour in
Martinique
Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...
, which turned out to be disastrous.
From the end of 1947 Ferré produced and hosted on Paris Inter station several cycles of programs devoted to classical music. In ''Musique Byzantine'' (1953–54), he expanded his topics on aesthetics, such as tonality necessity, exotic melody, opera (the "song of rich people"), boredom, and originality or "marshmallow music".
In 1950, to submit Verdi examination at
La Scala
La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was Santa Maria della Scala, Milan, a church). The premiere performa ...
in Milan, he wrote the libretto and music of an opera called ''La Vie d'artiste'' (same title as the song). It transposed his past years' experience into a kind of a black comedy but Ferré did not seem to like it much, finally abandoning it for other projects. He began to sing in larger venues such as l'
Olympia, as the opening act of
Josephine Baker
Freda Josephine Baker (; June 3, 1906 – April 12, 1975), naturalized as Joséphine Baker, was an American and French dancer, singer, and actress. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in France. She was the first Black woman to s ...
in 1954.
In 1956, Ferré wrote and composed ''La Nuit'' (''The Night''), a ballet with sung sections commissioned by choreographer
Roland Petit, but which failed to find an audience.
From 1960 to 1970, Ferré worked with arranger
Jean-Michel Defaye, whose classical skills and taste fit well with Ferré's musical sensitivity (they were both fans of
Maurice 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 ...
's works for example). They maintained a steady pace of creation, recording almost an album a year, sometimes more. This artistic output, including the way Ferré would write for symphonic orchestras after 1970, would have an influence in the English-speaking world over such singer-songwriters as
Scott Walker,
Martin Newell and
Benjamin Clementine.
In March 1968, Ferré did not return home after a gig. In his absence, Ferré's chimpanzee Pépée suffered a fall and refused to be approached. Eventually, Madeleine asked a hunter neighbour to put the chimpanzee out of its misery. Ferré's requiem for the primate would be his eponymous song "Pépée". The singer blamed his wife for Pépée's death and they would divorce after endless procedures.
In 1969, Ferré settled in
Tuscany
Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence.
Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...
, in Italy. The huge success of "C'est extra", an erotic ballad, greatly expanded his audience, especially among the French youth, who recognized in the poet the "prophet" of his own rebellion.
Backed by this new energy, Ferré began to smash traditional song structures to explore
spoken word
Spoken word is an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a 20th-century continuation of an oral tradition, ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetic ...
and long monologues. With very precise work on the voice (rhythm, speech) and
rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse ( trivium) along with grammar and logic/ dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or w ...
al writing derived from the prose of poet
Arthur Rimbaud, Ferré ritualized his speaking in an incantatory and dramatic fashion.
In 1975 Ferré conducted successively the orchestra of the Institut des Hautes Études Musicales in
Montreux
Montreux (, ; ; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, Swiss municipality and List of towns in Switzerland, town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Swiss Alps, Alps. It belongs to the Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut (district), Riviera-Pays ...
, the
Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège, and the
Pasdeloup Orchestra at the
Palais des congrès de Paris. It was a perilous challenge for Ferré, who conducted the orchestra and sang at the same time. He mixed Ravel's
''piano concerto for the Left Hand'' and
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...
's ''
Coriolan Overture'' with his own compositions and reversed the placement of the orchestra. 140 musicians and choir singers were on stage. This was an unprecedented performance, breaking free from conventions and blending separated worlds. Concerts were sold out for five weeks, but critics from the classical music field rejected this hybrid show.
From 1976 to 1979 he toured less. He drifted from his violently declamatory expression of revolt to avoid being typecast.
In 1976, Ferré signed with
CBS Records International. From then until the end of his career the majority of his recordings would be made with the
Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
-based
RAI National Symphony Orchestra under his conducting. CBS soon dropped Ferré, whose commercial potential was estimated too low (his new aesthetics of symphonic down-tempo being against the current of all musical trends, it was complicated to put the artist on the radio and reduced the possibility of a hit). Being dropped by the "professionals", and disgusted for good with being "a merchandise for producers", Ferré refused to accept French song prizes. He also refused the proposal to enter the
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...
(at the highest grade) and to support President of France
François Mitterrand in his reelection campaign in exchange for leading and conducting of a first-class symphonic orchestra. He refused being guest of honor in the
Victoires de la musique (Music's Victories), annual French award ceremony recognizing the best musical artists of the year. Ferré used to say: "The only honor for an artist is not getting any".
[Interview Pierre Bouteiller, ]France 3
France 3 () is a French free-to-air Public broadcasting, public television network. The second flagship network of France Télévisions, it broadcasts a wide range of general and specialized programming.
France 3 is structured as a Region ...
, August 1984.
Léo Ferré died at his home in July 1993 at the age of 76. He was buried at the
Monaco Cemetery.
Discography
Studio albums
* 1953: ''
Paris-Canaille''
* 1954: ''
Chansons de Léo Ferré''
* 1954: ''
Le Piano du pauvre''
* 1956: ''
Le Guinche (Huit Chansons nouvelles)''
* 1956: ''
Poète... vos papiers !''
* 1957: ''
Les Fleurs du mal''
* 1957: ''
La Chanson du mal-aimé''
* 1958: ''
Encore... du Léo Ferré''
* 1960: ''
Paname''
* 1961: ''
Les Chansons d'Aragon''
* 1962: ''
La Langue française''
* 1964: ''
Ferré 64''
* 1964: ''
Verlaine et Rimbaud'' (2×LP)
* 1966: ''
Léo Ferré 1916-19…''
* 1967: ''Cette chanson (La Marseillaise)''
* 1967: ''
Léo Ferré chante Baudelaire'' (2×LP)
* 1969: ''
L'Été 68''
* 1969: ''
Les Douze Premières Chansons de Léo Ferré''
* 1970: ''
Amour Anarchie'' (2×LP)
* 1971: ''
La Solitude''
* 1972: ''
La Chanson du mal-aimé''
* 1972: ''
La Solitudine
"La solitudine" (''"The Loneliness"'') is a song by Italian pop singer Laura Pausini, released as her debut single by CGD in February 1993. Pausini sang it for the first time on 23 February 1993, during the 43rd Sanremo Music Festival. On 27 F ...
''
* 1973: ''
Il n'y a plus rien''
* 1973: ''
Et… basta !''
* 1974: ''
L'Espoir''
* 1975: ''
Ferré muet... dirige''
* 1976: ''
Je te donne''
* 1977: ''
La musica mi prende come l'amore''
* 1977: ''
La Frime''
* 1979: ''
Il est six heures ici et midi à New York''
* 1980: ''
La Violence et l'Ennui''
* 1982: ''
Ludwig-L'imaginaire-Le bateau ivre'' (3×LP)
* 1983: ''
L'Opéra du pauvre'' (4×LP)
* 1985: ''
Les Loubards''
* 1986: ''
On n'est pas sérieux quand on a dix-sept ans'' (2×LP)
* 1990: ''
Les Vieux Copains''
* 1991: ''
Une saison en enfer''
Live albums
* 1955: ''Récital Léo Ferré à l'Olympia''
* 1958: ''Léo Ferré à Bobino''
* 1961: ''Récital Léo Ferré à l'Alhambra''
* 1963: ''Flash ! Alhambra – A.B.C.''
* 1969: ''Récital 1969 en public à Bobino'' (2×LP)
* 1973: ''
Seul en scène (Olympia 1972)'' (2×LP)
* 1984: ''Léo Ferré au Théâtre des Champs-Élysées'' (3×LP)
* 1988: ''Léo Ferré en public au TLP Déjazet''
Posthumous releases
* 1993: ''Alors, Léo...'' (live at the TLP Déjazet 1990, 2xCD)
* 2000: ''
Métamec'' (unreleased album demo tapes)
* 2000: ''
Le Temps des roses rouges'' (78s songs from 1950)
* 2001: ''
Sur la scène...'' (live at
Lausanne
Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...
1973, 2×CD)
* 2001: ''Un chien à Montreux'' (live at
Montreux
Montreux (, ; ; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, Swiss municipality and List of towns in Switzerland, town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Swiss Alps, Alps. It belongs to the Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut (district), Riviera-Pays ...
1973, EP)
* 2003: ''
Les Chansons interdites… et autres'' (songs from 1961 previously published on Eps)
* 2004: ''
De sac et de cordes'' (
radio drama
Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the liste ...
from 1951)
* 2004: ''
Maudits soient-ils !'' (''
Verlaine et Rimbaud'' album demo tapes, 2×CD)
* 2006: ''
La Mauvaise Graine'' (radio sessions & interviews from 1959)
* 2008: ''
Les Fleurs du mal (suite et fin)'' (unreleased album demo tapes, 1976–77)
* 2018: ''
Je parle à n'importe qui'' (unreleased album demo tape, 1977)
Boxed sets, compilations, and rarities
* 2013: ''
L'Indigné'' (20xCD)
* 2018: ''
La Vie moderne: intégrale 1944-1959'' (14CD covering the 15 first artist's years)
* 2020: ''
L'Âge d'or: intégrale 1960-1967'' (16CD covering the next eight artist's years)
* 2021: ''
La Solitude: intégrale 1968-1974'' (18CD covering the next seven artist's years)
* 2022: ''
La Marge : intégrale 1975-1991'' (20CD covering the last sixteen active artist's years)
See also
*
"L'Affiche Rouge" (poem)
References
External links
*
25 songs of Léo Ferré translated into English (complete lyrics)
Recordingof the unique interview with
Georges Brassens and
Jacques Brel, 6 January 1969
Pays-Âges de Léo Ferré– a gallery of places and people in Ferré's life
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferre, Leo
1916 births
1993 deaths
20th-century classical composers
Monegasque male singers
Monegasque anarchists
Monegasque poets
French male singer-songwriters
French singer-songwriters
French anarchists
French satirists
French satirical musicians
Sciences Po alumni
French people of Italian descent
Monegasque people of Italian descent
People of Piedmontese descent
20th-century French poets
20th-century French male singers