Jean Villard

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Gilles, photographed by Erling Mandelmann (1975)

Jean Villard (also known as Jean Villard Gilles or under the pseudonym Gilles ; born June 2, 1895 in Montreux , Switzerland ; died March 26, 1982 in Saint-Saphorin (Lavaux) , ibid.) Was a French-speaking Swiss poet , actor , Chansonnier , comedian and composer who was known for his clear stance towards German National Socialism .

life and work

Jean Villard was born into a family of architects and engineers . As an actor he celebrated his first successes in the role of the devil in the Histoire du soldat (Eng. The story of the soldier ) by the Vaudois poet Ramuz (1878–1947) and the Russian composer Stravinsky - to be precise: the spoken part of it (which had danced Georges Pitoëff ) - and then had a successful career.

In the 1920s he played various roles in the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier in Paris , directed by Jacques Copeau . With Aman-Julien Maistre (A.-M. Julien, 1903-2001) he appeared together in the duo Gilles et Julien during the 1930s . His chanson La belle France (1936) became the anthem of the Front Populaire (Popular Front).

Before the occupation of Paris by German troops in mid-June 1940, he went back to his homeland in Lausanne. Once a week he composed a chanson for Radio Lausanne . On October 16, 1940, the comedian and chansonnier founded the Cabaret Coup de Soleil ("sunburn") in Lausanne with Edith Burger (1906–1948 ), a place of the Francophile spirit and the Resistance .

After the war he was director of the Chez Gilles cabaret in Paris , where he performed as a duo with Albert Urfer (1914–1985). In 1955 he founded a Chez Gilles in Lausanne .

One of his best-known compositions is the piece Les trois cloches ("The three bells", German under the title: When the bells ring brightly ), which Edith Piaf and the group Les compagnons de la Chanson later made famous. It was later sung by many other performers, including Mireille Mathieu .

In his poem La Venoge , he describes the course of the Venoge in the canton of Vaud . It inspired the Belgian singer Jacques Brel (1929–1978) to write his chanson Le plat pays (Eng. The flat country).

Good examples of his snappy humor are - especially from a German perspective - the chansons Le Männerchor de Steffisburg and Le Frauenverein with various German-language inserts .

In Vaudois cantonal archive his estate is developed.

Duo partner

various

A Jean Villard Gilles Foundation (Fondation Jean Villard Gilles) was established in November 2011 following the will of his widow Evelyne Villard (1913–2011), who died on June 20, 2011.

Georges Brassens described Jean Villard as one of the first auteurs-compositeurs , the French term for songwriters . At a time when this was by no means customary, he deliberately wrote good chansons and trusted the audience. An anthology of his chansons ( Anthologie des chansons de Gilles ) appeared on seven CDs . The duo Rabetaud & Desmons have recently recorded a small selection of their pieces.

Well-known works (selection)

Publications (selection)

  • La Belle France. Paroles et musique de Jean Villard (Gilles) . Singing and piano. Le Petit Duc, Paris 1936.
  • Poemes and Chansons. Mermod , Lausanne 1943. (Illustrations by Raoul Domenjoz )
  • Les Histoires de Gilles. 1943 ( brief description )
  • La Chanson, le Theater et la Vie. Mermod, Lausanne 1944.
  • Trois Poèmes . 1945
  • Contribution in: Hommage à C.-F. Ramuz. Lausanne 1947. A special edition of the journal Suisse contemporaine (7th année, no. 9-10), completely dedicated to the poet, with eighteen articles, including: Dentan : Ramuz étudiant. - Budry : Vocation du poète. - Ziegler : Regards sur Ramuz. - Villard-Gilles: Souvenirs du Diable (“The Devil's Memories”).
  • Chansons du Coup de soleil . F. Rouge , Lausanne 1947 (design and lithographs by Yvon Monay (1922–1955))
  • Passage de l'étoile. Théâtre du Jorat in Mézières . 1950
  • La Venoge et autres poemes. Mis en images by Géa Augsbourg . Les editions du Verseau et Librairie Payot, Lausanne 1960.
  • La Grange aux Roud. Théâtre du Jorat in Mézières, 1960.
  • Chansons que tout cela! : 90 chansons new. Ed. Rencontre , Lausanne 1963.
  • Mon demi-siècle et demi. Éditions Rencontre, Lausanne 1970.
  • Amicalement vôtre Gilles , Éd. Favre Pierre-Marcel Favre , 1978
  • Anthology of the chansons de Gilles. 7 CDs.

literature

Web links

Individual references and footnotes

  1. ↑ 24heures.ch
  2. ^ Eric Walter White: Stravinsky, the Composer and His Works . 1984, p. 273 ( partial online view )
  3. ↑ Sound examples : Dollar (1932) & Le vampire du Faubourg (1933) - youtube.com
  4. ↑ 24heures.ch
  5. ↑ 24heures.ch
  6. ↑ cf. Hansruedi Lerch: Edith Burger. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . September 9, 2003 , accessed July 8, 2019 . They appeared together as "Edith et Gilles" (with Edith Burger on the piano).
  7. ↑ archives.24heures.ch: Quand Gilles charriait le III Reich  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on February 13, 2015)@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / archives.24heures.ch  
  8. ↑ cf. 24heures.ch: 1940: Un vrai caf'conc 'antinazi & rts.ch: Gilles et le coup de soleil - both accessed on February 13, 2015
  9. ↑ Sound example Le Männerchor de Steffisburg ( text ) / (see the recording of the Quatre Barbus ) (youtube.com)
  10. ↑ See also the article about the feature film of the same name When the bells ring brightly .
  11. ↑ sound sample * (youtube.com)
  12. ↑ dailymotion : La Venoge ; see. Hymn au Soleil vaudois
  13. ↑ Sound example - youtube.com (together with his duo partner Albert Urfer )
  14. ↑ cf. text
  15. ↑ see web links
  16. ↑ fondationgilles.org
  17. ↑ «On peut dire que Gilles est un des ancêtres des auteurs-compositeurs d'aujourd'hui parce que c'est lui qui le premier et surtout à une époque où cela ne se faisait pas du tout a délibérément écrit de bonnes chansons. Il a fait confiance au public. »(Georges Brassens)
  18. ↑ Recorded titles
  19. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from May 18, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / boutique.rts.ch
  20. ↑ ( table of contents )
personal data
SURNAME Villard, Jean
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gilles (pseudonym); Villard Gilles, Jean (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss poet, actor, chansonnier, comedian, writer and composer
DATE OF BIRTH June 2, 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH Montreux
DATE OF DEATH March 26, 1982
Place of death Saint-Saphorin (Lavaux)