Jean-Joël Barbier (25 March 1920 – 31 May or 1 June 1994) was a French writer, musicologist and pianist. Born in

Belfort Belfort (; archaic , ) is a city in northeastern France, situated approximately from the Swiss border. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Territoire de Belfort. Belfort is from Paris and from Basel. The residents of the city ...

, Barbier began studying literature and music with

Blanche Selva Marie Blanche Selva (Catalan ''Blanca Selva i Henry'', 29 January 18843 December 1942) was a French pianist, music educator, writer and composer of Spanish origin. Biography Blanche Selva was born in Brive-la-Gaillarde in Corrèze. As a child sh ...

and

Lazare Lévy Lazare Lévy Lazare Lévy, also hyphenated as Lazare-Lévy, (18 January 188220 September 1964) was an influential French pianist, organist, composer and pedagogue. As a virtuoso pianist he toured throughout Europe, in North Africa, Israel, the Sov ...

but was interrupted by the onset of World War II. He was a reasonably prolific writer in France, publishing ''A Dictionary of French Musicians'' in 1961 and collaborating with ''La Revue Musicale'' on a frequent basis. As a pianist, he played mostly the works of

French composers This is an alphabetical list of composers from France. A–B * Eryck Abecassis (born 1956) * Jean-Baptiste Accolay (1833–1900) * Frédéric Acquaviva (born 1967) * Adolphe Adam (1803–1856) * François d'Agincourt (1684–1758) * Léopo ...

such as

Claude Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

Emmanuel Chabrier Alexis-Emmanuel Chabrier (; 18 January 184113 September 1894) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and pianist. His Bourgeoisie, bourgeois family did not approve of a musical career for him, and he studied law in Paris and then worked ...

and

Déodat de Séverac Marie-Joseph Alexandre Déodat de Séverac (; 20 July 1872 – 24 March 1921) was a French composer. Life Séverac was born in Saint-Félix-Lauragais, Saint-Félix-de-Caraman, Haute-Garonne. He descended from a noble family, profoundly influen ...

. He later recorded the complete piano works of

Erik Satie Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (born 17 May 18661 July 1925), better known as Erik Satie, was a French composer and pianist. The son of a French father and a British mother, he studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, Paris Conservatoire but was an undi ...

, which he is most known for today. Barbier contributed to Robert Bresson's 1966 film ''

Au hasard Balthazar ''Au hasard Balthazar'' (; meaning "Balthazar, at Random"), also known as ''Balthazar'', is a 1966 tragedy film directed by Robert Bresson. Believed to be inspired by a passage from Fyodor Dostoyevsky's 1868–69 novel ''The Idiot'', the film foll ...

,'' playing the Andantino of Schubert's Sonata in A major for the soundtrack and also playing a minor role as The Priest. He died in the 14th arrondissement of

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 ...

References

1920 births 1994 deaths 20th-century French male classical pianists 20th-century French classical pianists Writers from Belfort Musicians from Belfort {{Pianist-stub