One of the lesser-known members of Les Six in Paris in the 1920s, Germaine Tailleferre was associated directly with Auric, Honegger and Milhaud in Cocteau’s satirical Les Mariés de la Tour Eiffel. Influenced by the clarity and simplicity of Satie, and by her teacher Ravel, she wrote music that later ventured into explorations of new techniques, without ever deserting her original inspiration.

Stage Works

Tailleferre’s stage works include the 1921 collaboration with other members of Les Six Les Mariés de la Tour Eiffel. Other works for the theatre range from the 1923 ballet Le Marchand d’oiseaux (‘The Bird-Seller’) to the 1961 chamber opera Le Maître (‘The Master’), based on Ionesco.

Chamber Music

Examples of Tailleferre’s chamber music are found in her two violin sonatas and her Violin Sonatina, as well as in her Jeux de plein air (‘Games in the Open Air’) for two pianos.