Le Bœuf sur le Toit (cabaret)

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In the Bœuf sur le Toit

Le Bœuf sur le Toit was originally a music cabaret and is now a restaurant in the 8th arrondissement of Paris . It was opened on January 10, 1922 by Louis Moysès. In the period between the world wars , it was a meeting place for Parisian intellectuals and artists. Jean Cocteau in particularwas often to be found there.

Beginnings

In 1919 the composer Darius Milhaud returned from a trip to Brazil. Fascinated by the music there, he founded the group Les Six with musician friends in Paris . A popular song he brought back from Brazil was O Boi no Telhado . He suggested this melody to Jean Cocteau as a theme for a ballet, as a successor to the successful Ballet Parade . They agreed on the title Le Bœuf sur le toit for this ballet - the literal translation of the Brazilian song title. From 1921 you could often hear Milhaud, together with Georges Auric and Arthur Rubinstein , play six hands in the Bar la Gaya . The opportunity to meet Cocteau and friends there made the bar popular. When she moved to Rue Boissy-d'Anglas in December 1921, the owner, Louis Moysès, changed the name to Le Bœuf sur le Toit . No doubt his aim was to keep Cocteau and his friends in the place. Over time, the bar became such a well-known meeting point for artists that many believed Milhaud named his piece after her - although the opposite is the case.

history

Le Bœuf sur le Toit was a success right from the start. In the 1920s it became one of the premier Parisian cabarets. On the opening evening, pianist Jean Wiener played melodies by George Gershwin , accompanied on the drum by Cocteau and Milhaud.

Le Bœuf attracted artists from all walks of life . Among the guests were Pablo Picasso , Sergei Diaghilew , René Clair and Maurice Chevalier . The famous Dadaist collage L'Œil cacodylate by Francis Picabia adorned the room. Le Bœuf sur le Toit , however, focused on the music. There you could hear Jean Wiener playing Bach works, the piano virtuoso Clément Doucet used to play pieces by Cole Porter , and Marianne Oswald sang chansons by Kurt Weill . You met Stravinsky , Francis Poulenc and Erik Satie in the boeuf . Another frequent guest was the young American composer Virgil Thomson , whose compositions were influenced by members of Les Six in the years that followed.

In 1928, Louis Moysès had to look for a new home for his cabaret. Since then, Le Bœuf sur le Toit has changed addresses several times:

  • 1922: 28 rue Boissy d'Anglas in an 18th century house;
  • 1927: 21 rue Boissy d'Anglas;
  • 1927: 28 rue Boissy d'Anglas;
  • 1928: 33 rue Boissy-d'Anglas;
  • 1928: 26 rue de Penthièvre;
  • 1936: 43 to avenue Pierre-Ier-de-Serbie;
  • 1941: 34 rue du Colisée; this is the current address.

Maurice Sachs mentions le Bœuf sur le Toit in a number of his works. In Au temps du Bœuf sur le Toit , published in 1939, he set a monument to this cabaret. According to testimonies at a court case in Essen , Herschel Grynszpan and Ernst vom Rath met there in 1938 , shortly before Grynszpan shot at vom Rath in the German embassy in Paris.

Its original character of the Années folles could Le Boeuf sur le Toit not save. Today it is an upscale restaurant with Art Deco furnishings , immaculate white tablecloths, and Limousin dishes - a meeting place for business people, wealthy customers and celebrities. It belongs to Groupe Flo , which owns a number of other restaurants in Paris, including Brasserie Bofinger .

A winged word

Paris experienced a heyday of jazz in the 1920s and 1930s. After their regular appearances, musicians used to meet at Bœuf sur le Toit to continue playing until late at night. As the nationalized in France dictum faire un boeuf for a jam session one.

literature

  • Lisa Appignanesi: The Cabaret . Studio Vista, London 1975, ISBN 0-289-70612-2 .
  • Maurice Sachs: Au temps du Bœuf sur le toit (=  Les Cahiers rouges . No. 73 ). Grasset, Paris 2005, ISBN 2-246-38822-8 (first edition: 1939).

Web links

Commons : Le Bœuf sur le toit  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Monique Schneider-Maunoury, Dominique Le Buhan: Au temps du Bœuf sur le toit: 1918–1928 . Artcurial, Paris 1981.
  2. ^ Café Music. In: Time Magazine. October 26, 1931, accessed March 14, 2015 .
  3. ↑ a b Laurent Gloaguen: Au temps du Boeuf sur le toit : 5. Maurice Sachs. In: The Boeuf Chronicles. July 24, 2004, accessed March 14, 2015 (French).
  4. ↑ a b Laurent Gloaguen: How the Ox got its name, and other Parisian legends. In: The Bœuf Chronicles. May 6, 2002, accessed March 14, 2015 .
  5. ^ Maximilien de Lafayette: Places and Hang Out. In: The World: Faboulous Places, Eras, People, Events. Archived from the original on March 26, 2012 ; accessed on March 14, 2015 (English).
  6. ^ Didier Ottinger: L'oeil cacodylate. Center Pompidou , accessed March 14, 2015 (French).
  7. ↑ Virgil Thomson. Library of America and Penguin Random House, New York 2016, ISBN 978-1-59853-476-4 , pp. 135-136: Virgil Thomson and "Le Boeuf sur le Toit" (books.google.com) (English)
  8. ↑ Alex Ross: The Rest is Noise - Listening to the twentieth Century. Picador, New York 2007, ISBN 978-0-312-42771-9 , p. 110 Virgil Thomas describes "Le Boeuf sur le Toit" (books.google.com) (English)
  9. ↑ Georges Viaud, Florence Coupry: Au temps du Bœuf : Les adresses du Bœuf . (No longer available online.) In: Website des Bœuf sur le Toit . Archived from the original on April 2, 2015 ; accessed on March 14, 2015 (French). 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 / www.boeufsurletoit.com
  10. ↑ Boeuf sur le Toit Brasserie In Paris. placesinfrance.com, accessed March 14, 2015 .

Coordinates: 48 ° 52 ′ 17 ″  N , 2 ° 18 ′ 37 ″  E