Jacques de Menasce

Jacques de Menasce (August 19, 1905 – January 28, 1960) was a composer, pianist, and critic of Austrian, and later American, nationality. Jacques de Menasce was born in Bad Ischl, then in the German-speaking part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, into a Jewish family with roots in Egypt where they had amassed considerable wealth as merchants and bankers and played prominent roles in the Jewish community that centred in Alexandria. This was also the family from which sprang the Catholic writer Jean de Menasce, who was a first cousin of the composer’s father, Henri de Menasce. As a boy Jacques de Menasce’s portrait was painted by Oskar Kokoschka. He studied at the Vienna Music Academy as a young man under teachers who included Joseph Marx, Paul Pisk, and Emil von Sauer, and he was also much encouraged by Alban Berg, at whose instigation he composed his first piano concerto. His compositions include two piano concertos, the Sonata for Viola and Piano (championed by Lillian Fuchs), Hebrew Melodies for Violin and Piano, and the song cycles Quatre Chansons, Outrenuit, and Pour une Princesse. There exist a few recordings of his works. The first, on Vanguard Classics, contains performances o