Editing Jacques Ibert

{{short description|French composer (1890–1962)}}
[[File:Jacques Ibert.jpg|thumb|right|Jacques Ibert]]
'''Jacques François Antoine Marie Ibert''' (15 August 1890 – 5 February 1962) was a French composer of [[20th-century classical music|classical music]]. Having studied music from an early age, he studied at the [[Conservatoire de Paris|Paris Conservatoire]] and won its top prize, the [[Prix de Rome]] at his first attempt, despite studies interrupted by his service in [[World War I]].

Ibert pursued a successful composing career, writing (sometimes in collaboration with other composers) seven operas, five ballets, incidental music for plays and films, works for piano solo, choral works, and chamber music. He is probably best remembered for his orchestral works including ''[[Divertissement (Ibert)|Divertissement]]'' (1930) and ''[[Escales (Ibert)|Escales]]'' (1922).

As a composer, Ibert did not attach himself to any of the prevalent genres of music of his time, and has been described as an eclectic. This is seen even in his best-known pieces: ''Divertissement'' for small orchestra is lighthearted, even frivolous, and ''Escales'' (1922) is a ripely romantic work for large orchestra.

In tandem with his creative work, Ibert was the director of the [[French Academy in Rome|Académie de France]] at the [[Villa Medici]] in Rome. During [[World War II]] he was proscribed by the pro-[[Nazi]] government in Paris, and for a time he went into exile in Switzerland. Restored to his former eminence in French musical life after the war, his final musical appointment was in charge of the [[Paris Opera]] and the [[Opéra-Comique]].

== Biography ==

===Early years===
Ibert was born in Paris. His father was a successful businessman, and his mother a talented pianist who had studied with [[Antoine François Marmontel]] and encouraged the young Ibert's musical interests. From the age of four, he began studying music, first learning the violin and then the piano from his mother, despite his father's wishes that his son would follow in his business profession. After leaving school, he earned a living as a private teacher, as an accompanist, and as a cinema pianist. He also started composing songs, sometimes under the pen name William Berty, and helped his father's business, which had suffered a financial setback. In 1910, Ibert became a student at the [[Conservatoire de Paris|Paris Conservatoire]], studying with [[Émile Pessard]] (harmony), [[André Gedalge]] (counterpoint) and [[Paul Vidal]] (composition).<ref>"Jacques Ibert", in ''[[Adolphe Sax|Sax]], [[Marcel Mule|Mule]] & Co'', [[Jean-Pierre Thiollet]], H & D, 2004, p. 135</ref> Gédalge also gave him private lessons in orchestration; Ibert's fellow-students at these private classes included [[Arthur Honegger]] and [[Darius Milhaud]].<ref name=grove>Laederich, Alexandra, [http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/13675 "Ibert, Jacques."] ''Grove Music Online''. Oxford Music Online, accessed 18 September 2010 {{subscription required}}</ref>

Ibert's musical studies were interrupted by the outbreak of World War I, in which he served as a naval officer. After the war he married Rosette Veber, daughter of the painter Jean Veber. Resuming his studies, he won the Conservatoire's top prize, the [[Prix de Rome]] at his first attempt, in 1919.<ref name=grove/> The prize gave him the opportunity to pursue further musical studies in Rome. In the course of these, Ibert composed his first opera, ''Persée et Andromède'' (1921), to a libretto by his brother-in-law, the author Michel Veber, writing under the pen name "Nino".<ref name="opera">Langham Smith, Richard 1992, [http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/O902302 "Ibert, Jacques."] ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', Grove Music Online, accessed 18 September 2010 {{subscription required}}</ref>

===Composer and administrator===
[[File:Ibert_Jacques_Photo1938.jpg|right|thumb|Ibert in the 1930s]]
Among Ibert's early orchestral compositions were ''La Ballade de la geôle de Reading'', inspired by [[Oscar Wilde]]'s [[The Ballad of Reading Gaol|poem]], and ''[[Escales (Ibert)|Escales]]'' (''Ports of Call''), inspired by his experiences of Mediterranean ports.<ref name=baker>Kuhn, Laura (ed.) [http://bakr.alexanderstreet.com/View/670790/ Ibert, Jacques (François Antoine)], Student Encyclopedia of Music, vol. 2, Schirmer Reference New York, published 1999, accessed 18 September 2010 {{subscription required}}</ref> The first of these works was played at the Concerts Colonne in October 1922, conducted by [[Gabriel Pierné]]; the second was performed in January 1924 with [[Paul Paray]] conducting the [[Orchestre Lamoureux]]. The two works made Ibert an early reputation both at home and abroad. His publisher [[Éditions Alphonse Leduc|Alphonse Leduc]] commissioned two collections of piano music from him, ''Histoires'' and ''Les Rencontres'', which enhanced his popularity.<ref name=grove/> In 1927 his opéra-bouffe ''Angélique'' was produced; it was the most successful of his operas, a musical farce, displaying eclectic style and flair.<ref name=opera/>

In addition to composing, Ibert was active as a conductor and in musical administration. He was a member of professional committees, and in 1937 he was appointed director of the [[French Academy in Rome|Académie de France]] at the [[Villa Medici]] in Rome. Ibert, with the enthusiastic support of his wife "threw himself wholeheartedly into his administrative role and proved an excellent ambassador of French culture in Italy."<ref name=grove/> He held the post until the end of 1960, except for an enforced break while France and Italy were at war during World War II.

===Later years===
The war years were difficult for Ibert. In 1940 the [[Vichy France|Vichy government]] banned his music and he retreated to [[Antibes]], in the south of France, and later to Switzerland and the [[Haute-Savoie]]. In August 1944, he was readmitted to the musical life of the country when [[Charles de Gaulle|General de Gaulle]] recalled him to Paris. In 1955 Ibert was appointed administrator of the Réunion des Théâtres Lyriques Nationaux, which ran both the [[Paris Opera]] and the [[Opéra-Comique]]. After less than a year, his health obliged him to retire. Shortly afterwards he was elected to the [[Académie des Beaux-Arts]].<ref name=grove/>

Ibert died in Paris aged 71, and is buried at [[Passy Cemetery]] in the city's [[16th arrondissement of Paris|16th arrondissement]].

[[File:Jacques Ibert tombe.jpg|right|thumb|Ibert's grave]]

==Music==
Ibert refused to ally himself to any particular musical fashion or school, maintaining that "all systems are valid", a position that has caused many commentators to categorise him as "eclectic".<ref name=opera/> His biographer Alexandra Laederich writes, "His music can be festive and gay … lyrical and inspired, or descriptive and evocative … often tinged with gentle humour … all the elements of his musical language bar that of harmony relate closely to the Classical tradition."<ref name=grove/> The early orchestral works, such as ''Escales'', are in "a lush Impressionist style",<ref name=ocm>Griffiths, Paul and Richard Langham Smith [http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t114/e3377 "Ibert, Jacques (François Antoine Marie)."] ''The Oxford Companion to Music'', Oxford Music Online, accessed 18 September 2010 {{subscription required}}</ref> but Ibert is at least as well known for lighthearted, even frivolous, pieces, among which are the ''[[Divertissement (Ibert)|Divertissement]]'' for small orchestra and the Flute Concerto.<ref name=ocm/>

Ibert's stage works similarly embrace a wide variety of styles. His first opera, ''Persée et Andromède'', is a concise, gently satirical piece. ''Angélique'' displays his "eclectic style and his accomplished writing of pastiche set pieces".<ref name=opera/> ''Le roi d'Yvetot'' is written, in part in a simple folklike style. The opéra bouffe ''Gonzague'' is another essay in the old opera bouffe style. ''[[L'Aiglon (opera)|L'Aiglon]]'', composed jointly with Honegger, employs [[commedia dell'arte]] characters and much musical pastiche in a style both accessible and sophisticated.<ref name=grove/> For the farcical ''Les petites Cardinal'' the music is in set pieces in the manner of an operetta. By contrast ''Le chevalier errant'', a choreographic piece incorporating chorus and two reciters, is in an epic style.<ref name=opera/> Ibert's practice of collaborating with other composers extended to his works for the ballet stage. His first work composed expressly for the ballet was a waltz for ''L'éventail de Jeanne'' (1929) to which he was one of ten contributors, others of whom were [[Maurice Ravel|Ravel]] and [[Francis Poulenc|Poulenc]]. He was the sole composer of four further ballets between 1934 and 1954.<ref name=grove/>

For the theatre and cinema, Ibert was a prolific composer of incidental music. His best-known theatre score was music for [[Eugène Marin Labiche|Eugène Labiche]]'s ''Un chapeau de paille d'Italie'', which Ibert later reworked as the suite ''Divertissement''. Other scores ranged from music for farce to that for [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]] productions. His cinema scores covered a similarly broad range. He wrote the music for more than a dozen French films, and for American directors he composed a score for [[Orson Welles]]'s 1948 film of  ''[[Macbeth (1948 film)|Macbeth]]'', and the ''Circus'' ballet for [[Gene Kelly]]'s ''[[Invitation to the Dance (film)|Invitation to the Dance]]'' in 1952.<ref name=grove/>

== Works ==
{{listen|filename=Jacques Ibert- cinq pieces en trio - ii. andantino.ogg|title=Cinq Pieces en Trio - II. Andantino|description=Performed by Michael Henoch, Larry Combs and William Buchman|format=[[ogg]]}}

=== Operas ===
* ''[[Persée et Andromède]]'' (1921)
* ''[[Angélique (opera)|Angélique]]'' (1927)
* ''Le roi d'Yvetot'' (1930)
* ''Gonzague'' (1931)
* ''[[L'Aiglon (opera)|L'Aiglon]]'' (1937, Acts 1 and 5, the rest by [[Arthur Honegger]])
* ''Les petites cardinal'' (1938, operetta, with Honegger)
* ''Barbe-bleue'' (1943)

=== Ballets ===
* ''Les amours de Jupiter'', ballet (1945)
* ''Le chevalier errant'', épopée choréographique (1951)

=== Orchestral ===
* ''La ballade de la geôle de Reading'' (1920)
* ''Escales'' (1922)
* ''Féerique'' (1924)
* Valse de ''[[L'éventail de Jeanne]]'' (1927)
* ''Divertissement'' for chamber orchestra (1930)
* Suite symphonique ''Paris'' for chamber orchestra (1930)
* ''Symphonie marine'' (1931)
* ''Ouverture de fête'' (1940)
* ''Louisville Concerto'' (1953)
* ''Hommage à Mozart'' (1955)
* ''Bacchanale'' (1956)
* ''Tropismes pour des amours imaginaires'' (1957)
* ''Bostoniana'' (1961; first movement of an unfinished symphony)

=== Concertante ===
* Concerto for Cello and Wind Instruments (1925)
* [[Flute Concerto (Ibert)|Flute Concerto]] (1934)
* [[Concertino da camera (Ibert)|Concertino da camera]] for Alto Saxophone and Eleven Instruments (1935–1936)
* Symphonie Concertante for Oboe and String Orchestra

=== Chamber/Instrumental ===
* ''Six pièces'' for harp solo (1916–1917)
* ''Trois Pièces'' for organ Pièce Solennelle, Musette, Fugue (1920)
* ''Deux mouvements'' for 2 flutes (or flute and oboe), clarinet and bassoon (1921)
* ''Jeux'', Sonatine for flute and piano (1923)
* ''Le Jardinier de Samos'' for flute, clarinet, trumpet, violin, cello and percussion (1924)
* ''Française'' for guitar (1926)
* ''Arie (Vocalise)'' for flute, violin and piano (1927)
* ''Aria'' for flute (or other instrument) and piano (1927, 1930)
* ''Trois pièces brèves'' for wind quintet (1930)
* ''Ariette'' for guitar (1935)
* ''Cinq pièces en trio'' for oboe, clarinet and bassoon (1935)
* ''Entr'acte'' for flute (or violin) and  harp (or guitar) (1935)
* ''Pièce'' for flute solo (1936)
* String Quartet (1937–1942)
* ''Capriccio pour dix instruments'' for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, harp, 2 violins, viola, and cello (1936–1938)
* Trio for violin, cello and harp (1944)
* ''Deux interludes'' for flute, violin and harpsichord (or harp) (1946)
* ''Étude-caprice pour un Tombeau de Chopin'' for cello solo (1949)
* ''Ghirlarzana'' for cello solo (1950)
* ''Caprilena'' for violin solo (1950)
* ''Impromptu'' for trumpet and piano (1950)
* ''Carignane'' for bassoon and piano (1953)
* ''Arabesque'' for bassoon and piano

=== Piano ===
* ''Histoires'', ten pieces for piano (1922)
* Toccata (D major)
* ''Escales'' (arr. for piano by the composer)
* ''Le vent dans les ruines'' (En Champagne)
* ''Les rencontres'' (Petite suite en forme de ballet)
* ''Matin sur l'eau''
* ''Noel en Picardie''
* ''Petite suite en 15 images'' (1944)
* Valse de ''[[L'éventail de Jeanne]]'' (arr. for piano by the composer)

=== Vocal/Choral ===
* ''Le poète et la fée''

=== Incidental Music ===
* ''Suite Élisabéthaine'' for Shakespeare's ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]'' (1942)
* ''Entr'acte'' for Pedro Ignacio Calderón's ''[[El médico de su honra|El médico de su honra (Le médecin de son honneur)]]'' (1937) <ref name=allmusic>Patsy Morita [http://www.allmusic.com/composition/entracte-for-flute-or-violin-harp-or-guitar-from-le-m%C3%A9decin-de-son-honneur-mc0002358762 "Entr'acte, for flute (or violin) & harp (or guitar)(from "Le médecin de son honneur"). "ALLMUSIC", accessed 30 March 2014]</ref>

=== Film Music ===
* ''S.O.S. Foch'' (director, Jean Arroy), 1931
* ''[[Moon Over Morocco (1931 film)|Moon Over Morocco]]'' ([[Julien Duvivier]]), 1931
* ''[[Don Quixote (1933 film)|Don Quichotte]]'' ([[Georg Wilhelm Pabst]]), 1932
* ''[[The Two Orphans (1933 film)|The Two Orphans]]'' ([[Maurice Tourneur]]), 1933
* ''[[Motherhood (1935 film)|Motherhood]]'' ([[Jean Choux]]), 1934
*  ''[[Justin de Marseille]]''  (Tourneur), 1935
* ''[[Golgotha (1935 film)|Golgotha]]'' (Duvivier), 1935
* ''Le Coupable'' ([[Raymond Bernard (filmmaker)|Raymond Bernard]]), 1936
* ''[[Anne-Marie (film)|Anne-Marie]]'', 1936
* ''[[The Former Mattia Pascal]]'' (''L'Homme de nulle part'') ([[Pierre Chenal]]), 1937
* ''[[Conflict (1938 film)|Conflict]]''  ([[Léonide Moguy]]), 1938
* ''[[The Patriot (1938 film)|The Patriot]]'' (1938)
* ''[[Angelica (1939 film)|Angelica]]'' (1939)
* ''[[Thérèse Martin (film)|Thérèse Martin]]'' (1939)
* ''[[The Phantom Carriage (1939 film)|The Phantom Carriage]]'' (1939)
* ''[[Heroes of the Marne]]'' ([[André Hugon]]), 1939
* ''[[La Comédie du bonheur]]'' ([[Marcel L'Herbier]]), 1940
* ''[[Les Petites du quai aux fleurs]]'' ([[Marc Allégret]]), 1944
* ''[[Macbeth (1948 film)|Macbeth]]'' ([[Orson Welles]]), 1948
* ''Circus'' (ballet for ''[[Invitation to the Dance (film)|Invitation to the Dance]]'', [[Gene Kelly]]), 1952;
* ''[[Marianne of My Youth]]'' (Duvivier), 1955

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Jacques Ibert}}
* [http://www.jacquesibert.fr/ibert/Home_-_English.html The official website of Jacques Ibert]

{{French Academy in Rome directors}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ibert, Jacques}}
[[Category:1890 births]]
[[Category:1962 deaths]]
[[Category:Composers from Paris]]
[[Category:20th-century French classical composers]]
[[Category:Composers for piano]]
[[Category:French male film score composers]]
[[Category:French opera composers]]
[[Category:French male opera composers]]
[[Category:Prix de Rome for composition]]
[[Category:French ballet composers]]
[[Category:Conservatoire de Paris alumni]]
[[Category:Members of the Académie des beaux-arts]]
[[Category:French military personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Burials at Passy Cemetery]]
[[Category:French exiles]]
[[Category:French expatriates in Switzerland]]
[[Category:Directors of the Paris Opera]]
[[Category:20th-century French male musicians]]