Jacques Thibaud (; 27 September 18801 September 1953) was a French

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist.

Biography

Thibaud was born in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

and studied the violin with his father before entering the Paris Conservatoire at the age of thirteen. In 1896 he jointly won the conservatory's violin prize with Pierre Monteux (who later became a famous conductor). He had to rebuild his technique after being injured in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In 1943 he and Marguerite Long established the Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud International Competition for violinists and pianists, which takes place each year in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. From 2011, it has included singers and is now known as the Long-Thibaud-Crespin Competition, in honour of the soprano Régine Crespin. Thibaud was noted not only for his work as a soloist, but also for his performances of

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

, particularly in a

piano trio A piano trio is a group of piano and two other instruments, usually a violin and a cello, or a piece of music written for such a group. It is one of the most common forms found in European classical music, classical chamber music. The term can also ...

with the pianist Alfred Cortot and cellist Pablo Casals. He undertook concert tours with pianist Yves Nat and George Enescu. He was a friend of violinist Eugène Ysaÿe, who dedicated his 2nd Sonata for solo violin to him. Among his students were Manuel Quiroga (the dedicatee of Ysaÿe's 6th solo sonata), Eric Rosenblith, Joan Field, Rachel Steinman Clarke, Stephan Hero (see Jose Iturbi) and Yfrah Neaman. On 1 September 1953, Jacques Thibaud tragically died in the crash of Air France Flight 178, along with all 41 other passengers. The aircraft, registered as F-BAZZ, was on its final approach to

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionFrench Alps. Thibaud was traveling to a performance in Tokyo, and his prized 1720 Stradivarius violin was destroyed in the crash. The accident investigation established " controlled flight into terrain (CFIT)" as the cause.

References

Bibliography

*Jacques Thibaud, ''Un violon parle : souvenirs de Jacques Thibaud'' (J-P Dorian ed., Ed. Blé qui lève, Paris, Lausanne, Montréal, 1947 ; Ed. del Duca, Paris, 1953). *Roth, Henry (1997). ''Violin Virtuosos: From Paganini to the 21st Century''. Los Angeles, CA: California Classics Books. *''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians,'' Centennial Edition. Nicolas Slonimsky, Editor Emeritus. Schirmer, 2001

External links

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Legendary Violinists
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thibaud, Jacques 20th-century French violinists 20th-century French male musicians French male classical violinists Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in France 1880 births 1953 deaths Conservatoire de Paris alumni École Normale de Musique de Paris alumni Musicians from Bordeaux Fonotipia Records artists Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1953 French military personnel of World War I