Jean Perrin (September 17, 1920 – September 24, 1989) was a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

. He composed in a neo-classical style, sometimes approaching

polytonality Polytonality (also polyharmony) is the musical use of more than one key (music), key simultaneity (music), simultaneously. Bitonality is the use of only two different keys at the same time. Polyvalence or polyvalency is the use of more than one di ...

, and his music shows the influence of

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of ...

and Poulenc.''Gramophone'', April 1994, p. 92
. Accessed 31 October 2009.Jean-Pierre Amann, "Perrin, Jean" in Sadie, Stanley; John Tyrrell, eds. (2001). ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', 2nd edition. New York: Grove's Dictionaries. . He began studying piano in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

, where he was born, and later studied with Franz-Joseph Hirt in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

and

Edwin Fischer Edwin Fischer (6 October 1886 – 24 January 1960) was a Swiss classical pianist and conductor. He is regarded as one of the great interpreters of J.S. Bach and Mozart in the twentieth century. Biography Fischer was born in Basel and studied m ...

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

. Eventually he went to

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 ...

to study piano with

Yves Nat Yves Philippe Avit Nat (29 December 1890 – 31 August 1956) was a French pianist and composer. Biography Nat was born in Béziers and showed an early aptitude for both piano and composition. By the age of seven he was allowed to improvise each ...

. In Paris he also studied composition with

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher, conductor and composer. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organis ...

and

Darius Milhaud Darius Milhaud (, ; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His composition ...

. After returning to Lausanne he taught piano and also edited program notes for the

Lausanne Chamber Orchestra The Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne (OCL, Lausanne Chamber Orchestra) is a Swiss chamber orchestra based in Lausanne, Switzerland. The OCL is resident at the Salle Métropole in Lausanne. The OCL is an artistic partner with Lausanne Opera and reg ...

for over 20 years. He died in his sleep in Lausanne the night before the worldwide broadcast on French-speaking radio of the world premiere of his string quartet.

List of selected works

Perrin wrote over 50 compositions, some of which are listed here: *Concerto grosso for piano and orchestra, op. 6b (1952) *Sonatas(1953-6): ** for horn and piano, op. 7 ** for violin and piano, op. 8 ** for piano, op. 10b ** for cello and piano, op. 11 ** for flute and piano, op. 12b *Symphony No. 2, op. 15 (1959) *Mass for four soloists, chorus, and orchestra, op. 19 (unfinished) *Piano Quartet, op. 23 (1965) *Symphony No. 3, op. 24 (1966) *Drei deutsche Lieder (

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

, A. Goes, G. Politzer) for

alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: '' altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In four-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in ch ...

and orchestra (1967-8) *De profundis for four soloists, chorus, and orchestra, op. 26 (1968–70) *Concerto for cello and orchestra, op. 27 (1972) *Introduction and Allegro for trombone and orchestra, op. 30 (1973) *Canticum laudis for 4 violins, flute, oboe, clarinet, 2 bassoons, trumpet, trombone, and double bass, op. 32 (1974) *Marche funèbre for orchestra, op. 38 (1978) *Concerto for piano and orchestra, op. 41 (1978) *Six préludes for piano, op. 45 (1980–81) *Concerto for violin and orchestra (1986) *String Quartet (1988)

Selected recording

*De profundis, Cello Concerto • Timişoara Banatul Philharmonic; Jean-François Antonioli, conductor. (See Timişoara Banatul Philharmonic for recording details.) *Musique Concertante, Concerto for piano and orchestra, op. 41, Concerto for violin and orchestra, Introcuction and Allegro for trombone and orchestra, Concerto for cello and orchestra • Brigitte Meyer, piano; Tanja Becker-Bender, violin; David Bruchez, Trombone; Emil Rovner, cello; Kammerphilharmonie Potsdam; Jean-François Antonioli, conductor. (DIVOX CDX-20906-6) *Symphony No. 3, Op. 24; German Lieder, Op. 25; Concerto grosso, Op. 6b; String Quartet; Musikszene CTSP 45.

References

20th-century Swiss classical composers 1920 births 1989 deaths Swiss pianists 20th-century Swiss pianists Swiss male classical composers Pupils of Darius Milhaud Swiss male pianists 20th-century French male musicians Swiss expatriates in France {{Switzerland-composer-stub