Elsa Barraine

At the time of writing, there is little detailed scholarship available on the remarkable composer Elsa Barraine (1910-1999). She studied composition at the Paris Conservatoire, taking premiers prix in harmony in 1925, and in fugue and accompaniment in 1927. In 1929, aged 19, she received the Prix de Rome, recalling the earlier success of her female predecessors, Lili Boulanger and Marguerite Canal. She then held several posts at French Radio, as a pianist, head of singing (1936–40), then after the war, as a sound mixer. During the war, Barraine was active in the Resistance and co-founded the National Front of Musicians, demonstrating remarkable courage and integrity. From 1944 to 1947, she was musical director of the recording firm Chant du Monde. In 1953 she was appointed professor of sight-reading and analysis at the Conservatoire, a post she held until 1974.

In common with many other composers during those years, Barraine rejected the leading musical developments of neoclassicism and serialism, forging a distinct path. As the scholars Françoise Andrieux and James R. Briscoe have observed, Barraine’s compositions ‘exhibit rigorous technique alongside naturalness and finesse’. She was strongly influenced by her love of literature, including the writing of Heinrich Heine and Paul Éluard. She also explored her Jewish heritage and cultural identity through her music, such as the Trois Chansons Hébraïques pour Enfants. Briscoe ranks her among ‘the outstanding French composers of the mid-20th century’.

A useful, if incomplete, catalogue of Barraine’s works is available on the Presences Compositrices website. This reveals a composer with a keen interest in unusual instrumental combinations, especially wind/brass instruments (in common with her older contemporary Germaine Tailleferre). Songs include settings of André Gide’s translations of Rabindranath Tagore; other poets she set include Paul Éluard, Marc Logé (pseudonym for Mary- Cécile Logé), and Sung-Nien Hsu’s translation into French of Hiuan-Tsong’s Tang dynasty poetry. Some scores are available from the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the site https://www.melodiefrancaise.com/, which also provides a useful overview. A recording with pianist Anne le Bozec includes ‘Pastourelle’, ‘Le chant des marionnettes’, ‘Je suis ici pour te chanter des chansons’, and ‘Je ne réclamais rien de toi’. These songs reveal a composer with a strong pictorial sense and a superb command of musical line and pianistic texture. However, more performances and recordings are needed to gain a fuller sense of Barraine’s musical voice.

© Natasha Loges, 2025