Jean-François Paillard

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Jean-François Paillard (born April 12, 1928 in Vitry-le-François , † April 15, 2013 in Saint-Auban-sur-l'Ouvèze , Département Drôme ) was a French conductor .

Jean-François Paillard (2007)

Life

Jean-François Paillard received his musical training at the Paris Conservatory and with Igor Markevitch at the Salzburg Mozarteum . He studied orchestral conducting with Igor Markevitch and musicology with Norbert Dufourcq , and he also received a diploma in mathematics.

In 1953 he founded the ensemble “ Jean-Marie Leclair ” (named after the composer of the same name), which in 1959 was renamed “Orchester de chambre Jean-François Paillard”. His first record "Musique Française au XVIIIe siècle" ("French Music of the 18th Century"), which came out in June 1953, was followed by a large number of other recordings that opened up new perspectives on the interpretation of the music of the 17th and 18th centuries , connected with the rediscovery of a large part of French music before Berlioz . It was one of the leading chamber orchestras for 18th century music in Europe in the 1960s and early 1970s . The focus was on the works of Handel, Vivaldi, Albinoni, Bach and those of their French contemporaries, including several first recordings.

In addition to an extensive record production, over 5 decades of concert tours and participation in numerous music festivals have taken him to all five continents, in particular to most European countries, to North America and Japan. So it happened that Paillard et al. a. The Four Seasons by Vivaldi performed 1480 times.

A long-term collaboration linked him with many important French instrumentalists of his era, which were reflected in both concert activities and recordings. Worth mentioning here are Maurice André (trumpet), Jean-Pierre Rampal and Maxence Larrieu (flute), Lily Laskine (harp), Pierre Pierlot and Jaques Chambon (oboe), Robert Veyron-Lacroix (harpsichord), Marie-Claire Alain (organ) and Paul Hogne (bassoon).

His orchestra consisted of twelve strings and a harpsichord. Huguette Fernandez was concertmaster until 1969, after which Gérard Jarry took over the position. Jean-François Paillard was also a sought-after guest conductor; u. a. There were also several recordings with the English Chamber Orchestra and the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. In addition, he was the editor of the series “Archives de la musique instrumentale” and in 1960 published the musicological study “La musique française classique” . In April 2008, on the occasion of his eightieth birthday, he received the highest honors in Japan. The United States recently named one of his recordings, dedicated to famous melodies of the 18th century, “The best selling classical recording of all time”.

Musical style

In parallel to his work as a conductor, Jean-François Paillard conducted intensive research in many European libraries for clues about the performance of the music before Mozart. Before 1960 he had already viewed a large part of the existing writings on this subject.

His annually around 10 recordings from 1956 onwards enabled him to convey his research results regarding sound and musical style at various music academies in Europe. In the 1970s there was a new understanding of the reproduction of 18th century music, under the term " historical performance practice ". Jean-François Paillard did not join the new style. He refused to adopt what made the new interpretation of 18th century music so successful: historical instruments, the concert pitch of 415 Hz, children's voices in vocal music. This earned him the harsh criticism of numerous music critics at times, but he was able to continue on his way in the following two decades: mixed voices in the choirs, keeping the standard pitch of 440 Hz and returning to the countertenor .

Discography

Paillard's discography includes over 300 recordings, 29 of which received the Grand Prix du Disque . These recordings enabled audiences to discover great works of 18th century music throughout the 1960s, including a. the “Wassermusik” by Handel, the concerts for three and four harpsichords by Bach and most of the instrumental works by French composers of the 17th and 18th centuries. This includes several first recordings, u. a. the complete recording of the 12 concerts by Jean-Marie Leclair .

He made his first recording with the French label Erato . Jean-François Paillard was also the musician who ensured the company's great success, u. a. with the Concerto for Flute and Harp by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , the Canon by Johann Pachelbel or the Brandenburg Concerts by Johann Sebastian Bach .

His collaboration with Erato lasted 32 years and ended abruptly following the departure of Philippe Loury as company director. At this point, Jean-François Paillard had produced 235 recordings with this company. Two years later, in 1986, he signed a contract with BMG , with which he worked until 2002.

Discography (selection)

  • JS Bach: B minor suite, recorded 1958 (with Chr. Lardé), 1962 (with M. Larrieu), 1968 (with Maurice André), 1971 (with JP Rampal) 1987 (with Ph. Pierlot)
  • JS Bach: Concerto in D minor for keyboard instrument, recorded in 1958 and 1968 (with R. Veyron-Lacroix), 1977 (with Marie-Claire Alain) and 1993 (with R. Siegel)
  • JS Bach: Brandenburg Concerts, recorded in 1973 (with M. André, JP Rampal, A. Marion, P. Pierlot, J. Chambon, P. Hogne, G. Jarry and AM Beckensteiner) and 1990 (with Th. Caens, M. Larrieu, M. Sanvoisin, Th. Indermühle, G. Jarry and R. Siegel).
  • Vivaldi / JS Bach: Concerto for four instruments. Version 4 strings 1958 (with H. Fernandez), 1970 and 1989 (with G. Jarry. Version 4 keyboard instruments 1959) and 1968 (with R. Veyron-Lacroix), 1981 (with A. Queffelec)
  • Vivaldi: The Four Seasons, recorded 1959 (with H. Fernandez), 1976, 1988, 1991 (with G. Jarry), 2002 (with S. Kudo)
  • Handel: Water music recorded in 1960, 1973, 1990
  • Albinoni: Adagio, recorded in 1958, 1975, 1983, 1988, 1990 and 1996
  • Mozart: Die Kleine Nachtmusik recorded in 1960, 1969, 1978, and 1987
  • Mozart: Clarinet Concerto recorded in 1958 and 1963 (with J. Lancelot) and 1991 (with M. Arrignon)

bibliography

  • Jean-François Paillard: La Musique française classique . Series Que sais-je? No. 878, Presses universitaires de France, Paris 1960
  • Thierry Merle: Le Miracle Erato par les plus grands musiciens français et Jean-François Paillard . EME, Paris 2004. ISBN 2952141304

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Obituary for Jean-François Paillard ( memento of April 30, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) in: La Lettre du musicien , April 17, 2013
personal data
SURNAME Paillard, Jean-François
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French musician and conductor of the chamber orchestra of the same name
DATE OF BIRTH April 12, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Vitry-le-François
DATE OF DEATH April 15, 2013
Place of death Saint-Auban-sur-l'Ouvèze , Drôme department