Jean Françaix

Jean René Désiré Françaix (; 23 May 1912 – 25 September 1997) was a French neoclassical composer, pianist, and orchestrator known for his prolific output and vibrant style. Françaix composed for various genres, and is particularly known for his chamber works for piano as well as wind instruments. Life Françaix was born in Le Mans. His natural gifts were encouraged from an early age by his family. His father, Alfred Françaix, was Director of the Conservatoire of Le Mans as well as a musicologist, composer, and pianist; His mother, Jeanne Françaix, was a teacher of singing. Jean Françaix studied at the Conservatoire of Le Mans and then at the Paris Conservatory, and was only six when he took up composing, with a style heavily influenced by Ravel. Françaix’s first publication, in 1922, caught the attention of a composer working for the publishing house, who steered the gifted boy towards a gifted teacher, Nadia Boulanger (who, after her sister’s death in 1918, had given up composing and devoted her life to teaching, conducting, and playing the organ). Boulanger encouraged Françaix’s career, considering the young composer to be one of the best, if not the best, of her students. Noted p