Raymond Paul Legrand (May 23, 1908 in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

– November 25, 1974 in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

) was a French composer and conductor.

Career

Legrand studied harmony and orchestration as a pupil of Gabriel Faure. In the realms of jazz and light music, he made arrangements for

Ray Ventura Raymond Ventura (16 April 1908, Paris, France – 29 March 1979, Palma de Mallorca, Spain) was a French jazz pianist and bandleader. He helped popularize jazz in France in the 1930s. His nephew was singer Sacha Distel. Career Ventura was born to ...

and his ensemble from 1934, before assembling his own group under the Occupation. He surrounded himself with former musicians met while with Ventura, especially Henri Bourtayre (composition) and Guy Dejardin (arrangement, orchestration). During the

Second world war World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, he participated in the

Collaboration Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Most ...

with the

Vichy government Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...

. Raymond Legrand's orchestra included Irène de Trébert,

Maurice Chevalier Maurice Auguste Chevalier (; 12 September 1888 – 1 January 1972) was a French singer, actor and entertainer. He is perhaps best known for his signature songs, including " Livin' In The Sunlight", "Valentine", " Louise", "Mimi", and "Thank Heav ...

Georges Guétary Georges Guétary (), born Lambros Vorloou ( el, Λάμπρος Βορλόου ; February 8, 1915 – September 13, 1997) was a French singer, dancer, cabaret performer and film actor, best known for his role in the 1951 musical '' An American ...

Tino Rossi Constantin "Tino" Rossi (29 April 1907 – 26 September 1983) was a French singer and film actor of Corsican origin. Born in Ajaccio, Corsica, Rossi was gifted with a voice well suited for opera. He became a tenor in the French cabaret style ...

, and Colette Renard. He also collaborated with figures of French song like Francis Lemarque, Mouloudji,

Édith Piaf Édith Piaf (, , ; born Édith Giovanna Gassion, ; December 19, 1915– October 10, 1963) was a French singer, lyricist and actress. Noted as France's national chanteuse, she was one of the country's most widely known international stars. Pi ...

and

Henri Salvador Henri Salvador (18 July 1917 – 13 February 2008) was a French Caribbean comedian, singer and cabaret artist. Biography Salvador was born in Cayenne, French Guiana. His father, Clovis, and his mother, Antonine Paterne, daughter of a native ...

. In 1948, he directed the orchestra for the recording of ''

C'est si bon "" (; ) is a French popular song composed in 1947 by Henri Betti with the lyrics by André Hornez. The English lyrics were written in 1949 by Jerry Seelen. The song has been adapted in several languages. History In July 1947, Henri Betti w ...

'' by Les Soeurs Étienne, which became a hit. In 1966, his son Michel Legrand directed the orchestra for the version of this song by

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

on the album ''

Color Me Barbra ''Color Me Barbra'' is the seventh studio album by singer Barbra Streisand released on Columbia Records in 1966. It reached number 3 in the US albums chart and was certified Gold by the RIAA. It was also the title of Streisand's second CBS TV spe ...

''. He also composed copiously for film.

Personal life

Legrand married Marcelle Der Mikaëlian (sister of

Jacques Hélian Jacques Mikaël Der Mikaëlian better known as Jacques Hélian (born in Paris, 7 June 1912 - died 29 June 1986), was a famous French orchestra conductor for French music-hall. Biography Born of an Armenian father (descendant of Armenian bourge ...

) in 1929; their children were the singer Christiane Legrand, born in 1930 and the composer

Michel Legrand Michel Jean Legrand (; 24 February 1932 – 26 January 2019) was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and jazz pianist. Legrand was a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to many so ...

, born in 1932. By 1935, he abandoned his wife and children. In 1943, he had a son, Michel-Patrick Legrand with the singer Irène de Trebert. In 1946, he divorced, and several years later married Paulette Bonimond; they had two children, the writer Benjamin Legrand and the painter Olivier Legrand. In 1960, he and Paulette divorced, and he married Colette Renard. In 1971, he divorced again to marry Martine Leroy, with whom he had a daughter, Coralie Legrand.

Film soundtracks

*''Grisou'', Maurice de Canonge (1938) *''Le Roman de Renard'', Ladislas Starewitch and Irène Starewitch (1941) *'' Mademoiselle Swing'', Richard Pottier (1942) *''Destins'', Richard Pottier (1946) *''L'aventure commence demain'', Richard Pottier (1948) * '' Two Loves'', Richard Pottier (1949) *''Justice est faite'', André Cayatte (1950) *''Meurtres?'', Richard Pottier (1950) * ''

Alone in Paris ''Alone in Paris'' (French: ''Seul dans Paris'') is a 1951 French comedy drama film directed by Hervé Bromberger and starring Bourvil, Magali Noël, Georgette Anys and Yvette Etiévant.Siclier p.21 It was shot at the Francoeur Studios in ...

'', Hervé Bromberger (1951) * '' Topaze'', Marcel Pagnol (1951) *''Manon des sources'', Marcel Pagnol (1952) *''Nous sommes tous des assassins'', André Cayatte (1952) *''Paris chante toujours'', Pierre Montazel (1952) *''Une fille dans le soleil'', Maurice Cam (1953) *''Les Compagnes de la nuit'', Ralph Habib (1953) *''Carnaval'', Henri Verneuil (1953) *''Le Boulanger de Valorgue'', Henri Verneuil (1953) *''Ce soir les jupons volent'', Dimitri Kirsanoff (1956) *''Business'', Maurice Boutel (1960) *''Clodo'', Georges Clair (1975)

Sources

* Chantal Brunschwig, Louis-Jean Calvet, Jean-Claude Klein, ''Cent ans de chanson française'', Seuil, 1972 *

, ''Les Grands orchestres de music-hall en France : souvenirs et témoignages'', Filipacchi, 1984 * Jean Jour, ''Roger Darton : pince-moi, je rêve !'', Éditions Dricot, 1993 {{DEFAULTSORT:Legrand, Raymond 1908 births 1974 deaths French composers Musicians from Paris French male conductors (music) 20th-century French conductors (music) 20th-century French male musicians French collaborators with Nazi Germany French emigrants to Canada