Charles Chaynes

about

French composer Charles Chaynes was born July 11, 1925 in Toulouse. His parents were professors at the Toulouse Conservatory of Music where his father played and taught violin, and his mother played piano and taught music theory. Chaynes credits his parents for sparking his interest in composing at age fifteen and preparing him for a career as a musician. Chaynes enrolled in the Paris Conservatory following his studies in Toulouse. At the conservatory he studied harmony with Jean Gallon and composition with Darius Milhaud; he also continued to study the fugue and the violin. Several sources, including the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Baker’s Biographical Dictionary, list Jean Rivier as one of Chaynes’ primary teachers at the conservatory. Chaynes, interestingly, says that he never studied with or even knew Rivier, and that any comparison made between his and Rivier’s music is false. Chaynes credits Béla Bartók, Alban Berg, and Oliver Messiaen as composers also who influenced his style. Chaynes obtained first prizes in harmony, composition, fugue, and violin at the conservatory. In 1951, Chaynes was awarded the first Grand Prix de Rome for his cantata Et l’homme vit se rouvrir le portes. This afforded Chaynes the opportunity to study in Rome with funding from the French Government; from 1952-1955 he worked at the Académie de France in Rome. Chaynes returned to Paris in 1956 and began working for French radio station L’ ORTF as a producer. The composer remarks

top songs

albums

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The Philip Smith Collection (Live)

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Chaynes: Variations concertantes & Quatre poèmes de Sappho

Charles Chaynes: Tarquinia Nos. 1 - 3 & M'zab

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Epitaph for a Legend [Single Disc]

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Instrumental Music

Chaynes: Séquences pour l'Apocalypse, Chants de l'âme & Vers la lumière

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Vocal Music

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Charles Chaynes Vocal Music AGP135

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Pour un Monde Noir, etc

Erzsebet

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JOLIVET: Chant de Linos / SANCAN: Sonatine / DUTILLEUX: Sonatine

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Charles Chaynes Instrumental Music AGP136

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