ABSTRACT
In his 2001 monograph about French cello sonatas, Stephen Sensbach recommended Jeanne Barbillion’s cello sonata for its modern idiom and its effective cello part. With the exception of Sensbach’s appraisal, Barbillion’s oeuvre is among the numerous neglected oeuvres of female composers and almost entirely forgotten today. She spent her whole musical life in Paris and was active at the Schola cantorum, where she studied both piano and violin and also obtained a degree in composition with Vincent d’ Indy. Later she was a teacher at the same institution. While focusing on chamber music, Barbillion also wrote some orchestral pieces and a Chorale et pastorale en rondeau for ondes martenot, organ and strings. Apart from bringing the life’s work of a composer, performer and academic teacher back to memory, this chapter draws special attention to one particular work, Barbillion’s Piano Trio of 1926, for which she was awarded the Prix Marmontel from the Société des Compositeurs.
