Jef Le Penven (3 November 1919 - 30 April 1967) was a French composer born in

Pontivy Pontivy (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Morbihan Departments of France, department in Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in north-western France. It lies at the confluence of the river Blavet and the Canal de Nantes à Brest. ...

Morbihan The Morbihan ( , ; ) is a departments of France, department in the administrative region of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Gulf of Morbihan, Morbihan (''small sea'' in Breton ...

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

. Le Penven was the twelfth child of a family of

cabinet maker A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood (solid ...

s. He grew up in an atmosphere of traditional

vernacular music Vernacular music is ordinary, everyday music such as popular and folk music. It is defined partly in terms of its accessibility, standing in contrast to art music. Vernacular music may overlap with non-vernacular, particular in the context of music ...

, learning to play the bombard (Breton oboe) as a child. He studied at the

Schola Cantorum The Schola Cantorum de Paris ( being ) is a private conservatory in Paris. It was founded in 1894 by Charles Bordes, Alexandre Guilmant and Vincent d'Indy as a counterbalance to the Paris Conservatoire's emphasis on opera. History The Schol ...

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 ...

under

Marcel Dupré Marcel Jean-Jules Dupré (; 3 May 1886 – 30 May 1971) was a French organist, composer, and pedagogue. Early life and education Born in Rouen into a wealthy musical family, Marcel Dupré was a child prodigy. His father Aimable Albert Dupré ...

.Vefa de Bellaing, Jef Le Penven, Coop Breizh, 1999. In 1940, he became the conductor of the ''Orchestre de Bretagne''. Le Penven's music reflects his deep attachment to Brittany and Celtic culture. He sought to integrate traditional and symphonic music. His major works employ conventional symphonic and choral forms while typically incorporating bagpipe music. Le Penven was also renowned for his organ improvisations, of which he was a virtuoso. His setting of the poem ''

Me zo ganet e kreiz ar mor "Me zo ganet e kreiz ar mor" ("I was born in the midst of the sea") is an autobiographical poem by the Breton-language writer Yann-Ber Kalloc'h which celebrates the island of Groix, where he was born, and describes his parents' struggles and his ...

'' by

Yann-Ber Kalloc'h Yann-Ber Kallocʼh (born ''Jean-Pierre Calloc'h'' in French; 21 July 1888 – 10 April 1917) was a Breton war poet who wrote in both Breton and French. Similarly to the English poet Wilfred Owen and the Welsh poet Hedd Wyn, Kallocʼh was kille ...

has been interpreted by several Breton musicians, including

Gilles Servat Gilles Servat is a French singer, born in Tarbes in southern France in 1945, into a family whose roots lay in the Nantes region of Brittany. He is an ardent promoter ardent of the Breton culture, and sings in both French and Breton, as well as ...

and

Alan Stivell Alan Stivell (; born Alan Cochevelou on 6 January 1944) is a Breton people, Breton and Celtic musician and singer, songwriter, recording artist, and master of the Celtic harp. From the early 1970s, he revived global interest in the Celtic (specif ...

Compositions

* ''Tir Na Nog, La Marche des Bretons'' * ''Les Celtes'' * ''Cantate du Bout du Monde'' * ''Symphonie du Morbihan''

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Penven, Jef 1919 births 1967 deaths People from Pontivy Breton musicians French male composers Schola Cantorum de Paris alumni 20th-century French composers 20th-century French male musicians