{{Short description|French composer (1910–1999)}} thumb|upright=1.3|Barraine (1940)
'''Elsa Jacqueline Barraine''' ({{IPA|fr|baʁɛn|lang}}; 13 February 1910 – 20 March 1999) was a composer of French music in the time after the neoclassicist movement of Les Six, Ravel, and Stravinsky.<ref name="Briscoe, p. 365">Briscoe, p. 365</ref> Despite being considered “one of the outstanding French composers of the mid-20th century,”<ref name="Grove Music Online">''Grove Music Online''</ref> Barraine's music is seldom performed today. She won the Prix de Rome in 1929 for ''La vierge guerrière'', a sacred trilogy named for Joan of Arc,<ref name="Briscoe, p. 365"/> and was the fourth woman ever to receive that prestigious award (after Lili Boulanger in 1913, Marguerite Canal in 1920, and Jeanne Leleu in 1923).<ref name="Pendle, p. 258">Pendle, p. 258</ref> Barraine's Symphony No. 2 "Voïna", composed in 1938, was a huge success when it received its world premiere performance by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Manuel Rosenthal at Covent Garden on July 7, 1946 during the opening concert of the 1946 ISCM Festival in London<ref>{{cite web|url=https://iscm.org/wnmd/1946-london/|title=1946 London|website=ISCM|access-date=May 14, 2026}}</ref>. The headline of Philip Whitacre’s review of the concert for London's ''Evening Standard'' the next day—in which he described the work as “concise, original, and alive”—was “We shall hear more of Mlle. Barraine” and the symphony was hailed by Alan Frank in ''The Musical Times'' as "expert" and as "France's best contribution" to the festival<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/933974|title=Musical Times|website=JSTor|access-date=May 14, 2026}}</ref>. Along with Barraine's earlier Symphony No. 1 (1931), it has been commercially recorded twice recently (by the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne under the direction of Elena Schwarz for Classic Produktion Osnabrück [cpo] in July 2025 and by the Orchestre National de France under the direction of Cristian Măcelaru for Warner Classics in February 2026).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://theclassicreview.com/album-reviews/review-elsa-barraine-symphonies-1-2-orchestre-national-de-france-cristian-macelaru/|title=Review:Elsa Barraine – Symphonies 1 & 2 – Orchestre National de France, Cristian Măcelaru|website=The Classical Review by David A. McConnell|access-date=May 14, 2026}}</ref>
== Biography == [[File:Classe-dukas.jpg|thumb|450px|Paul Dukas and his composition students at the Paris Conservatoire, 1929. From left to right, around the piano: Pierre Maillard-Verger, Elsa Barraine, Yvonne Desportes, Tony Aubin, Pierre Revel, Georges Favre, Paul Dukas, René Duclos, Georges Hugon, Maurice Duruflé. Seated on the right: Claude Arrieu, Olivier Messiaen.]]
Born in Paris to Alfred Barraine, the principal cellist of the Orchestre de l’Opéra, and Mme. Barraine, Elsa Barraine began studying piano at a young age.<ref name="Briscoe, p. 365"/> She attended the Conservatoire de Paris and studied composition with Paul Dukas, whose impressive list of students includes Yvonne Desportes, Maurice Duruflé, Claude Arrieu, and Olivier Messiaen.<ref name="Briscoe, p. 365"/> Barraine and Messiaen were good friends throughout their lives and kept in frequent contact.<ref>Simeone, p. 49</ref> A talented pupil, Barraine won First Prize in harmony at the Conservatoire at age fifteen (1925) and then in fugue and accompaniment when she was seventeen (1927).<ref name="Briscoe, p. 365"/> In 1929 she won the Prix de Rome for her cantata ''La vierge guerrière'',<ref name="Briscoe, p. 365"/> making her the fourth female winner since the competition began in 1803.<ref name="Pendle, p. 258"/> Her piece ''Harald Harfagard'' (1930), symphonic variations based on the poetry of Heinrich Heine, was the first composition of Barraine's to gain public recognition.<ref name="Briscoe, p. 366">Briscoe, p. 366</ref> This was her first work of many to take inspiration from literature, such as the later ''Avis'' (1944) and ''L’homme sur terre'' (1949), both based on Paul Éluard texts.<ref name="Grove Music Online"/>
Barraine worked at the French National Radio from 1936 to 1940 as a pianist, sound recordist, and the head of singing, then after World War II as a sound mixer.<ref name="Grove Music Online"/> During the war, Barraine was heavily involved in the French Resistance and was a member of the Front National des Musiciens.<ref name="Briscoe, p. 365"/> Between 1944 and 1947 she held the position of Recording Director at the well-established record label Le Chant du Monde.<ref name="Briscoe, p. 365"/> In 1953 Barraine was appointed to the faculty at the Paris Conservatoire, where she taught analysis and sight-reading until 1972.<ref name="Briscoe, p. 365"/> It was then that the Ministry of Culture named her Director of Music, giving her charge of all French national lyric theaters.<ref name="Briscoe, p. 365"/>
She died in 1999 in Strasbourg.
==Compositional style==
According to James Briscoe in his New Historical Anthology of Music by Women, “The music of Elsa Barraine wins over its listeners by a contrapuntal independence of line, virtuosity, and expressive intensity through motivic and rhythmic drive.”<ref name="Briscoe, p. 365"/> It should also be noted that through her time studying with Dukas and the musical influence of Debussy, Barraine developed a keen and effective sense of instrumental timbre and color.<ref>''Grove Music Online'' and Briscoe, p. 365</ref> She embraced classic forms while making them her own, and used an entirely tonal harmonic language with one notable exception. Her chamber work ''Musique rituelle'' (1967) for organ, gongs, and xylorimba features serialism and is inspired by the ''Tibetan Book of the Dead''.<ref name="Briscoe, p. 365-366">Briscoe, p. 365-366</ref>
The authors of ''The Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers'' observe the following:
::Profoundly sensitive to the enormous upheavals of her time, Barraine was unable to dissociate her creative processes from her personal, humanist, political and social pre-occupations.<ref>Sadie, p. 38</ref>
In all of Elsa Barraine's works there is an ardent focus on the human condition.<ref name="Grove Music Online"/> Like her contemporaries who formed La Jeune France, André Jolivet, Olivier Messiaen, Daniel-Lesur, and Yves Baudrier, she strove to reintroduce humanism to composition, an art becoming increasingly more abstract.<ref name="Briscoe, p. 365"/> While some of her pieces address specific social and political issues, others explore a particular emotion or psychological state.<ref name="Briscoe, p. 365-366"/> Examples of the former include ''Claudine à l’école'' (1950), her ballet based on a book by Colette which explores women's sexuality, and her anti-fascist symphonic poem ''Pogromes'' (1933).<ref name="Briscoe, p. 365"/> An example of the latter is Barraine's programmatic woodwind quintet ''Ouvrage de Dame'' (1931 - Ed. A.J.Andraud, 1939). The quintet has eight movements, the Theme and seven Variations which are named after fictional women with different personality types ("Angélique; Berthe, aux sonorités dures; Irène, sinueuse; Barbe, fugato burlesque; Sarah; Isabeau de Bavière, avec son chapeau conique et son voile flottant; Léocadie, vieille fille sentimentale du temps jadis"). She makes clear the differences in temperament of the seven women with her talent for characterization and skillful use of timbre.<ref name="Briscoe, p. 366"/> Once again in the words of James Briscoe, “Her contribution to music is significant, and Elsa Barraine is a major force awaiting full discovery by performers and critics.”<ref name="Briscoe, p. 366"/>
== List of compositions == '''Opera, ballet and stage music''' *''Le Roi bossu'', comic opera in one act • (1932)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Roi bossu |url=https://www.artlyriquefr.fr/oeuvres/Roi%20bossu.html}}</ref> *''Le mur'', ballet • (1947)<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|language=FR|title=Barraine Elsa|url=https://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/index2.php?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.artlyriquefr.fr%2Fpersonnages%2FBarraine%2520Elsa.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250124204648/https://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/index2.php?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.artlyriquefr.fr%2Fpersonnages%2FBarraine%20Elsa.html#federation=archive.wikiwix.com&tab=url|archive-date=2025-01-24|access-date=2025-01-08|url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref> * Incidental music for ''Mégarée'' by Maurice Druon, a play in 3 actes, Bruxelles • (1946)<ref name=":0" /> *''Printemps de la liberté'', incidental music • (1948) *''La chanson du mal-aimé'', ballet in 11 tableaux and a prologue on a libretto by Jean-Jacques Etchevery • (1950)<ref>{{Cite web |language=FR |title=Chanson du mal-aime |url=https://www.artlyriquefr.fr/oeuvres/Chanson%20du%20mal-aime.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528031603/https://artlyriquefr.fr/oeuvres/Chanson%20du%20mal-aime.html#federation=archive.wikiwix.com&tab=url |archive-date=2023-05-28 |access-date=2025-01-08 |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> *''Claudine à l'ecole'', ballet • (1950)<ref name=":0" />
'''Orchestral music''' *Symphony no.1 • (1931) *''Harald Hafagard'', symphonic variations after Heinrich Heine • (1930) *''Pogromes. Ouverture. Illustration Symphonique d'après André Spire'' • (1933) *Symphony no.2, "Voïna" • (1938)<ref name=":1">{{cite web|date=February 2013 |title=La Symphonie n° 2 “Voïna” (1938), d’Elsa Barraine |url=https://lesamisdelamusiquefrançaise.com/?texte=barraine-elsa}}</ref> *''Suite Astrologique'' for small orchestra • (1945) *''Variations on 'Le Fleuve rouge''', symphonic poem (1945) *''Hommage à Prokofiev'', for orchestra • (1953) *''3 Ridicules'', for orchestra • (1955) *''Les jongleurs'', for orchestra • (1959)<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Barraine Elsa (Jacqueline) 1910-1999|url=https://www.musicologie.org/Biographies/b/barraine.html}}</ref> *''Les tziganes'', for orchestra • (1959)<ref name=":2" />
'''Concertante music''' *''Fantaisie concertante'' for piano and orchestra • (1933) *''Hommage à Prokofiev'' for harpsichord and orchestra • (1953) *''Musique funèbre pour la Mise au tombeau du Titien'' for piano and orchestra • (1953) *''Atmosphere'' for oboe and 10 strings • (1966)
'''Vocal music''' * ''Héraclès à Delphes'', cantata (1928)<ref name=":0" /> * ''La Vierge guerrière'' • profane cantata for solo voice, choir and orchestra (1929)<ref>{{Cite web |language=FR |title=La Rampe : revue des théâtres, music-halls, concerts, cinématographes |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5730598z/f65.item}}</ref> *''Melodies'' • (1930) *''Il y a quelqu'un d'autre je pense'', for voice and piano • (1931)<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /> *''Je ne réclamais rien de toi pour chant et piano'', for voice and piano on a poem by Rabindranat Tagore, translated by André Gide • 1931<ref name=":2" /> *''Je suis ici pour te chanter des chansons'', for voice and piano on a poem by Rabindranat Tagore, translated by André Gide • 1931<ref name=":2" /> *''3 Chansons Hebraiques'' • (1935)<ref name=":0" /> *''Chants Juifs'' • (1937)<ref name=":0" /> * ''Avis'', for choir and orchestra to the memory of Georges Dudach on a text by Paul Éluard • (1944),<ref>{{Cite web |language=FR|title=Regards |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k7639157m/f3.item}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> *''Poesie Ininterrompue'', cantata for 2 voices and orchestra • (1948) *''L'homme sur Terre'', for choir and orchestra • (1949) *''La nativité, sur un poème de L. Masson'', for solo voices, choir and orchestra • (1951)<ref name=":2" /> * ''Les Cinq plaies'', cantata on a text by Michel Manoll • (1953)<ref name=":0" /> * ''Cantate du vendredi saint'' • (1955) *''Les paysans'', cantata on a poeme by André Frénaud for 2 voices and orchestra • (1958)<ref>{{Cite web |language=FR |title=Elsa Barraine à Paris en 1958 (1/5) |url=https://www.francemusique.fr/emissions/musicopolis/elsa-barraine-a-paris-en-1958-1-5-59075}}</ref> *''Christine'', for solo voice, choir and orchestra • (1959) *''De premier mai en premier mai'', for 4 voices and choir • (1977)
'''Chamber music''' *Wind quintet • (1931) *''Pièce en quintette'', for piano quintet • (1932) *''Élégie et ronde'', for flute and piano • (1936) *''Crépuscules'', for French horn and piano • (1936) *''Ouvrage de Dame'', chamber music with diverse instruments • (1937) *''Improvisation'', for saxophone and piano • (1947) *''Variations'', for percussion and piano • (1950) *''Suite Juive'', for violin and piano • (1951) *''Fanfare de Printemps'', for cornet and piano • (1954) *''Andante & Allegro'', for saxhorn in Bb and piano • (1958) *''Musique Rituelle'', trio for organ, gong, tam tam and xylorimba • (1967)<ref name=":1" />
'''Instrumental music''' * 2 Preludes and fugues, for organ • (1929) *''Prelude'' for piano, character piece • (1930) *''Hommage à Paul Dukas'' for piano • (1936) *''Marche du printemps sans amour'' for piano • (1946) *''La boite de Pandore'' for piano • (1955) *''Fantaisie'', for harpsichord (or piano), character piece • (1961) * ''Chien de paille'', for tuba • (1966)
'''Sacred music''' *''Cantique du Vendredi Saint'' • (1955) • Hymns
'''Film scores''' *''Au coeur de l'orage'' • (1948) *''White Paws'' • (1949) *''Je sème à tout vent'' • (1952) *''Le coeur d'amour épris du roi René'' • (1952) *''L'amour d'une femme'' • (1953) *''Le sabotier du Val de Loire'' • (1956) *''Ars'' • (1960)
==Social and political issues==
===Criticism and sexism===
Despite winning numerous prestigious awards, Elsa Barraine dealt with sexist attitudes in her professional career. Karin Pendle cites music critic René Dumesnil as an unfortunately common offender: “Like others of his time (and even today), Dumesnil voiced a kind of grudging respect for many of these composers as long as they were content to remain feminine in their music.”<ref name="Pendle, p. 258"/> Dumesnil once described Barraine's fellow Prix de Rome prizewinner Jeanne Leleu as having “a vigor that one rarely encounters in works by women.”<ref name="Pendle, p. 258"/> As for Barraine, he referred to her as “the writer of prettily orchestrated melodies.”<ref name="Pendle, p. 258"/>
===Involvement in the French Resistance=== Elsa Barraine was an active member of the Front National des Musiciens, an organization of musicians involved in the French Resistance during the German Occupation between 1940 and 1944.<ref>Simeone, p. 23 and 45</ref> The main goals of the organization were listed in their journal, ''Musiciens d’Aujourd’hui'', and were to organize concerts of new and banned French music, to support Jewish musicians by providing shelter or money, to arrange anti-German and anti-Collaborationist protests, and to engage in any and all forms of musical rebellion.<ref>Simeone, p. 46</ref> The ''résistant'' French conductor Roger Désormière, Les Six member Louis Durey, and Barraine together released a “manifesto for ‘the defence of French music’ and against any collaboration with the Nazis.”<ref>Simeone, p. 43</ref> Her heavy involvement in the Resistance was particularly brave, considering the fact that she seems to have had a Jewish background.
==Notes== {{reflist}}
==References== '''Cited sources''' *Briscoe, James R. ''New Historical Anthology of Music by Women''. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2004. *Germain-David, Pierrette. “Une compositrices, actrice du XXème siècle, Elsa Barraine (1910-1999).” Association Femmes et Musique, Paris. https://web.archive.org/web/20130830060750/http://femmesetmusique.com/actualite.html (accessed Nov. 9, 2012). *''Grove Music Online'', S.v. “Barraine, Elsa,” by Françoise Andrieux and James R. Briscoe. http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/02102 (accessed Nov. 9, 2012). *Pendle, Karin. ''Women and Music''. 2nd ed. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2001. *Sadie, Julie Anne, and Rhian Samuel. ''The Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers''. New York: W.W. Norton, 1994. *Simeone, Nigel. “Making Music in Occupied Paris.” ''The Musical Times'' 147, no. 1894 (Spring 2006), https://www.jstor.org/stable/25434357 (accessed Nov. 9, 2012).
'''Additional sources'''
*Bourin, Odile, and Pierrette Germain-David. ''Elsa Barraine (1910-1999): une compositrice au XXe siècle''. Sampzon: Editions Delatour France, 2010. *Moulder, Earline. “Jewish Themes in Elsa Barraine’s Second Prelude and Fugue for Organ.” ''Women of Note Quarterly: The Magazine of Historical and Contemporary Women Composers'' 3, no. 3 (Aug. 1995): 22–29, 31. *Moulder, Earline. “Rediscovering the Organ Works of Elsa Barraine.” ''Women of Note Quarterly: The Magazine of Historical and Contemporary Women Composers'' 3, no. 2 (May 1995): 21–29. *Ripley, Colette S. “Organ Music by French Women Composers.” ''American Organist Magazine'' 28 (Nov. 1994): 56–61.
==External links== *Works list from ''Grove Music Online'' ::http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article_works/grove/music/02102#S02102.1 *YouTube recording of ''Symphony No. 2'', performed by the ORTF Symphony Orchestra conducted by Manuel Rosenthal ::https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPnUkjjfpp0 *Catalogue of resources pertaining to Barraine in the Bibliothèque nationale de France ::https://data.bnf.fr/fr/14020314/elsa_barraine/
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Barraine, Elsa}} Category:1910 births Category:1999 deaths Category:Academic staff of the Conservatoire de Paris Category:Conservatoire de Paris alumni Category:French women classical composers Category:Prix de Rome for composition Category:Composers from Paris Category:20th-century French classical composers Category:French music educators Category:French women music educators Category:20th-century French women educators Category:20th-century French educators Category:20th-century French women composers Category:French women film score composers