Jeanne Demessieux’s Diary and Letters of 1932-1940 in Translation

Lynn Cavanagh

4 Jeanne Demessieux’s Diary and Letters of 1932-1940 in Translation

The surviving diary and letters of Jeanne Demessieux’s adolescent years embrace her first eight years of music study in Paris, particularly that undertaken at the Paris Conservatory, then located at 14 rue de Madrid. They do not comprise a complete account of her experiences. Indeed, most of Demessieux’s 1930s correspondence survives only as excerpts published in Une vie de luttes et de gloire by Trieu-Colleney. Moreover, Demessieux’s diary of June 1934 to September 1938 was kept only sporadically. Therefore, the following text interleaves multiple materials to portray Demessieux’s life during the period October 1932 to June 1940. These are passages that Trieu-Colleney selected from Demessieux’s letters sent to family members, complete letters to her mentors that survive as drafts, diary entries, and a selection from Demessieux’s record of organ music played for services at St-Esprit. Periods of Demessieux’s life not covered by letters or diary, but for which information is available from other primary and secondary sources (identified in endnotes), are described in intervening paragraphs in the text.

To the extent possible, materials are arranged in chronological order. Each piece of dated correspondence occurs in a shaded textbox, and is headed with its date at the left margin. Diary entries are placed in unshaded textboxes, with each entry having a centred date above it. Explanatory comments on the content of letters and diary occur in endnotes. Names of persons that are highlighted are linked to a “Register of Persons Mentioned in Jeanne Demessieux’s Diaries and Letters,” which supplies brief information concerning those who could be identified.

From letters of Jeanne Demessieux to her sister Yolande:¹

11 October 1932

We arrived in Paris with the rain… Now [though,] the air is fresh, and the beautiful autumn sun is shining. My piano will arrive on Friday . . .

22 October 1932

My piano has a tremendous sound, but it is quite uncompromising. I inspected it from top to bottom and everything is in good shape.

28 October 1932

Monsieur [Lazare-]Lévy had me play my Bach, my étude, and my [other] piece, and said it was good…I owe my success mainly to you.

5 November 1932

. . . M^lle Gousseau had me play the Chopin étude, the Bach, and the Beethoven sonata… she said it was very good but that I pound too much.

[undated:]

Mademoiselle had me work on the Chopin finale in a surprising way! I was paying such close attention that I sat there with my mouth open, staring wide-eyed.

[undated:]

My piano study is going well. I’ve started to learn the Czerny toccata: very difficult. You can judge for yourself: it’s all in thirds.

27 December 1932

I’m still working on my toccata. I managed to play it at 132 to the eighth note; it’s beginning to sound like something [ça commence à compter].

1 January 1933

I know Chopin’s Impromptu No. 2 by memory, J. S. Bach in transposition and, still, the Czerny toccata. I always do an average of three and a half hours, sometimes, four.

. . . Sundays, I don’t work. Monsieur Lévy insists that I should rest on that day.

Technique is beginning to go well again. Mademoiselle Gousseau is very strict on this matter, with good reason I believe, for Monsieur Lévy is very lenient. He told Maman that he will present me [in an audition at the Conservatory] next year and that I will be received with open arms.

13 February 1933

. . . I am also composing . . .

16 March 1933²

I began with Czerny’s École [du] Virtuose:³ He showed me the fingering…

“You see, Jeanne,” he said, “this fingering is going to facilitate your technique, but I don’t want you to use this in your études, because they are meant to make you work.”

Then came Bach:

“Well, there’s nothing to say about this fugue. Really, it’s perfect.”

Then the rondo-finale of Frédéric Chopin’s Concerto.⁴ It’s very difficult, but with Monsieur Lévy’s technique, everything becomes easy . . .

22 March 1933

Monsieur Lévy has given me the Allegro from Chopin’s Concerto… It’s so very beautiful, an architectural marvel, one could say.

We have bought a pretty collar for Kety [family cat], decorated with a bell and nametag… The first evening we put it on her, she became very agitated, the bell annoyed her so, but now she thinks nothing of it. She’s growing prettier all the time and, I believe, more mischievous.

22 May 1933

My technique is coming along: all I lack is a little stability in my fingers… a successful entrance audition to the Conservatory is in sight . . .

4 June 1933

This morning, I worked for two hours on Clementi’s Gradus⁵ and Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 11, and I improvised for ten minutes.

This afternoon, I’m going to work on my Lutins rondo,⁶ Chopin’s first étude (for an hour and a half) and, after that, if I have time, the Impromptu No. 2 (this is what I’ll play for Mademoiselle’s student recital, instead of the rondo: it will have more effect and it’s more suited to my temperament…) The Revolutionary Étude⁷ I’m saving because I would like to play it for you during vacation—it is so beautiful.

23 June 1933⁸

. . . Maman had me dressed in my white dress to which she had added a Marie-Antoinette fichu tied at the back in a big bow.

I played Monsieur Lévy’s two études and my Chopin impromptu. It appears to have gone marvellously well! In attendance were Mademoiselle and her entire family; Madame Giraud-Latarse [who is] Monsieur Lévy’s former teacher and Mademoiselle [Gousseau]’s former preparatory teacher;⁹ and all the students’ parents. Madame Giraud is said to have been jubilant…

Maman said to me that my touch was very delicate and that the passage work was so well done that one would think it was of no difficulty. I’m as fearless as ever, and during the day before the recital I was burning with impatience.

In all likelihood, Demessieux, with her parents and grandmother, left Paris for Aigues-Mortes for at least part of July through August 1933; correspondence with her sister Yolande resumed in September.

From letters to Yolande:¹⁰

29 September 1933

The notorious passage by Liszt that I couldn’t manage, well, I worked on it for a good half-hour, and I can now play it very well . . .

11 October 1933

Every day, I go to the forest alone by bicycle; I go freewheeling down avenue Daumesnil and do two or three laps around the forest…¹¹ then, I head back up with difficulty; you must remember that “lovely” little hill . . .

I’m yearning to take the [entrance] exam.

Santiago Riera’s piano class, ca. 1934. From left to right, standing: Pierre Darricau, Marguerite Godard, Jeanne Demessieux, Serge Postelnikoff, Suzanne Rémion, Léon Chauliac, Mlle Abrunēdo, Denise Feron, unnamed auditor, Maria Fotino, Valérie Hamilton; sitting: Paulette Madeuf, Françoise Labroquère, Colette Chambeau, Gilsèle Guérillon.
Goosen van Tuijl collection.

In autumn 1933, the start of her second year in Paris, Demessieux successfully auditioned for entrance to one of the limited number of openings in piano at the Conservatory. She was assigned to the class of Santiago Riera, not to that of Lazare-Lévy as she had hoped. Unfortunately for Demessieux, a teacher whose class was already considered complete—twelve students was the limit in the 1930s—did not have final say with regard to adding new students, particularly when there was another, in this case Riera’s, that was not complete.¹²

Letter-card addressed to Monsieur Demessieux at 8 rue du Docteur Goujon:¹³

24 November [1933]

Dear Sir,

M^r Riera has written to me that he cannot permit any other instruction for Jeanne but his own. In other words, he did not understand anything I said to him yesterday. Therefore, if he questions Jeanne, she should affirm that her relationship with me is purely friendly. The advice that I will give her must, consequently, remain confidential. As a precaution, I can no longer have her come to [the Salle] Érard, but only to my home. Embrace her for me.

With my very best regards,

Lazare-Lévy

From letters to Yolande:¹⁴

11 December 1933

Alfred Cortot is giving a series of Chopin concerts. I’m very pleased that I saved all the money given to me so that I can go and hear, next Thursday, the lecture-recital on the preludes and, on Thursday the 14^th, I will hear the études for around 15 francs for standing room; after that, I don’t know if I will be able to get the money together… To tell you that he plays well doesn’t do it justice. You would think it was Chopin himself playing his works. He is a poet above all, and more so than anyone else.

. . . I am composing. I finished a waltz and am beginning a nocturne and another piece for which I haven’t decided upon a title: Berceuse or Romance?…

21 January 1934

There is a student, Maria F[otino] (Romanian)¹⁵ whom I like very much: she is gentle and reserved. When I sit beside her in class, she is friendly, which pleases me. She is also a very good musician with an extremely soft and delicate touch… She is, perhaps, twenty? But that’s not what’s important to us because she has a youthful personality.

[Concerning a waltz composed by Demessieux that she played for Lazare-Lévy, undated:]

I performed it… When I’d finished, he expressed himself thus:

“Your first theme is very pretty and reminiscent of Chopin. However, the second theme is too long and modulates to keys that are too distant; it must return to the first; the trio, likewise, is long…”

I cannot reproduce all his explanations, but he told me to study Chopin’s waltzes away from the piano, to gain inspiration from their forms. This is why I’ve been rising every morning at half-past seven and immediately getting to work. I am fascinated by the waltzes; they are inspired in their elegance; I am meticulously studying their every detail.

1 February 1934

Presently, I’m composing two nocturnes.

My criticism of Braïlowsky is that he lacks both suppleness in Chopin’s melodic passages and sensitivity for melodic line. These are precisely the two things I love about Cortot’s playing.

I am glad that Mimi is working hard,¹⁶ knowing that later on, when she is in Paris, working alone and properly, will be all right, but it’s not easy… For the time being, I know that she is in good hands.

21 February 1934

Monsieur Riera hasn’t been giving his classes lately. Monsieur Gentil has been replacing him.

This morning, [however] he reappeared… I presented the Liszt paraphrase. He was pushy with me, as usual…

“To think that she doesn’t like this masterwork! This is inconceivable!” To this, I retorted, with a smile,

“But, Master, I like it very much now!” He had nothing more to say and seemed rather embarrassed.

[Referring to Lazare-Lévy:] Dear Master! Here is someone who deserves all my regard for him and my confidence in him! He takes a great interest in my compositions and gives me bits of advice… As for my piano playing, he is very happy with the results!

14 May 1934

Sensational, magnificent, marvelous news! The first competition is set for the 31^st of this month and we have three new pieces… a program that pleases me to no end…¹⁷ Exam fever has again taken hold of me. I’ve had my pieces for eight days and I know them all by heart…

I am still accompanying at church, which gives me pleasure and takes my mind off my other work. One day, at rehearsal, the priest said to us, “I am bored… bored as a chicken with a toothbrush…” I’m still laughing.¹⁸

From Demessieux’s diary entitled “Memories Impressions Diary 1934–35–36”¹⁹

Thursday 28 June 1934

I resume my ~~daily~~ diary with joy.²⁰ There is so much running through my mind these days! The end-of-the-year competition took place yesterday from nine in the morning to eleven in the evening. At half-past six Maman came to wake me. I quickly dressed and, everyone else still asleep, I attached the mute [moliphone] to my piano and did my daily exercises.

Finally, it was time. I was all dressed up in my white dress and I was reminded to be passionate in the ballade.²¹ I responded by opening one eye and yawning my head off. When descending the stairs, I slipped, caught myself and, by an effort of will, woke up completely. ~~I ar~~ We arrived at the Conservatory at half-past eight. Immediately, I went to the green room. Once there, I became very reserved, as I always force myself to be as much as possible before playing. I had to wait an hour and a half before my turn.

Finally, my name was announced. I walked on stage [2] and sat at the piano. The benefit of that ~~big~~ long waiting period of an hour and a half was that I was able to give myself entirely to my ballade. It was for me, as always, like experiencing a long dream; it seemed to me as if ~~all these~~ all the feelings of this beautiful poem were being improvised by me, since they so matched my spiritual state. The last chord struck, I rose, unsteady on my feet, while a murmur rustled through the crowd. My vision was blurry but with a great effort of will I managed to walk as far as the door where several mothers were waiting for me. Then, sheltered from the curious gaze of the crowd, I allowed a long groan to escape my lips, while a cold sweat broke out on my brow and my hands. A short command: “Hold her up…”

Nevertheless, little by little I recovered my composure and was able to walk. The first face I saw, all worried, was Papa’s. He rushed to grasp me in his arms. After a moment, I was able to say,

“I played well…you know… [3] Oh! I can hardly go on... I thought I was going to faint.”

We went around the street by the Conservatory to meet up with Maman, who had not been able to get out earlier. Soon, I saw her on her way down, crying and searching for a glimpse of me. She too embraced me lovingly and I succumbed, for my legs would no longer carry me. At that same moment, the intermission began. There was a crush of people, but I felt so weak that just to move was an effort for me. My classmates were at our side; everyone hugged and congratulated me. The mothers said,

“I thought she was going to faint: she looked as pale as a corpse.”

M^r Lévy told me, straight out, his impressions:

“She will certainly win something, she played so well!”

And while he was encouraging me, my eyes searched the crowd for M^r Riera, but he didn’t show up. I wasn’t to see him until an hour later… Sensing my strength returning, I went to listen to some of the contestants, using Maman’s ticket.

At noon, arm-in-arm, we returned [4] home. After lunch, I sight-read some preludes and fugues for organ by Bach. At five PM, we went out again to the boulevard Poissonnière.²² The ballades session wasn’t over yet, which permitted Papa to make the acquaintance of M^r Labroquère, the father of a charming nineteen-year-old classmate of mine, Françoise, who is extremely musical, intelligent, and lively. The family is descended from Liszt, whom Françoise very much resembles. We are always together. Maman looked at us and smiled and described us as inseparable by dubbing us “Delacroix and Chopin.”

After this aside, I continue. I was [feeling] a little better for the sight-reading [competition]. Everything there went very well. Only after I began a long wait did my nerves start to bother me. All I could do was sit and quickly eat a sandwich, and I immediately wanted to return to the Conservatory. We met up again, talked, traded predictions; some of my friends laughed, others fretted. As for Françoise and me, we looked like two people on their deathbeds, [5] each as pale and stiff as the other. All this was happening in the green room, among friends; our parents were in the hall.

Eventually, a man came to tell us that M^r Rabaud was going to read the competition results aloud. We quietly opened the door to the hall; a deathly silence reigned. Everyone was breathless with anticipation, everyone’s lips trembled. Slowly, the director [Rabaud] announced the awards. First Prizes… Second Prizes… First Mentions… Second Mentions… finally, my name was pronounced, third in this last category. Hearing this, I tottered again, my eyes closing under the shock of such indefinable brutality; unfortunately, no one was looking after me and, if I didn’t actually fall, it was only because there was such a huge crush of people. Oh! This moment! I will remember it for a long time! Propelled by the ceaseless wave of the students around me, I passed by M^r Lévy, who was holding in his arms a poor little blonde who had fallen to bits, M^lle Berruyer, who was sobbing against his shoulder while he covered her with kisses. Then I saw M^r [6] Riera, who said to me, quite offhandedly,

“This is what the jury came to accomplish? They could have stayed home: you deserved better.” There was nothing I could say to him in response.

These two pictures, of M^r Lévy and M^r Riera, continued to dance before my eyes like ghosts: the first I’d like to think of always; the second I can only regard with a fleeting smile.

I found myself outdoors, jostled, blinded by photographers’ flashes. Amidst general high spirits, Papa and Maman soon ~~found~~ joined me. We heard nothing but shouting, almost like a riot. Such tears! Such sobbing! Presently we encountered Valérie Hamilton and her mother, in the throes of a terrible nervous fit.²³ Their cries were very nearly demented. The entire breathless crowd, all the discordant cries, upset me to the point that I simply clung to Papa, sobbing. All I could come out with was “Let’s go!” while nervous trembling [7] shook me all over.

This attack of nerves lasted in the subway with my complete inability to speak, and at home with endless tears. It was midnight when Maman put me to bed, tucking me in like a little baby, and after her tender, maternal caresses and kisses, and those of Papa, I slept, utterly exhausted.

Never has an exam affected me so profoundly as this one…

Thursday 28 June 1934 [second entry]

A day of rest.

Friday 29 June 1934

At 11:00 AM, Maman and I went to M^lle Gousseau’s. She received us with her usual good grace and talked to us with an open heart. “So, my little Jeanne, you are satisfied with your Second Mention?”

“Oh! Yes, Mademoiselle!”

“There we go: that’s good. I’ll acknowledge, though, that you deserved a First [Mention].”

“Ah.…”

“Yes… But I prefer that it turned out as it did. M^r Lévy will now have less difficulty taking you in his class. M^r Riera remains to be convinced: that is the most difficult…”

“Oh! Mademoiselle, [8] he won’t agree!” I cried spontaneously. And I, who never weep, sensed something hot beneath my eyelids, boiling to the surface; but I immediately took control of myself and, gritting my teeth, I managed to drive away my heart’s overflowing, volatile [thoughts]. I don’t know if Mademoiselle saw this sudden jolt to my soul, but she carried on solemnly,

“Don’t worry, Jeanne… don’t think about it anymore; M^r Riera is out of the picture.” She put strong emphasis on these last words, then, turning to Maman,

“Jeanne isn’t looking well; she is too pale… which worries me.”

Maman said responded with nothing and looked at me with a sigh. After some moments of glum silence, she said,

“We are thinking of going to see M^r Lévy sometime soon; my husband must request an appointment….”

“Madame, if would you like me to telephone him, myself? It would save you the trouble of arranging the meeting.” And without even waiting for a reply, she [9] picked up the telephone and asked to be connected. After a moment, a familiar voice could be heard through the ebony headset and Mademoiselle, putting on her pleasant smile, responded,

“Good day, Master… How are you? Oh! How amusing!… Well, here it is: I have with me Jeanne Demessieux who would like to know when she might come, with her father and mother, to visit you… Fine… Tomorrow at half-past three. Jeanne,” she said, looking in my direction. “Goodbye, Master; I shall write to you.”

Then she came and sat beside me, took my hands, and said,

“You must promise me to be sensible… Meaning that I want you to stop thinking about M^r Riera and be cheerful. It’s your age, my dear… If you remain sad, you will become seriously ill, and we don’t want that. So, it’s a promise?…”

“… Yes… Mademoiselle…”

“My poor dear! It’s hard at thirteen! But, it has to be.”

It has to be! Or so they say.

[10] Thursday 5 July 1934

This morning I went out with Papa. We went to the Vincennes Forest,²⁴ where I did my reading. This afternoon I did my piano practice.

What a day it was! During the entire afternoon, I could not concentrate on anything for five minutes at a time. Oh, longed-for summer vacation, are you coming soon? I wish it were tomorrow: I want to see Yoyo [Yolande] right away. Oh! Such joy! The sweetest I can ever know!… I feel as if I will die waiting, while my regard for her only grows stronger. Nevertheless, were I suddenly to find her, at this very moment, in front of me, I would probably not be able to think of what to say, even to her.

Saturday 7 July 1934

Only five days to go before we are all reunited. What happiness! I’ve begun counting the days and even the hours. God grant us the joy of being able to hear, embrace, and speak to her…! So many things to tell us! I think I cannot bring a quarter of them to mind. [11]

Jeanne Demessieux at the console of the organ at St-Esprit, 1934.
Montpellier Municipal Archives, 4S20, Fonds Jeanne Demessieux.

I’m composing music regularly these days, generally from 1:30 to 2 PM, a time that takes nothing from my work at the piano because I only start playing at 2 PM. This past winter, I mostly composed in the evening, after supper, but Maman forbade this because it made me too tired. Having to find another time, I had chosen seven to eight in the morning at the first glimmer of pale, winter sun behind my closed shutters.

But Maman put a stop to that too because I got one cold after another; therefore, afternoon is now my time.

Sunday 8 July 1934

This morning, I accompanied both Masses, at 10:00 and at 11:30. This was the last time before summer vacation… Next Sunday, we will hear Mass at the Church of the Sablons in Aigues-Mortes. At a quarter to six I went to Benediction²⁵ in the big crypt of [12] St-Esprit church. It is made entirely of cement, and footsteps resonate as if in a tomb.²⁶

Demessieux made no diary entries during her 1934 summer vacation in Aigues-Mortes. By the end of September, she and her parents had returned to Paris, and her correspondence with her sister Yolande resumed.

From a letter to Yolande:²⁷

30 September 1934

. . . It’s good to have my piano again! As soon as Mass was over, I went and played until noon. What a warm and vibrant sonority! There is no other instrument like it.

Tomorrow I will begin diligently working five hours a day again, no question. I’m longing to return to my habits. I have the courage and the will… Just practising piano is sufficient for me to want nothing else.

In November 1934, Demessieux began private harmony lessons with Noël Gallon in preparation for the competitive entrance exam to a Paris Conservatory class in that subject.²⁸ She did not write in her diary again until January of that academic year.²⁹

Thursday 31 January 1935

Long after the end of summer vacation, I have, at last, returned to my diary. The time for mental turmoil has passed, I suppose. In every respect, the [academic] year began well, except for the disappointment of M^r Lévy’s final response that it is impossible for him to admit me to his class without causing me serious harm. I am, therefore, resigned to this. I’ve worked hard, even righteously, on the anger in my heart and hope in my mind. Hope! Anger! Truly two things made to please me. I have never so well savoured the truth of two words, the terrible truth. Anger? Yes. Suppressed anger, a monstrous ocean against a hard rock; sadness—smothered yet boiling, steaming—that must not be allowed to escape. Hope?… [14] A poor thread of silk, the work of a spider who, firmly believing it safe, cast it out into space and attached it to the petals of a thought and the heart of a thistle. The wind blows. The situation is critical. But do not groan, oppressed soul; always stifle your protests, for the echoes would be too loud!

From a letter to Yolande:³⁰

16 February 1935

. . . In harmony, I’ve begun dominant sevenths . . . I’ve hardly any time now for composing, and this breaks my heart… It seems to me that I’m no longer good at anything, even when I do my homework perfectly. Academic work so little resembles the ideal that I have the impression the goal is getting further and further away…

10 April 1935

The eve of a happy day. Tomorrow, a recital by M^r Riera’s students in the Conservatory Hall.³¹ I will play the first part of Schumann’s Fantasie [Op. 17]. A sublime piece; incomprehensible or revealing. I am, as always, very calm.

From a letter to Yolande:³²

16 April 1935

The recital went very well.

11 May 1935

Time passes quickly… What is reality one day becomes but a memory the next. The competitions are upon us. For all students, they loom as something dangerous, arduous, even treacherous; I, on the other hand, see them as having one justification, merit [15] ~~won~~ rewarded, and one day, I’ll be free!

Oh! Freedom! Kind friend! One day (can it be true!) you will introduce yourself to me for the first time, you will take me in your arms, and I will have only to respond to your call! Oh, yes, most certainly: it cannot be otherwise. I have believed I would be meeting you for several days now, since the day when (God forgive me!) I took vengeance!… Yet, took vengeance with justice and bravura.

Yesterday I went to class with a strong feeling of foreboding. Let us take note. Before entering the class, we were waiting for M^r Riera (or, rather, just Riera) in the large second floor corridor. My classmates were merry; they were laughing. Riera arrived, in a bad mood. First, we received a whopping outburst; [16] it seems this gentleman believed himself in a henhouse, which truly upset us. We entered and the class commenced or, rather, recommenced. First, we played the Debussy étude. Abusive words, curses, with no attempt to avoid being offensive. Seated, as usual, near Françoise, I felt depressed. My heart was heavy: I can almost still feel the sensation! But I was distracted [in the clouds] and my inner nature dissolved, merged into a burning tear. Suddenly: “Her!”: as injurious a sound to my ears as an alarm bell. Awakened with a jump from my sad reverie, I slowly raised my head, and my ears could hear sounds of anger.

“Yes! Her, the one who’s been day-dreaming over there: the last time [too] she [17] stood there (sniggering) with no pencil to mark the fingering I indicated; doubtless, she is already an expert! (furious). She listens to nothing; no, you are undisciplined, you know it all too well,” and eternal jealousy, in his most bitter cruelty, showed in his eyes, his words, and his gestures.

Indignant that he would dare speak such a lie to my face and before my classmates, I leapt up and, clenching my fist almost to the point of breaking a bone, I threw these words back at him, with a look of fire:

“Even so!!… I have marked my fingerings; you’ve seen them for yourself!” I sat back down again, trembling with anger for the first time, and I added, under my breath, but with a hiss, “And besides, I’ve had enough of this!”

[18] My classmates, silent with fear, lowered their heads; thus I was able, with ease and haughtiness, to stare at that deceitful face, which, moreover, was quick to turn its eyes from the powerful and genuine sight of that was the object of his hatred. Pushed to breaking point, I had to step into the corridor for a moment to regain my composure. When I returned to the class, I was met by a frosty look, everything had changed… Even Françoise avoided my eyes: I was alone…

From a letter to Yolande:³³

21 May 1935

I’m in the middle of exams and competitions; the pieces please me very much and Monsieur Lévy, Monsieur Gallon, and Mademoiselle Gousseau are agreed… I’m on the way to playing an excellent exam. My goal for the year would be to be awarded a Second Prize [in the women’s piano competition].

26 May 1935

Can inner dramas be commented upon? Yesterday, I was the fitting object of one of these dramas.

2 June 1935

I am having bouts of desperate sadness… My heart is always weeping ~~bleeding~~. My only confidant is my piano. When I speak to it, [19] it understands and it tells me so; I am immediately soothed, but not consoled. Nowadays, everyone shuns me; is this a coincidence?… I am alone.

Sometimes I would like to take over the world, but I immediately have the opposing wish to close myself in and be impenetrable.

10 June 1935

Why are there, in my nature, two opposing personalities…? On the one side, passion [violence], on the other, painful or overwhelming sadness. There are days when powerful reality discourages and exhausts me, and others where indignation intoxicates me to the point of being wild.

I have the impression of not living or, rather, of living in exile.

[20] [Diary blank page.]

On June 26, 1935, Demessieux was among the youngest of 49 candidates entered in the piano competition for women. The test piece that year was the first movement of Beethoven’s Sonata in C minor, Op. 111. She received a First Mention (last in a list of ten), improving upon her standing in the 1934 competition, though not reaching her goal of a Second Prize.³⁴

Most of July through September was likely spent in Aigues-Mortes—time away from Santiago Riera and the pressures of competing with students significantly older than herself. Diary entries and surviving letters resumed only with the new academic year in October 1935. A long letter from Jeanne’s mother to Yolande, with postscript by Jeanne, translated in full below, reveals that in Paris she continued her general studies (apparently home-schooled by her father) and went on occasional outings.

Letter from Madeleine Demessieux to her daughter Yolande, with postscript by Jeanne Demessieux:³⁵

Paris, 20 October 1935

Dearest Yoyo,

It is I, again, who am assigned the pleasant task of writing to you. They send you warm embraces, and of course I’m referring to Papa and Jeanne. They left immediately after dinner for “Père Lachaise” [cemetery] to visit Chopin’s tomb;³⁶ it was impossible last Thursday to find a minute and we put it off until Sunday. It was drizzling, but nothing holds Jeanne back; they went by bicycle. Today at High Mass and at 11:30, one improvisation, the march by Boëllmann,³⁷ the toccata, and some Franck. Father Emering presided; he rushed to disrobe and climb to the gallery to thank your sister for having truly spoiled him. So there you go, you are all caught up for today.

Last Sunday [Jeanne] walked to the Gravelle plateau with the girls’ choir; these young ladies took photos “that we will send you if you wish,” and let’s not even mention fatigue, these choristers were hardly able to remain standing to sing Vespers.

The week passed as usual, with classes, studying, and lessons. M^r [Noël] Gallon thanks you for the gracious greetings you asked me to deliver on your behalf; lessons with him are going very well. Mademoiselle [Gousseau] was happy, Monday, with the Chopin sonata [in B-flat minor]:³⁸ Jeanne is progressing in strength. From now on, all the Saturday classes will be for exercises, four Czerny études, a Bach prelude and fugue, which will make three classes per week, in addition to her being at the piano [each morning] at 8:00.

Yesterday, she studied for eight hours, did a harmony assignment, and practiced her singing after supper. There! I think I’ve told you everything and forgotten nothing.

And now to Papa, who spends his time travelling around a 100-km area to promote his own wine; in other words, he intends to buy our wine from M^r Mézy³⁹ and sell it himself, which will net him 10 [francs per] hectolitre.⁴⁰ It’s not much, but no matter, it distracts him and keeps him active. As he was saying this morning, the profits cannot be seen right away because of the purchase of the casks, but a year from now we will see the profits, and since it is impossible to draw off one-third of the harvest, we have to find another way to manage. Remains to be seen if he will have good clients. The wine is given away in Paris and Papa cannot sell it for less than 1 [franc] 60 [centimes] per litre, which makes 160 [francs] per hectolitre. He is taking on all the costs that come up: transportation, management, delivery of full casks and collection of empties, a total as I told you of 10 [francs] of profit for him and 10 [francs] per hectolitre to Mézy for casking and shipping, cleaning the returned casks, etc. They are agreed. The catch is that the order of casks, this advance, cuts into the profits for a short while. Never mind that, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

M^r Auxiètre never requested to see Papa, absolute fiction; do not plead with his brother any longer and let him say what he will.

Thank you for your kind letter. Jeanne had a good laugh over your story.

Have you been to see M^r Le Boucher? You must leave a token and repay him for having visited you. Send some flowers for M^me Mellot-Joubert and tell her that the dentist in Aigues-Mortes is looking for a manager so he can go complete his studies in Marseille. She must simply work it out with M^r Armingaud of rue Pasteur in A[igues]-M[ortes] or Grand rue Centre dentaire in Nîmes. (In case it interests her son.) Add our good wishes.

Friendly regards to M^me d’Espéries, an affectionate hello to M^me Cathata. For you my dear girl, sweetest kisses from your Maman who loves you.

Granny [Gramt],⁴¹ Papa, Jeanne send loving embraces.

Postscript in Jeanne’s handwriting:

Dear Yoyo,

We’re back from Père Lachaise, a bit tired, but that’s not important. As soon as I got home, I plunged into reading Hernani [drama by Victor Hugo], and now I’ve also finished [Victor Hugo’s tragic drama] Ruy Blas.

I see that Maman has enlightened you about my work. Don’t throw your hands up [in despair]; you know that when I want something, I insist on it. Moreover, I’ve made up my mind.

With fond embraces, dear sister.

Don’t scold me.

See you soon.

Your loving poppet,
Nanon

From a letter to Yolande:⁴²

23 October 1935

A new development! I’ll be entering an ensemble class, that is to say, chamber music. It’s compulsory once one has a First Mention.

I’ll be with M^r Max d’Olonne, an excellent musician… I’m overjoyed.

On Monday I presented three of my pieces to Mademoiselle, two of which were composed at Aigues-Mortes and the other was finished two hours before my lesson.

… She said that I’d made astonishing progress… and that she found the Chopinesque influence to be almost undetectable; rather, there was a lot more power in the expression.

[21] 27 October 1935

It is now more than a month since I left the countryside where, ever since my childhood, I have spent my months of vacation, between the poetry of the region where I was born and the joy in this that floods my heart.

My homeland is so beautiful!

How moving are the things of which one has been deprived, this air whose salt makes the nostrils quiver, this wind whose touch is as sweet as a mother’s caress of one’s hair! Provence, Camargue! Languedoc!… These names conjure up for me a single intimate scene whose image is engraved in my memory. A great avenue of plane trees at whose feet wild grass pushes up, filled with crickets and dragonflies. The path is strewn with [22] gravel.

That autumn was a busy one for the fourteen-year-old Demessieux: as well as resuming her role as organist of St-Esprit and preparing chamber works for d’Ollone’s class, she took lessons in piano technique with Gousseau and worked furiously for the piano class of Santiago Riera. Her father, Étienne Demessieux, was away from the Paris home for a time, perhaps in connection with his wine business.

From a letter by Demessieux to her father:⁴³

17 November 1935

I have a program of ten pieces, of which four remain to be—tackled. When I am in class, and another student is playing, I suffer from a violent desire to push him out of the way and take his place to play “with fire.” You see, I’m from the land of the sun.

From letters to Yolande:⁴⁴

1 December 1935

I may possibly start teaching. You find this surprising… But consider, I’m fifteen, and it’s impossible for me to continue as I am, contributing nothing [to the family income]. Thus, it’s decided . . .⁴⁵

The class with Max d’Olonne is going well. He’s given me Fauré’s [Piano] Quartet No. 1 in C minor [Op. 15] to work on.

16 December 1935

Saturday, I went to an Orchestre Colonne concert with Maman. They played Paul Paray’s Mass for Jeanne d’Arc⁴⁶ and [Beethoven’s] Symphony No. 9. The mass is splendid, a true masterwork: vibrant, with wide-ranging ideas, while remaining classical in style. As for the symphony, upon hearing it again, I am again convinced that there is nothing more beautiful.⁴⁷ I prefer hearing the Ninth Symphony under these conditions⁴⁸ than La Juive ⁴⁹ from a centre box seat…

2 February 1936

Certainly!… for the festivals… everything went very well! Here too; the notorious [setting of] Vespers of which I spoke, and that frightened me so, went marvellously. I’ve studied some Gregorian [chant], and today I’m going to accompany Vespers from the book of plainchant…

29 March 1936

Organ—We rehearsed Franck’s Psalm 150⁵⁰ for Easter. For a solo organ piece, I worked on the Choral No. 3… It’s so beautiful that I never tire of playing it.

At the moment, my only piano works are Chopin’s Polonaise in F-sharp minor and Saint-Saëns’s Concerto No. 2. I have them memorized.

29 May 1936

I took the exam around half-past eleven this morning. They had me play the Chopin nocturne in its entirety and half of the Liszt étude…⁵¹ I played as you know your little sister plays.

… I’ve been admitted [to the 1936 Piano Competition] . . . It appears that Monsieur Lévy talked with Mademoiselle after my recital… It would appear that he said, “She has extraordinary technique. By next year she will be fantastic and will have everyone talking about her.”

In the 1936 women’s piano competition, Demessieux was number 35 of 51 candidates. The test piece was Chopin’s Third Scherzo. To her great distress, Demessieux failed to better her standing over the previous year’s First Mention, resulting in no prize or mention.⁵²

Demessieux seems not to have gone to Aigues-Mortes for the 1936 summer vacation: a phrase from a July 15, 1937 letter to Yolande signals that she had not been to Aigues-Mortes for two years. Instead, she saw her sister when Yolande visited Paris in the late summer of 1936.

Jeanne and Yolande Demessieux outside the Louvre Museum, August 1936.
Montpellier Municipal Archives, 4S20, Fonds Jeanne Demessieux.

6 September 1936

There are some hours that, as they fall one by one, resonate like raindrops; others are like an immense sunbeam that strikes suddenly, splendidly, upon clouds or earth, as over in Provence. The rest are but the tolling of a bell.

Yesterday, I was with my sister at l’Étoile;⁵³ the crowd was dense. We were all waiting for a colonial delegation coming to honour the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Perched on a stone bench beneath the Arc de Triomphe, we saw the arrival, with flags waving, of twenty or so colonial soldiers, and some French soldiers. Certainly, there was no “production,” but [23] a single prop, a flag. At least, this is what was said by the few foreigners, some Bolsheviks, who had slipped into the crowd. The French flag passed in front us; men removed their hats to salute our homeland.

Without a doubt, these were former soldiers and elderly patriots, for they were sincere. But, at this moment a wave of pride rippled through the crowd and some arms were raised with hands outstretched in a gesture that seemed to me like a supreme and solemn oath. Suddenly, a great desire to raise my arm, to swear to France the patriotism of a French heart, reach out my hand to protect the flag: such a desire leapt in my spirit. But I immediately took control of myself. Can one [24] know what is true and isn’t, what one can do and what one shouldn’t? Perhaps this gesture, like all the others, is cursed [maudit]. Why is it possible for a man to act against his will? Weakness, always, even among the strongest.

20 September 1936

Dreary weather; Paris is coming to life again. My greatest happiness is to see evening fall, this new twilight that resembles a winter twilight.

Soon, the summer vacation will be over. My sister will leave, and I will return to work. Were it not for being separated, I would wish this moment already arrived.

No diary pages survive for the 1936–1937 academic year or for the remainder of the calendar year 1937. First-person accounts consist of letters from which Trieu-Colleney recorded excerpts giving brief details of Demessieux’s studies. Trieu-Colleney quotes at length, however, from a letter describing an event that occurred on October 8, 1936—a visit to Marcel Dupré’s home. This was undertaken on the advice and recommendation of Montpellier Conservatory director Maurice Le Boucher: he suggested to the Demessieux family that after completing her study of piano and harmony their young daughter should study organ with Marcel Dupré.⁵⁴

From a letter to Yolande:⁵⁵

8 October 1936

This Thursday morning… Maman and I went to Marcel Dupré’s home.⁵⁶ How… to summarize in a few words this unforgettable meeting that lasted an hour and forty minutes?

… First, he asked me to go to the piano. I played the beginning of Beethoven’s Sonata Op. 106 for him, which I was very pleased to know now by heart—then, upon his request—“Vision” and the “Feux follets.”⁵⁷ My playing pleased him… he was very moved… He said that he found himself in the presence of a case of the highest order and that this interested him immensely… He asked me about everything I’d done since the age of three and made detailed notes of everything. When I got as far as saying that I’d been awarded a Second Mention, then a First Mention… and then [in the 1936 composition competition], nothing, he looked at me… he started to weep… After that, he asked me how many pieces I’ve composed… Then, he had me go to the organ. What an organ!… I played Bach’s Fantasy… then he gave me a written theme to improvise upon . . .

I improvised like a dream . . .

He ended the session by saying, “From this point onward, I am taking this child under my artistic protection.”

How beautiful it is at his home! A real palace, with a recital hall for organ and piano.

As a result of this audition, Demessieux received private instruction in organ and improvisation from Dupré over a period of two years.⁵⁸ Also in October 1936, Demessieux became one of twelve students in Jean Gallon’s Paris Conservatory harmony class, following a competitive examination for a limited number of places.

From letters to Yolande:⁵⁹

22 November 1936

My work is, indeed, going well. But this is not without pain. I have bounced from one class to another. Some days, I leave home at half-past seven in the morning and do not return until eight in the evening.

Right now, for piano, I’m working on two of Liszt’s Transcendental Études, “Vision” and “Chasse sauvage,” Beethoven’s Sonata, Op. 106 (all four movements), Liszt’s Spanish Rhapsody (which I’m working up again for an audition in December), Bach’s Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue, some Chopin études, Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6…

6 February 1937

. . . My lesson [with Marcel Dupré at his home in Meudon] went very well. It appears I have made immense progress. I have a lot of work to do because in two lessons I must complete the [organ] method,⁶⁰ after which we will begin on improvisation… in two weeks I must play J. S. Bach’s Trio Sonata [No. 1 for organ] in E-flat for him, from memory.

The piano class, at the moment, is close to being a triumphant success . . .

14 February 1937

. . . In truth, I think my joy is indescribable… Oh how happy am I! I can say nothing more.

This morning, Lazare-Lévy was horrified by the thought of the work I put in every day, but, when he heard me play…! I am very happy. In the harmony class, Jean Gallon was delighted; he loaned me the Honour Book as a token of favor.

18 April 1937

The third school term clearly seems to serve no purpose here; exams and competitions are already scheduled, and everyone has worked so hard that it’s all just a matter of whether we will have enough time to sit for them.

At the piano, I’m battling with Baïlakirev’s Islamey.⁶¹

Braïlowsky is giving a Chopin recital on the 23^rd. Among other works, he will play the preludes. If I can go to hear this, I won’t miss it . . .

We are merrier than ever . . . [Am] following the advice of Jean Gallon.

Excerpt from Demessieux’s record of organ music played at St-Esprit, May 16, 1937:⁶²

Feast of Pentecost
— High Mass —
Entrance:	Fantasy in G minor	-Bach
Offertory:	Fugue in G major	-Bach
	—Improvisations on liturgical themes—
Recessional:	Toccata and Fugue in D minor	-Bach
— 11:30 AM Mass —
Entrance:	[Trio] Sonata No. 1, Finale	-Bach
Offertory:	[Trio] Sonata No. 1, Allegro	-Bach
Recessional:	Chorale	-Mendelssohn

— Vespers —
Entrance:	Chorale from the Suite Gothique	-Boëllmann
	—Improvisations—
— Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament —
Sortie:	Toccata	-Boëllmann

In a letter to Yolande, probably from June or July, Demessieux described the evening of the 1937 harmony competition:⁶³

Students [were] secluded from 6:00 AM to midnight… Travel bag stuffed with food, thermos, dressing gown, slippers and, of course, the satchel-full of paper with alarm clock, pot of glue, corrector… And last but not least: a deckchair!

Demessieux, after just one year in a harmony class, received a First Prize.⁶⁴ This qualified the sixteen-year-old Jeanne for the privilege thereafter of admission to Rome Prize competitions at the French Institute.⁶⁵ It also made her eligible to join a counterpoint and fugue class in the autumn of 1937.

Now in her fourth year in Riera’s piano class, Demessieux performed, at the June 3, 1937 piano exam, works of Chopin and Saint-Saëns. She received a “Quite Good,” qualifying her for that year’s competition.⁶⁶

Meanwhile, Riera at 70 was due to retire that year. Demessieux would arguably have been delighted when her father received a communication from Riera’s designated successor, concert pianist Madga Tagliaferro:

Telegram addressed to Demessieux at 8 rue D^r Goujon and stamped as received at 168 avenue Daumesnil at 16:25–22–6–1937:⁶⁷

Garches⁶⁸

Unless otherwise instructed: I will be waiting for your daughter on Thursday 24 at 6:30 PM at Maison Gaveau, 45 rue La Boétie.⁶⁹

Best wishes,
Magda Tagliaferro

In the women’s piano competition of June 29, 1937, Demessieux was one of 45 candidates. The test piece was the Allegro from Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 3, and Demessieux bettered her standing from that of 1936 by receiving a Second Prize.⁷⁰

When competitions were all concluded and Demessieux was able to extricate herself from her commitments at St-Esprit, she could finally look forward to leaving Paris for several weeks of vacation.

From a letter to Yolande:⁷¹

15 July 1937

What wonderful holidays we are going to have, it having been two years since I’ve seen Aigues-Mortes! I’m burning with anticipation of our departure.

While on vacation in Aigues-Mortes, Demessieux continued composing by writing a song, “Le Moulin,” for soprano and piano, with poetry by Jeanne Marvig.⁷² A working copy of the score, signed and dated Aigues-Mortes, Aug. 10, 1937, includes hastily penciled indications of an orchestration.⁷³

No letters or diary pages survive from the academic year 1937–1938. In autumn 1937, Demessieux resumed participation in the chamber music class taught by d’Ollone, and in the piano class, now taught by Magda Tagliaferro.⁷⁴ The Conservatory had two classes in counterpoint and fugue, one taught by Simone Plé-Caussade and the other by Demessieux’s private harmony teacher, Noël Gallon.

Whether fortuitously, or because of someone’s design, there was a place for Demessieux in Gallon’s counterpoint class.⁷⁵ In the fugue competition at the end of the academic year, Dupré and Messiaen were among the composers on the jury.⁷⁶ Demessieux was one of those recognized, receiving a Second Mention.⁷⁷

Jeanne Demessieux, October 10, 1937.
Montpellier Municipal Archives, 4S20, Fonds Jeanne Demessieux.

For her performance of works by Mozart and Saint-Saëns at the June 2, 1938 piano exam, Demessieux received a “Not Bad” (“PM” for Pas Mal) and admission to that year’s women’s piano competition.⁷⁸ Competing for the fifth time on June 29, 1938, she was one of 53 pianists in the competition.⁷⁹ With the test piece being Chopin’s Fantaisie, Demessieux achieved her goal of a First Prize in piano. Moreover, in the published list of laureates, Demessieux’s name was second of nine who received a First Prize, doing credit to Magda Tagliaferro.⁸⁰

During a month spent in Aigues-Mortes that summer, Demessieux wrote friendly letters to Tagliaferro and her other mentors, corresponded with a Paris impresario concerning a possible audition in Paris, and negotiated her return to duties at St-Esprit. At the end of her summer vacation, she made one long, retrospective diary entry while on a train from the Midi to Paris.

[25] Some events and memories of July 16–August 16, 1938⁸¹

[Written] on a train on August 16^th. Arrived in Aigues-Mortes on July 16^th, a Sunday, at six in the evening, in splendid weather. We had left Paris together the previous evening, and arrived Sunday morning at Nîmes, where we heard Mass at Saint— to the sound of a badly tuned organ, in a very pious atmosphere. Upon leaving the Mass the church, we visited the Roman baths and the Fountain Gardens.⁸²

Very happy, my first day at Aigues-Mortes, but without being fully aware of this good fortune. During the night between Monday and Tuesday, Yolande fell ill with pneumonia, followed, some days later, by pleurisy. So unfortunate!

As quickly as possible, a curative regimen of work was established for me. I was finishing my sacred cantata.⁸³ Every evening, a solitary walk along the path from Grau⁸⁴ as far as [Étang] Perrier [de la Ville] to see the sunset. Unique impressions. Three weeks later, my sister’s condition having improved, she wanted me to go by [26] bicycle with Papa to Grau. The sea! Raging, with foam-capped waves. We went to the far end of the pier, and stood on the breakwater, where we collected some crabs to take back. We returned twice. [T]he fourth time, I had advanced alone towards the wild, open sea. I experienced a sensation of tremendous terror faced with a succession of waves, that seemed to be trying to pull me into their depths and before this vastness, [this] image of God, that I imagined as a child was the “supreme being,” here on Earth, in His likeness, and which, to me, represents an allegory of the symphony.

During the first three weeks, I worked on orchestration for the very first time and wrote to Noël Gallon and his wife, and to Magda Tagliaferro.

I received a letter from the impresario Alfred Lyon asking me for an interview.

Draft of a letter from Demessieux to Noël Gallon and Madame Gallon:⁸⁵

19 July 1938
Dear Master, dear Madam,

Here I am, the day following my arrival in the Midi. My first thoughts are ~~for~~ directed towards you; be assured that if words could express it, all my affection could be read from ~~this~~ my letter. ~~But no more in my letter than in the words~~ But I ~~prefer not to~~ know that I no longer have need of polite formulas: your generosity is too sincere ~~and it would be~~ for me to ~~fully return~~ give back so little.

~~I wish to tell you how good I feel just being here~~ Since my arrival, I’ve had a sense of well-being, of relaxation that is truly restful. ~~This lifestyle change is so sudden~~ I am going to take advantage of this as much as I can, in all possible ways ~~because~~! I would like ~~to be able~~ to compose ~~for a month. Do you think it would be dangerous to not write any fugues for a month?~~ M^lle [Paule] Maurice has offered to correspond with me: I am to send her drafts of the choral movements when and as I’ve worked on them. [Left margin insertion:] I’ve accepted ~~because I am~~ [the offer] bit by bit because it pleases me to prepare myself for the composition class. When I return [to Paris], I will show you my masterpieces, one of which ~~is not yet finished~~ I will hold back from critique in order that you may see it, Master, with all its flaws, and to tell me face to face, and so that you are the first to tell me the whole truth…

With all my heart I wish you a happy summer vacation and good heath, as well as for M^me Espinasse. ~~Yesterday morning I visited Nîmes, a city I had until now too quickly toured. My sister Yolande was not too overcome by the voyage; we hope that the change in climate will heal her completely.~~ I would be very pleased if you would respectfully remember me to her.*

My parents and ~~my sister~~ Yolande have tasked me with expressing to you their most sincere friendship and ~~all the plea~~ the joy they ~~will have~~ will feel at seeing you again in August.

~~My letter is not very long~~

* I’d have liked to write you a longer letter but am lacking subjects! Perhaps I could give you an ~~sense~~ idea of the ~~atmosphere~~ ambiance where I am by telling you that the song of cicadas ~~drowns out the noise~~ never ceases, that it is impossible to stay out in the sun, and that the wind blows as freely as can be across the plains! I envy it and I am going to try ~~to do as~~ to borrow its ideas… Excuse my chatter; ~~if I wasn’t certain it could~~ but I think it pleases you, I would not write concerning these trifles that are so important to me.

Draft of a letter from Demessieux in Aigues-Mortes to Alfred Lyon, a Paris concert agent:⁸⁶

22 July 1938
Monsieur,

I have ~~just~~ received your letter of the 19^th. It is with a pleasure that ~~I will come to you as requested~~ I agree to a the meeting ~~with you~~ you have asked of me, but it is ~~unfortunate that I am unable~~ impossible for me to ~~grant it to you~~ accept this opportunity at present. I am presently on holiday in the Midi and must return to Paris around August 20^th. If this is not inconvenient for you, I will ~~let you know by telephone~~ telephone you upon my arrival which day is convenient for me to set a date.

~~Meanwhile~~ In the meantime, ~~I pray you~~ please accept, Sir, my respectful regards.
J. D.

Draft of a letter from Demessieux without salutation or date, perhaps to Magda Tagliaferro:⁸⁷

Excuse the liberty I am taking by troubling your time of rest at the same time as I ~~fervently~~ truly wish this for you! ~~I had not that your students could it is eloquent to think that your students can I think now tha~~ but it would be most difficult for your students to regard you other than as their angel saviour.

Draft of a letter from Demessieux in Aigues-Mortes to Magda Tagliaferro:⁸⁸

21 July 1938
Dear Madam,

Here I am in my ~~dear~~ land of cicadas and heat. ~~I am writing from a land far removed from yours.~~ I think that as I write to you we ~~are~~ must be quite far apart at present! ~~I still feel~~ I am barely escaping the sensation I had during your [concert] tour last January… ~~but here nature is gifted with such power~~ but ~~here~~ the ~~decor and surroundings are~~ countryside here is more comforting than the thought ~~that~~ of our class when you were not there, ~~the dear countryside that surrounds me too~~ and ~~it is~~ what is even more comforting is the wish that I am making with all my heart that the summer vacation permits you ~~fu[ll]~~ complete respite from the strains and stresses of the year. ~~You will be happy to note the sense of well-being I have here. Here, it’s the And then I have the luxury of thinking~~ You will be happy to note the sense of well-being I have here; the sudden calm that surrounds me and ~~the complete change in my habits make me~~ the life I lead, amidst a ~~familiar~~ and well-loved countryside liberates my spirit from all the quaint things accumulated there!⁸⁹ The sea is five kilometres away; we go by bicycle ~~under a burning sun~~ in a heat nothing like the evening; it’s a ~~great pleasure~~ magnificent feeling to return ~~while contemplating the~~ at the setting of the sun. What pleasure it is to bring to mind L’Isle joyeuse!⁹⁰ Everything contributes to the sensation of beauty. I have access to a piano and to an isolated pavilion ~~for composing~~ from which the horizon extends as far as the eye can see and in which I compose. I am writing to you from there.

I suggested to M^r Le Boucher the program that we had adopted for the Montpellier concert; I still haven’t had a response ~~after two weeks~~. I think that looking forward to this concert will be very beneficial for me; it will make up for the training in the class that I will so dearly miss next year… ~~What more~~ may I say something else? That I think of you every day and ~~that I would write this to you again~~ if you don’t mind, I will ~~again~~ tell you this in writing again.

Draft of a letter from Demessieux in Aigues-Mortes to Magda Tagliaferro:⁹¹

22 July 1938
Dear Madam,

I ~~have just received a~~ am sending you a copy of the letter I ~~just~~ received from the office of concert agent Alfred Lyon. I’ve replied by accepting the proposed meeting, but only following my return to Paris ~~on August 20~~, which is set for August 20^th. I ~~do not want to get involved in anything without your advice~~ am writing to ask your advice because I do not wish to become involved in anything whatsoever without your consent.* I believe that I’ve told you my ~~wishes~~ plans for the future; it would be a joy to be guided by you at the start of ~~the~~ my career. ~~If I could hope to achieve this I could happiness of seeing realized~~ if, however, I ~~could~~ can see my wishes realized.** ~~Please forgive the liberties I am taking and believe~~ with feeling I pray you believe, dear Madam, in my deepest appreciation and I send you my most affectionate greetings.

* ~~When I remember how not along ago I said to you not to concern yourself with your students! I am justifying the opposite at a time when you should not be thinking about us~~ I wish you rest.**

Draft of a letter from Demessieux in Aigues-Mortes to Monsieur d’Argœuves, choirmaster of St-Esprit:⁹²

1 August 1938
Monsieur d’Argœuves,

We are going through something as painful as it is unexpected: my sister has been ailing since the beginning of our vacation here. First, she had pneumonia, which led to pleurisy. I foresee it being difficult for us to return to Paris in two weeks! You can imagine how this troubles me. For now, and before making a decision, I would like to ask you a question: is it possible, without too much difficulty, to replace me, only for the two weeks? Someone would need to play the Sunday services and the occasional services. Can you give me an immediate response? I will be very grateful to you for also telling me whether Father [de la Motte] is presently in Paris. I’m so terribly sorry to be obliged to ask all this of you and apologize for assuming taking this liberty. I trust that our friendship justifies these.

With my best wishes,

Draft of a letter from Demessieux in Aigues-Mortes to Father de la Motte, parish priest of St-Esprit:⁹³

8 August 1938
Father,

I have sad news to share with you: my sister has been ill since the start of our visit here. She was first afflicted with pneumonia ~~that~~ the consequences of which led to pleurisy. She has been bedridden for exactly three weeks, and it is impossible to imagine her return to Paris for several months; so that is the situation. Before discussing another subject with you I ask with faith that you think of her in your prayers.

I wrote some days ago to M^r d’Argœuves to enquire in case it is necessary to that I be replaced for a time ~~due to illne[ss]~~; you must already know this… But, having received M^r d’Argœuves’s response, I realize that, despite the dedication he shows, this solution poses difficulties. So, I’ve decided to resume my duties at Saint-Esprit on August 17^th. I will return to Paris with my grandmother⁹⁴ while my parents remain near my sister, whom they cannot possibly leave. If there are services to be played on the mornings of the 16^th and 17^th, it is confirmed that M^r d’Argœuves will look after these.

With my sincere respect and devotion, Father,

Draft of a letter from Demessieux in Aigues-Mortes to d’Argœuves:⁹⁵

8 August 1938
Monsieur d’Argœuves,

I thank you, with my whole heart for ~~having looked after~~ the information you gave me and apologize again for any trouble that I’ve given you.* Here is the solution we’ve envisioned: in all likelihood, my sister’s illness will oblige her to prolong her stay in the south of France until the end of the vacation period; my parents, unable to leave her [here] alone, will stay as long as necessary while I go back to Paris with my grandmother. Given this arrangement, there is no reason compelling me to remain here. I’ve decided that I will be in Paris on August 17^th. If there are any services that day in the morning, it is better that you not count on me, but I can take any services in the afternoon. Since I will not have the pleasure of seeing you before your departure, I wish you, from this moment on, a very good vacation and the rest you must be looking forward to enjoying! My family sends their best wishes.

With all sincerity, M^r d’Argœuves,

* I also understand fully the difficulty of replacing me for all services during vacation time.

Draft of a letter from Demessieux in Aigues-Mortes to Magda Tagliaferro:⁹⁶

11 August 1938
Dear Madam,

~~Before~~ My ~~warm~~ sincerest thanks for the advice you have given me. I now understand the situation and will take serious action in the ways you have ~~proposed~~ indicated to me. When I have news for you, I will make a point of writing to you.

I am happy that you are having a pleasant vacation in such a picturesque country, and I hope they will ~~carry on~~ continue as pleasantly as they have begun.

* With sincere affection, Madam,

* My parents and my sister send their best wishes.

[Continuation of retrospective diary entry penned on a train from the Midi to Paris, August 16, 1938:]

Family and friends were kind to us; but the land was still more affectionate…. In the final days [of the vacation], it was dark outside [and] I was sitting in front of our house (l’ou staou⁹⁹); the sky, resplendent and all ablaze, as mysterious as it was supernatural; I felt the dwindling breeze from a far-away [27] Mistral¹⁰⁰ ensnaring me in its web; the streets were of silver, [both] luminous and somber. Everything drew me in…! I left. Dreams are strange things, and my night was one of these.

Last impression, August 14^th (Sunday), late in the evening: I was making my way, alone, towards the Porte de la Reine.¹⁰¹ Beautiful young women everywhere! Their youthful appearance stood out against the ramparts of old stone. I heard them laugh, chattering in their relaxed accent, calling out to me,

“Good evening, Jeanne Demeucien!”¹⁰² Good evening, lovely ladies! But the [Constance] tower was drawing me to it; my bicycle raced towards its shadow; I circled it: what blackness! Suddenly, there was nothing there but the immense, wild plain, the old canal that the moon barely allowed me to discern, and you, Constance, overpowering in your royal majesty; the diameter of your form twice as large as in the light of day; your height rising, rising higher than the stars above, which, for a moment, are held in your arms. You grow, higher and higher! Oh, Constance! You nearly crushed me like the waves of the old port.

August 15^th, at High Mass [at Notre-Dame-des-Sablons in Aigues-Mortes], I played the organ to [28] please the kind parish priest, who brought Communion to my sister during her illness. For that matter, I once had the unspeakable joy of taking Communion at the foot of Yolande’s bed. The priest first refused to serve me, as it was not liturgical, but when I fell to my knees, he broke the host in two and gave it to me.

This morning, August 16^th, I left for Paris with Papa and Grandmother, who will stay with me when Papa returns. It’s the first time that I have been separated from my mother: she cried a lot. My sister cried, too. I’ve left and won’t see them again for several months. We have passed La Roche [Larroche-Migennes¹⁰³]; in [another] two hours we will arrive in Paris. Not too tiring a trip or, at least, not for now. We breakfasted this morning in Avignon.

God bless us!

Thursday 18 August 1938

At noon, I was joyfully reunited with my organ [at St-Esprit]. This evening [played for] Benediction with only one chorister, but all went well. Did not write any music today [29] but sent two letters to dear friends at Aigues-Mortes. First day [back].

Friday 19 August 1938

Nothing particularly noteworthy. The day went by too quickly—it must be better organized. I worked on [the composition of] my étude and my nocturne. On our way to Benediction, we ran into M^lle Defrance, who seemed to be in a frosty mood today; she is back from Lourdes where she witnessed a miracle.

I did the shopping with Grandmother, and I take care of the accounts on a daily basis.

I am falling asleep this evening under the effect of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, which I happened to hear on the TSF.¹⁰⁴

Saturday 20 August 1938

Worked on piano in the morning, organ at noon. In the afternoon, I organized all my papers, which occupied me until five. Then, I worked on my étude, my nocturne, and my ballade. At seven, I went to confession at the church; Father de la Motte heard my confession in his office. Afterwards, we talked from the heart. I hide none of my thoughts from him, [30] and he does the same: he is my spiritual advisor. At dinner that evening, Grandmother wished me happy name day [m’a souhaité ma fête].¹⁰⁵

Oh! To all be together! And in the same circumstances as before!…

Thursday 25 August 1938

Dined at the home of Noël Gallon. They received me as informally as if I were their daughter. After the meal, we made music for nearly two hours. I played my sacred choral piece, the start of a setting for choir and orchestra of words by Victor Hugo, my étude in F-sharp,¹⁰⁶ and my last nocturne, in A major. The last of these held the attention of Noël Gallon, who asked me to play it again and advised me to call it a prelude, because of its form and length. One of the most beautiful days of my life!

At a quarter to six, Benediction. Upon leaving, as I offered my arm to Grandmother, a child of about eight who is in the choir, and whom I’ve often noticed for his gentleness, passed by us with his mother. I leaned towards Grandmother and said to her, “He’s so sweet, that little one!” and because she did not hear me, I repeated the [31] sentence a little more loudly. Thereupon, his mother turned and her face, amid her humble clothes, took on an expression I shall never forget. It was as if an involuntary feeling overcame her shyness and she showed a hint of a timid smile that greatly resembled her son’s. She leaned towards the child and said a few words to him, but he was not brave enough to turn around and I lost sight of them.

Friday 26 August 1938

This evening, after dinner, on the T.S.F., I heard Mendelssohn’s Italian Symphony as well as Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 and Léonore overture.

Monday 29 August 1938

This evening, on the T.S.F., I heard Richard Strauss’s Salomé, broadcast from the [Paris] Opera.

Friday 9 September 1938

I haven’t been able to finish my choral piece for tomorrow as I had wanted. This afternoon, copied twelve orchestral pages for this piece. This evening I heard Franck’s Symphony in D minor. M^lle Defrance came over today; she was in [32] a talkative mood. No news for eight days.

Excerpts from Demessieux’s letter to her mother and Yolande in Aigues-Mortes:¹⁰⁷

24 September 1938

. . . I again visited the home of Noël Gallon . . . They remain optimistic because they do not wish to believe that certain men are completely insane… Noël Gallon thinks that events could lead to a state of alert, even to general mobilization (that would handle it), but actually to a false alarm…

I showed my teacher [Gallon] a completed fugue on a subject of Bach, and my prelude… He considers my composing to be important work. He found my prelude “perfect,” and the general idea handled very well. I’ll not hide from you (not to boast, but to please you) that he was even moved… That’s how well he understands my music! If only I could play it for you. But that happy time is coming; by then, perhaps other preludes will have appeared…

The new academic year is set to begin on October 3^rd. I’ll be able to see Magda Tagliaferro, Marcel Dupré, and Jean Gallon right away…

On the subject of current events [the threat of war], I am ready to make decisions that would be required should the worst happen. Do not worry… I have everything ready for our departure and pray to God that it will not happen.

Draft of letter from Demessieux to Magda Tagliaferro:¹⁰⁸

11 October 1938

I’ve learned of your nomination to the status of Officer of the Legion of Honour and am envious today that my letter [and not I] should have the privilege of reaching you to express my joy, and to address to you my ~~sincere~~ very sincere congratulations.

Yesterday I went to the Conservatory certain that I would find you; I was terribly disappointed. Three weeks to be added to two months of separation: it’s so much! But I do not wish to be selfish. ~~Please know that~~ I have put myself back to work very seriously, thinking that you must be satisfied when you hear me again upon [your] return. Again, “see you soon,” though it is always so long to wait. With a warm embrace with much and all my affection,

J.D.

From a letter to Demessieux’s mother and Yolande in Aigues-Mortes:¹⁰⁹

15 October 1938

The evening of Papa’s departure [for Aigues-Mortes], I finished off my [composition for] choir¹¹⁰ and the next day rushed to the home of Madame Lantier [Paule Maurice, married to Pierre Lantier]… She told me that I was very gifted in orchestration. I need to touch up my choral composition for presenting it to Henri Busser as soon as possible… I played my other compositions for her. The sacred choral work is first-rate, apparently… She was less thrilled with my étude. As for the nocturne, a total lack of understanding… Not everyone is Noël Gallon . . . She really insisted that I try for [the] Rome [Prize] this year…

From a letter to Demessieux’s parents and Yolande:¹¹¹

22 October 1938

This evening I went to the Pasdeloup [Orchestra] concert. The program piqued my curiosity because it was all modern works (H. Busser, A. Doyen¹¹²…) As I am a future competitor at Fontainebleau¹¹³ (sooner or later), I wanted a “lesson.” I received one from Busser.¹¹⁴ His works were classic examples of an entry for Rome, the style of which I am starting to understand…

I felt odd having to go alone to the concert; I would not have gone if the call of music hadn’t been stronger than anything . . .

There are few surviving first-person accounts of Demessieux’s experiences as a student at the Conservatory during the 1938–1939 academic year, the last before war broke out in Europe. Other sources indicate that Demessieux was again a participant in Noël Gallon’s counterpoint and fugue class, and she may have been enrolled once more in Max d’Olonne’s ensemble (chamber music) class.¹¹⁵

As well, on November 30, 1938, Demessieux successfully auditioned to enter the Conservatory organ and improvisation class, becoming at seventeen years of age the youngest current student (others ranged between twenty-one and twenty-seven years). Her classmates that year were returning organ students Ernest Rolland, Jehan Alain, Geneviève Poirier-Denis, Pierre Segond, Denise Raffy, and Marie-Louise Girod, as well as two other newly accepted students, Nelly Montnach, and Jacques Laboureur. In January 1939, Dupré recorded a note beside each student’s name: for Alain he wrote “On leave until Dec. Excellent musician” and for Demessieux, “Very good progress. Very gifted.”¹¹⁶

For the May 10, 1939 examination in organ and improvisation, Demessieux prepared Liszt’s Prelude and Fugue on B-A-C-H. and two works by Bach—the organ chorale Aus tiefer Not, BWV 686 and a Fugue in B minor—and was asked by the jury to perform the Bach fugue.¹¹⁷ All eight students of Dupré’s class also had to improvise a fugue on a given subject and improvise on a thème libre as well.¹¹⁸

As a result of the exam, Demessieux was among the seven students admitted to the May 31, 1939 organ and improvisation competition.¹¹⁹ Four tests of improvisation were imposed—accompany a given plainchant; improvise a chorale (i.e., chorale prelude) on a given theme; improvise a fugue on a subject by Achille Philip; improvise on a thème libre by Joseph Bonnet; performance of one organ piece was also required.

Each candidate, in turn, had seven minutes alone in a separate room to plan how they would execute the tests of improvisation. From these, three tests were selected by the jury; in 1939, they were harmonization of the given plainchant melody, the improvised fugue, and improvisation on a thème libre. In his personal notes concerning the improvisations as performed, Dupré recorded for both Demessieux and Alain: “Good”; “Quite good”; “Good.” For Segond he recorded: “Good +”; “Good”; “Good”. The minutes of the session document the following:

The President declares that Mssrs Segond and Alain have obtained a First Prize; M^r Segond is first named.
The President declares that M^r Rolland has obtained a Second Prize.
The President declares that M^lle Demessieux has obtained a First Mention.¹²⁰

From a letter to Yolande:¹²¹

17 June 1939

. . . In eight days, it will be the last big day of the 1938–1939 “walk in the park…” [la croisière 1938–1939]. Let’s hope… that I won’t “fall flat” [ne boirai pas le bouillon].¹²²

On June 18, 1939, Demessieux was a contestant in the annual fugue competition for the second time.¹²³ The candidates were placed in individual examination rooms, from 6:30 AM to midnight, with the task of writing a fugue in four parts on a subject by Henri Rabaud. Demessieux was candidate number 16 of 18. At eighteen years of age, she was also the youngest of all. The jury convened on June 19 at 2:00 PM behind closed doors to “hear the work that the candidates had done and to make awards.” The readings of the fugues having ended at 3:40 PM, the jury proceeded to a second reading of each (except nos. 6 and 12), this time as played on piano by jury members Mssrs Bazelaire and Messiaen. The results were announced and recorded in the minutes as follows:

No. 16 is awarded a First Prize by nine jurors unanimously. No. 16 is declared first.
The original copies may be unsealed to reveal the following names [all First Prizes]: No. 16, M^lle Demessieux; No. 7, M^lle Pangnier; No. 18, M^r Devevey; No. 15, M^lle Falcinelli.

However, the results of the fugue competition printed in Le Monde Musical listed (rightly or wrongly) M^lle Pangnier at the top of the list of First Prize laureates and M^lle Demessieux second.¹²⁴ Regardless, all four First Prize winners were now eligible to enter a composition class in the autumn of 1939. But first, Demessieux would attend the current year’s competition for the Rome Prize.

From a letter to Yolande:¹²⁵

2 July 1939

This year’s Rome competition is over; it was yesterday afternoon at the French Institute. First Grand Prize: [Pierre] Maillard-Verger, who composed a very beautiful cantata and who had reached the age limit.¹²⁶ 1^st Second Prize: J. J. [Jean-Jacques] Grunenwald, an organ prize and [it] created some discussion among audience members.¹²⁷ 2^nd Second Prize: [Raymond] Gallois-Montbrun who, according to general opinion, deserved better.¹²⁸ [Pierre] Sancan, who presented his work for the first time wrote a very spiritual cantata,¹²⁹ and it was estimated that he would be among the chosen; he was short two votes. The only two [entrants] in [their] first year received no awards. More and more, I am convinced by Jean Gallon’s thought: there is no need to enter until one is capable of attaining the Grand Prize.

[The cantata by] Gallois was performed extremely well yesterday by artists from the Opéra comique and by Jacqueline P[angnier] and me at the piano. I was surrounded by some of Lévy’s students who had never seen me play from so close…

The day before at the Conservatory, we had played before members of the Institut de musique.¹³⁰ Florent Schmitt was particularly kind to me… and made me promise to go to his receptions in Saint-Cloud¹³¹ when school starts up again . . .

In summer 1939, Demessieux appears not to have written in her diary. She again vacationed in the Midi with her family and corresponded with at least two of her Paris mentors.

Draft of letter from Demessieux to Father de la Motte:¹³²

[Aigues-Mortes,] July 1939

I thought that you would be happy to once again look upon some of the wonderful sights of Nîmes, of which you’ve kept such fond memories; I hope that these vistas brought you some of the same pleasure as if you were here to contemplate these marvels.

Since my arrival, I have enjoyed a beneficial time of rest. Ah! This is not to say that I haven’t been troubled by the temptation to compose! But I repelled it as much as possible during the first days. My hope is that your holiday will bring you the rest and benefits you desire, and that we will be so happy to see. My parents ~~remember themselves kindly to you and join me~~ send their respects and I pray you’ll accept, Father, these my respectful and devoted sentiments as a mark of my regard.

Draft of a letter from Demessieux to Marcel Dupré:¹³³

[Aigues-Mortes,] July 1939

How ~~long~~ the days have been since your departure!¹³⁴ I’m remorseful when I become aware [illegible] of my silence, [illegible] unintentionally in such contradiction to my feelings.* I have been in the countryside for eight days. The fugue competition was at first occupying all my thoughts and my time.* When I think of the long silence that followed it [your departure], I am sorry and embarrassed. I hope that you will forgive this what is merely an appearance [as concerns writing to you], which is so inconsistent with my feelings.

My apparent negligence that is so [draft page 2] How the days have been since your departure! When I think of the long silence that followed, I am sorry and embarrassed. I hope that you will forgive my apparent negligence that is so inconsistent with my feelings. I often think of how happy audiences must be to hear you, whereas, here at home, Saint-Sulpice has become a sad subject. Be assured, dear Master, that my best wishes—and those of my classmates, without doubt—go with you.

For my part, I have something new to announce to you: my First Prize in fugue, for which I was the first named. This makes me so very happy that I cannot help but believe that you will share a bit of my joy. This is the least I can do to demonstrate the high esteem in which I hold you. I don’t want you to have to read an overly long letter.**

* Presently, I am vacationing in the Midi and I thought that ~~when you get over to Greece~~ you might like to see some of the vestiges of Roman art here, in which case there is very little time left to contemplate these.

** I close, dear Master, asking that you trust in my respectful admiration and my devotion.

Please accept my respectful admiration and my devotion.
J.D.

Draft of a letter from Demessieux, likely to Noël Gallon and his wife, undated:⁹⁷

Dear Master, dear Madam,⁹⁸

I believe that I am in the process of contracting a variety of illness endemic to hot climes! Nonchalance, otherwise known as laziness. It’s something so natural here that one ends up adapting to this new principle without questioning it.

It occurs to me that since my arrival I have been victim to this rule, but I would never have admitted this to you if I hadn’t thought that you had reason to notice it… also, I am not trying to exonerate myself, and I count on your benevolence to forgive me.

~~I would like to be able to wish you something~~

Presently, I am blissfully savouring ~~my solitude~~ all that, to me, seems new since last year, especially solitude and the carefree life of the countryside. I think I’m becoming a countrywoman [paysanne]. If ~~you would allow it~~ I dared, in place of humdrum wishes for your vacation, I would wish with my whole heart for you to have a restful course of treatment like mine!

I am writing a little, all the same, when I am too tormented by a handful of notes, ~~forgotten in some far corner of my mind~~ arriving from I know not where: a first movement of a quartet, while awaiting the others, and a song. As for fugue, I only think of this again when missing the class.

In a few days, I will be in Paris, reluctantly. Fortunately, I will have the solace of my [organ] gallery. My sister will remain here for some time yet to make the most of the fine weather ~~and will join us in September~~. She is doing well and sends her best regards with those of my parents.

To close, I request that you, my teacher, be willing to forget that with which I began this letter… as I send you my warmest greetings, please believe in my very sincere affection.

From letters to Yolande in Aigues-Mortes:¹³⁵

18 August 1939

This morning we settled into the capital again. Our time in Lourdes was magnificent… indescribable… There were prayers in five languages for the same cause . . .

Paris is quiet… It’s Sunday [Aug. 20^th]… at last I can return to my keyboards [piano and organ].

1 October 1939

. . . We were shopping when the sirens surprised us… Ran home, [up] six flights; within ten minutes, shutters were closed, gas and electricity cut off; went back down to the far corner of the cellar . . .

It’s almost certain that the Conservatory will be moved to Fontainebleau.¹³⁶

On September 3, 1939, France, with its ally Britain, declared war on Germany, despite considerable political opposition within France.¹³⁷ Then began an eight-month period that became known as the drôle de guerre (in English, the “phoney war”), during which French and British armed forces made many plans for subduing Germany but carried out no large-scale military actions. Meanwhile, German forces, which were still dealing with eastern Europe, launched attacks at sea. But on land, western Europe was still quiet and Paris Conservatory classes opened at 14 rue de Madrid as usual that autumn.

Almost no first-person accounts of Demessieux’s 1939–1940 academic year survive. There is no doubt that she began her second year in the organ and improvisation class at the Conservatory. Marcel Dupré was on leave that autumn due to an overseas concert tour; he entrusted his class to former student Joseph Gilles (First Prize 1929).

From a letter to Yolande:¹³⁸

5 November 1939

The new academic year at the Conservatory has begun. We are fewer in numbers but continue all the same.

. . . Turning to the organ class, I will say that this Monsieur Gilles is very nice… We are three in this illustrious class: Marie-Louise Girod, as well as the good [Jacques] Laboureur, and myself¹³⁹… We’re hoping for the master to return on December 10^th…¹⁴⁰

I will play my latest compositions on Wednesday for Noël Gallon at the École supérieure de musique.¹⁴¹

Also in autumn 1939, Demessieux was assigned to the composition class of Henri Busser. He was the composer to whom Paule Maurice had referred her and whose compositions she told Yolande she had decided to take as models for a Rome-Prize-winning submission. Of the eighteen names on the class list, eleven were “on leave,” mainly due to the war.¹⁴² The seven students who presented their work at the January 1940 composition examination were returning students Valérie Hamilton, Paul Constantinescu, Eliane Pradelle, and Rolande Falcinelli, and first-year students Demessieux, Jacqueline David, and Claude Pascal.

Presenting her work for that examination, Demessieux performed two piano preludes and—with M^lles Touget, Viard, and De Temmerman—her choral piece for women’s voices “Barques Célestes” (poem by Alfred Drouin).¹⁴³ Busser scribbled remarks concerning each student’s compositions; of Demessieux’s he wrote, “Has some [illegible], writes with ease, but lacks sufficient simplicity… Interesting [illegible].”¹⁴⁴

For the May 10, 1940 examination in organ and improvisation, Demessieux prepared the final movement of Bach’s Trio Sonata No. 6, a Bach fugue in C minor, and Franck’s Prière; she was asked to perform the Franck.¹⁴⁵ Two tests of improvisation were set: a thème libre and a fugue subject.¹⁴⁶

In the subsequent organ competition Demessieux played Franck’s Choral No. 3 in A minor, improvised a “trio sur les flûtes” on a given plainchant, and harmonized a given chorale melody played on the pedalboard using a 4-foot stop.¹⁴⁷ Highest honours in the 1940 competition were Second Prizes awarded to Demessieux and Girod.¹⁴⁸

The day of the examination, May 10, was also the day that the “phoney war” ended: that morning the German army launched its major offensive against France by beginning to penetrate the Ardennes Forest;¹⁴⁹ it breached the French line in three days.¹⁵⁰ First Belgians, then citizens of northern France fled southward in advance of the German invasion of May 1940.¹⁵¹ It appears that Demessieux was still in Paris in early June: Trieu-Colleney recorded that on the back of a photo (which was probably sent to Yolande) Demessieux had written the following:¹⁵²

Paris, 2 June 1940

The night before Paris was bombed for the first time by the Germans. At work for the composition competition.

The composition competition scheduled for June 10, 1940 did not take place as planned. By June 6, people were beginning to leave Paris.¹⁵³ This included the Demessieux family; Étienne Demessieux’s position as a retired employee of the French national railways likely facilitated their departure by train for Aigues-Mortes. But thousands of refugees from northern France and Paris alike who had insufficient gasoline or did not make it onto the crowded trains had no transportation. They clogged the roads on foot along with any belongings they could carry or trundle.¹⁵⁴ On June 14, the German army invaded Paris and began commandeering facilities, food, and fuel.

Marcel Dupré was among those who remained in the occupied capital that summer. With a handful of Conservatory professors and students who also remained, he was, according to his own account, one of those instrumental in keeping the Conservatory running. As a result, German military authorities in command in Paris decided not to commandeer the building at 14 rue de Madrid after all.¹⁵⁵

That summer in Aigues-Mortes, according to Trieu-Colleney, Demessieux occupied herself with reading, analyzing music by Bach, and corresponding with the priest of St-Esprit. Father de la Motte kept the Demessieux family up-to-date concerning events in Paris.¹⁵⁶

Single-minded regarding her career, Demessieux returned to Paris, along with her parents and grandmother, at the end of the summer of 1940, as usual. Meanwhile, the German occupiers strove to make Parisian life seem normal on the surface; one way was by ensuring the continuation of musical institutions, events, and radio broadcasts.

The Conservatory’s 1940 composition competition, postponed from June, took place on September 23.¹⁵⁷ One of six students competing, Demessieux presented the following: Suite pour piano, consisting of Prélude – Scherzetto – Menuet – Toccata, performed by herself; “Soudainement contre les Vitres” (poem by Henri Ghéon) for soprano and piano,¹⁵⁸ performed by M^lle Christiane Gaudel and herself. Then five months short of her twentieth birthday, Demessieux received a First Mention from the jury.¹⁵⁹

That autumn, Demessieux began her second year in Busser’s composition class. Some of the male students who had been on leave from the class had returned from the front: Alfred Desenclos, Marcel Landowski, and Raymond Gallois-Montbrun. Her other classmates were again Rolande Falcinelli, Claude Pascal, and Eliane Pradelle, along with a new student—a M^lleDeschamps.¹⁶⁰

Also in autumn 1940, Demessieux began her third year in Dupré’s class with only two classmates: Marie-Louise Girod and Denise Raffy. The Canadian organist Françoise Aubut, who had been accepted to the class in December 1939, was absent that academic year. As a Commonwealth citizen, she was being held by German authorities in a detention camp in Besançon, which lasted from October 1940 until June 1941.¹⁶¹

Demessieux’s own accounts of her experiences as a student musician resumed with a new diary she began writing in December 1940—the diary that is here introduced by Chapters 6 and 7. But first, Chapter 5 provides an opportunity (for readers who wish) to compare their thoughts on the diary and letters of 1932–1940 with my own commentary on these.

NOTES:

1 Christiane Trieu-Colleney, Jeanne Demessieux: Une vie de luttes et de gloire (Avignon: Les Presses Universelles, 1977), 98–101.

2 Trieu-Colleney 1977, 99, notes that this letter concerns a lesson with Lazare-Lévy at the Salle Érard (13 rue du Mail in the 2^nd arrondissement).

3 Carl Czerny’s Op. 365, consisting of 60 exercises.

4 The final movement of Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11 is headed with the word Rondo. Its first movement is an Allegro maestoso, and is likely the “Allegro from Chopin’s Concerto” referred to at the start of the next letter.

5 Muzio Clementi, Gradus ad Parnassum, Op. 44 (1826) is a set of 100 exercises in three volumes.

6 One of Liszt’s Deux études de concert, “Ronde des Lutins,” composed in 1863.

7 Chopin’s Étude in C minor, Op. 10, No. 12.

8 Trieu-Colleney 1977, 100 notes that this letter is an account of a recital in which Demessieux participated. It may have been a recital by Lélia Gousseau’s students.

9 Very little is known about piano pedagogue Madame Giraud-Latarse. Charles Timbrell, French Pianism: A Historical Perspective, 2^nd ed. (Portland, Ore.: Amadeus Press, 1999), 361, notes that Giraud-Latarse was active around 1920, which makes it doubtful that she was a teacher of Lazare-Lévy (1882–1964). Timbrell, 162, confirms that Lélia Gousseau studied with Giraud-Latarse prior to entering Lazare-Lévy’s Conservatory class.

10 Trieu-Colleney 1977, 101.

11 The forest is likely the Bois de Vincennes, located on the southeastern edge of Paris, and named in the diary entry of Jul. 5, 1934. Avenue Daumesnil is a principal street near the Demessieux family apartment on rue du Docteur Goujon and adjacent to the church of St-Esprit, which is at the corner of rue Cannebière and avenue Daumesnil.

12 Cf. remarks by pianist Germaine Mounier, concerning her desire to study with Conservatory teacher Yves Nat, quoted in Timbrell 1999, 208 (with parenthetical comments by Timbrell): “After I got my medal [in 1935] . . . I auditioned for him, but he didn’t have a space in his class that year [the limit was twelve students]. So I worked privately with him for one year . . . when I returned to the Conservatoire I was put automatically with Santiago Riera for one year before he retired.”

13 AM 4S17.

14 Trieu-Colleney 1977, 101–03.

15 In all likelihood, this was Maria Fotino (1913–1996). In the words of Mircea Fotino, “The Art of Maria Fotino,” CD liner notes for Maria Fotino (Sparrows Green, E. Sussex: Pavilion Records, n.d.), 1, Maria Fotino went on to become “the most distinguished pianist of her generation in Romania,” comparable to the Romanian pianist Clara Haskil. According to Bryce Morrison, “Haskil, Clara” in Grove Music Online, 2001<https://doi-org.libproxy.uregina.ca/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.12507>, accessed Mar. 8, 2024, Haskil, while enrolled at the Paris Conservatory as a member of Cortot’s class, more often studied with his assistant Lazare-Lévy (and with M^me Giraud-Latarse). Therefore, one might speculate that Fotino, too, came to Paris intending to work with Lazare-Lévy, but, like Demessieux, was placed in Riera’s class.

16 “Mimi” refers to Mireille Auxiètre, a piano student of Yolande Demessieux and Montpellier friend of Jeanne Demessieux.

17 The “first competition” is the May examination that students needed to pass to qualify as participants in the official competition, customarily held in June or July.

18 To emphasize his feeling of boredom, the priest alluded to the expression “when chicken have teeth” (quand les poules auront les dents)—until which a chicken could have no use for a toothbrush. (I am grateful to Stacey Brown for this explanation.)

19 AM 4S1. The diary continues into 1938, but with large gaps.

20 The earlier diary, or diary section, implied by the first sentence does not survive. Demessieux appears to have crossed out the word for “daily” (quotidien) when she realized that she would not be making a diary entry every day.

21 This was Chopin’s Ballade No. 1 in G minor, the set piece for the women’s piano competition in 1934, which took place on June 27.

22 It is unclear which hall is referred to by “boulevard Poissonnière.” The 956-seat Salle du Conservatoire, attached to a building at the corner of rue Bergère and rue du Faubourg Poissonnière (Hôtel des Menus-Plaisirs, the original location of the Conservatory), is officially located at 2 rue Bergère in the 9^th arrondissement. On the other hand, “boulevard Poissonnière” may refer to the 585-seat Théâtre des Nouveautés at 24 boulevard Poissonnière in the 9^th arrondissement. As noted at <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Théâtre_des_Nouveautés>, accessed Mar. 8, 2024, this theatre opened in 1921 and was most often used for operettas and comedies.

23 Valérie Hamilton’s name would have been absent from the results of the 1934 women’s piano competition because she did not better the standing she earned in 1933, a Second Prize.

24 Large public park extending from the southeastern edge of Paris and considered to be part of the 12^th arrondissement, where the Demessieux family lived.

25 “Benediction” here is short for Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament (in French, Le Salut du Saint-Sacrement). It is a short rite beloved of the laity that venerates the stored eucharistic elements and, depending upon the parish, is celebrated either on an occasional basis or regularly on late Sunday afternoons, paired with an office such as Vespers.

26 This diary entry makes it clear that in 1934, though construction on St-Esprit’s building would not be complete until 1935, Demessieux was already accompanying Sunday morning services in the sanctuary, rather than the crypt, of St-Esprit.

27 Trieu-Colleney 1977, 105.

28 Ibid., 22.

29 Judging from comments in Demessieux’s letters and diary, the Conservatory’s academic year began sometime in October, with the first term lasting into January, when “semester exams” were held. The second term ran from February through April. The third term, entirely devoted to final exams and competitions, extended from May for as long into July as was necessary for holding all the annual competitions. The remainder of July through September was the vacation period.

30 Trieu-Colleney 1977, 106.

31 I.e., the Salle du Conservatoire, located at 2 rue Bergère in the 9^th arrondissement. It is attached to the Hôtel des Menus-Plaisirs, where the Conservatory was originally located, before it moved to 14 rue de Madrid in 1911. Nigel Simeone, Paris: A Musical Gazetteer (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000), 183–184, describes some of the history of the Salle du Conservatoire.

32 Trieu-Colleney 1977, 106.

33 Ibid., 107.

34 “Concours de Conservatoire,” Le Monde Musical (July 1935): 240.

35 AM 4S15.

36 According to Simeone 2000, 253–54, Chopin (except his heart, which was taken back to Poland) is one of thirty-eight musicians who are among those buried in Père-Lachaise Cemetery, located in eastern Paris, in the 20^th arrondissement.

37 John Henderson, A Directory of Composers for Organ, 2^nd ed. (Swindon, Wiltshire: John Henderson Ltd., 1999), s.v. “Boëllmann, L.,” notes that Léon Boëllmann’s Douze Pièces includes a “Marche religieuse.”

38 Demessieux’s handwritten list under the heading Programme [in English, “Syllabus”] 1935–36, preserved in AM 4S, Jeanne Demessieux, includes Chopin’s Sonata in B-flat minor [Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 35].

39 Monsieur Mézy is, presumably, related to Madeleine Demessieux and to her father, Antoine Mézy (1848–1928).

40 One hectolitre is 100 litres.

41 Gramt is the apparent spelling of the name translated here as Granny.

42 Trieu-Colleney 1977, 107.

43 Ibid., 108.

44 Ibid., 108-09.

45 According to Trieu-Colleney 1977, 108, Jeanne’s sister persuaded her that, for the time being, taking up piano teaching was not a good idea, arguing that teaching “interferes with creativity.”

46 Paul Paray, Messe du cinquième centenaire de la mort de Jeanne d’Arc for soloists, chorus, and orchestra, composed 1931.

47 Trieu-Colleney 1977, 113, comments that, a year-and-a-half later, Demessieux was presented with a copy of the full score of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony by the choir of St-Esprit, in recognition of the First Prize in harmony she received at age 16.

48 Following “under these conditions,” Trieu-Colleney added in parentheses, au poulailler à 3 francs, meaning “in the gallery for three francs” (Trieu-Colleney 1977, 111). Poulailler also means chicken coop and is a pejorative way of saying “in the cheap seats,” or the “nosebleed” section. (I am grateful to Stacey Brown for this explanation.)

49 Grand opera in the style of Meyerbeer by the 19^th-century French composer Fromental Halévy with libretto by Eugène Scribe. As noted at <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Juive>, accessed Mar. 8, 2024, and as is typical of French grand opera, La Juive is based on “a powerful historic subject,” contains “spectacular situations,” and lends itself to “flamboyant staging.” Long a staple at the Paris Opéra, it went out of fashion in the mid-1930s.

50 Composed for chorus, organ, and orchestra. If St-Esprit did not engage the orchestral musicians, it is interesting to speculate whether Demessieux was provided with an orchestral reduction for organ, or she played from the full score.

51 Demessieux’s handwritten list under the heading Programme (in English, “Syllabus”) 1935–36, preserved in AM 4S, Jeanne Demessieux, includes Chopin’s Nocturne No. 7 (Op. 27/1 in C-sharp minor) and three of Liszt’s Transcendental Études: “Feux follets” (No. 5 in B-flat major), “Eroica” (No. 7 in E-flat major), and “Paysages” (No. 3 in F major), without any indication of which étude or études she studied. In a letter of Oct. 8, 1936, Demessieux reports having played “Feux follets” and another of Liszt’s Transcendental Études, “Vision” (No. 6 in G minor), for Marcel Dupré.

52 Trieu-Colleney 1977, 109.

53 Place de l’Étoile, the meeting point of twelve avenues, was renamed Place Charles de Gaulle in 1970. According to <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc_de_Triomphe>, accessed Mar. 8, 2024, the arch standing at its centre, the Arc de Triomphe, was the traditional “rallying point of French troops parading after successful military campaigns.” The “unknown soldier,” entombed in a place of honour at the base of the Arc de Triomphe, is from World War I.

54 Trieu-Colleney 1977, 24.

55 Ibid., 110.

56 In the Paris suburb Meudon, at 40 boulevard Anatole-France. Dupré is the main subject of Chapter 6.

57 No. 6 in G minor and No. 5 in B-flat major of Liszt’s twelve Transcendental Études.

58 Dupré’s list of private students of 1924–1946, BnF Music Dept., Rés. Vmc, ms. 15, indicates that Demessieux had taken four lessons at 100 francs per lesson during the academic year 1936–1937. She likely had some private sessions with Dupré during the next academic year also, even though her name is missing from that list. Perhaps, Dupré was interested enough in guiding Demessieux to not charge for that year’s lessons.

59 Trieu-Colleney 1977, 110–112.

60 This would have been Marcel Dupré’s Méthode d’Orgue (Paris: Leduc, 1927).

61 Opus 18, subtitled Oriental Fantasy.

62 Jeanne Demessieux, “Almanach et listes des œuvres jouées,” AM 4S13.

63 Trieu-Colleney 1977, 112.

64 “Les Concours du Conservatoire,” Le Monde Musical (July 1937): 187.

65 Trieu-Colleney 1977, 113.

66 “Classe de M^r Riera,” AN, AJ37, 535, 154.

67 AM 4S23.

68 A residential area in the western suburbs of Paris.

69 According to Simeone 2000, 189, the Salle Gaveau (in the 8^th arrondissement), is a concert hall built in 1906, and has studios attached to it.

70 “Les Concours du Conservatoire,” Le Monde Musical (July 1937): 186.

71 Trieu-Colleney 1977, 113.

72 Jeanne Marvig (1872–1955) was a French poet born in the Midi. According to <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanne_Marvig>, accessed Mar. 8, 2024, she participated in a movement to preserve the traditional Occitan language of southern France.

73 “Le Moulin”: mélodie pour soprano, preserved in RHCL, 22.012 Demessieux, J. 1. Diverse manuscripten.

74 Index, and “Classe de Piano, M^me Tagliaferro,” AN, AJ37, 501.

75 “Classe de Fugue, M^r Noël Gallon,” AN, AJ37, 501.

76 “Fugue, 20 juin 1938,” AN, AJ37, 557, 96-100.

77 “Les Concours du Conservatoire,” Le Monde Musical (1937): 175.

78 “1938, 21^ème Séance, jeudi 2 juin, Piano (Supérieur),” AN, AJ37, 535, 216 and 219.

79 “Conservatoire National de Musique et d’Art Dramatique, Concours de 1938, Piano (Femmes),” AN, AJ37, 544.

80 “Les Concours du Conservatoire,” Le Monde Musical (1937): 175.

81 For the sake of chronology, this diary entry has been divided into two portions. The second portion occurs after a series of letters written during July and August 1938.

82 Nîmes is an old Roman city in the south of France, located about 25 km north of Aigues-Mortes. According to <https://www.slow-travel.uk/post/jardins-de-la-fontaine-temple-of-diana-and-the-tour-magne-nimes>, accessed Mar. 8, 2024, its Fountain Gardens were built in the 18^th century around Roman ruins at the site of an ancient spring.

83 Jeanne Demessieux, “Cantate pour le Jeudi-Saint” (Cantata for Holy Thursday) for 4-part mixed chorus, organ, and four soloists, with words by Abbé A. Guilloux. Two ms. copies (13 pp.), and an earlier ms. copy entitled “Chœur Religieux” (14 ½ pp.)—the last page signed and dated “26 juil. 1938, Aigues-Mortes”—are preserved in RHCL 22.012 Demessieux, J. 1. Diverse manuscripten.

84 “Grau” refers to the fishing village Le Grau-du-Roi, located approximately 5.5 km from Aigues-Mortes.

85 Jeanne Demessieux: Journal (1934–1946), L’Orgue, Nos. 287–288 (2009): 64–65.

86 Jeanne Demessieux: Journal (1934–1946), L’Orgue, Nos. 287–288 (2009): 63.

87 Ibid.

88 Ibid., 63-64.

89 The word here translated as “quaint” is pittoresque. It is not clear what Demessieux means by this.

90 Presumably the piano piece by Claude Debussy that bears this title.

91 Jeanne Demessieux: Journal (1934–1946), L’Orgue, Nos. 287–288 (2009): 63.

92 Ibid., 62.

93 Jeanne Demessieux: Journal (1934–1946), L’Orgue, Nos. 287–288 (2009): 61–62.

94 Adelaïde Mézy, née Guinoir (1858–1942).

95 Jeanne Demessieux: Journal (1934–1946), L’Orgue, Nos. 287–288 (2009): 62.

96 Jeanne Demessieux: Journal (1934–1946), L’Orgue, Nos. 287–288 (2009): 61.

97 Ibid., 60.

98 Salutation found only at the top of a second version of the beginning of this letter, reproduced in Jeanne Demessieux: Journal (1934–1946), L’Orgue, Nos. 287–288 (2009): 65.

99 According to <http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maison_landaise>, accessed Mar. 8, 2024, l’ostau or oustau is a Provençal word meaning “house.” The Demessieux family’s summer home (which had become Yolande Demessieux’s home all year) was on avenue Frédéric Mistral, just outside the town walls of Aigues-Mortes.

100 A wind characteristic of the south of France.

101 The “Queen’s Gate” is the grand, central entrance to the medieval town of Aigues-Mortes, through the walls on the town’s southeast side. Demessieux was imagining that she had seen and conversed with some 18^th-century Huguenot women on the ramparts. The tower is the Constance Tower on the north-pointing corner of the town. According to Marc and Denis Guitteny, Camargue, trans. Robert I. McLaren, (Monaco: Ajax, 2000), 65–67, the tower’s diameter is 21 meters with walls six metres thick at its base, and the bulk of it is 22 metres tall. It served as a watchtower and lighthouse during the Middle Ages and subsequently as a prison. Its most famous prisoners were Huguenot women held there in the 17^th and 18^th centuries for refusing to renounce their faith, some for as long as forty years.

102 It is conceivable that the appellation Demeucien, by being a compounding of her surname Demessieux and the adjective musicienne, was concocted by Demessieux to reflect the relaxed, flexible speech pattern she associated with Provençal women of the 18^th century. (I am grateful to Stacey Brown for this explanation.)

103 Important connecting train station in the city of Migennes, about 132 km south-east of Paris.

104 TSF stands for transmission sans fil—in English, “wireless transmission” (or simply “wireless”)—as radio receivers in Europe were called at one time.

105 According to <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Frances_de_Chantal>, accessed Mar. 8, 2024, in the General Roman Calendar of 1769–1969, Aug. 21 was the feast day of Jeanne de Chantal (Jeanne-Françoise Frémyont, baronne de Chantal), making Aug. 20 the eve of Jeanne Demessieux’s name day. Currently, Jeanne de Chantal’s feast day is Aug. 12.

106 Cf. the ms. entitled Étude No. 1, marked Allegro quasi presto appassionato, in F-sharp major, undated, preserved in RHCL 22.012 Demessieux, J. 1. Diverse manuscripten.

107 Trieu-Colleney 1977, 114-115.

108 Jeanne Demessieux: Journal (1934–1946), L’Orgue, Nos. 287–288 (2009): 60.

109 Trieu-Colleney 1977, 115.

110 This may be the “Cantate de Jeudi-Saint” first alluded to in the diary entry covering Jul. 16–Aug. 16, 1938, and preserved in RHCL 22.012 Demessieux, J. 1. Diverse manuscripten.

111 Trieu-Colleney 1977, 115.

112 Despite how the concert was apparently advertised, neither composer named was then “modern” in any sense other than their having composed during the first third of the 20^th century. According to Barbara L. Kelly, Grove Music Online, s.v. “Büsser [Busser] (Paul-) Henri,” Jan. 20, 2001 <https://doi-org.libproxy.uregina.ca/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.04443>, accessed Mar. 8, 2024, the symphonic writing of Busser (1872–1973) was based on the French 19^th-century tradition and “indebted to Gounod and Saint-Saëns.” As noted at <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Doyen>, accessed Mar. 8, 2024, Albert Doyen (1882-1935) studied composition with Widor and was best known for having championed the social value of music to humanity.

113 During this era, candidates accepted for the preliminary and final rounds of competition for the Rome Prize were sequestered in the ancient royal castle at Fontainebleau.

114 The “lesson from Busser” comprised hearing compositions by Henri Busser, who had won “second First Prize” in the 1893 Rome competition.

115 In AN, AJ37, 502, the 1938–1939 index of Conservatory students lists Demessieux as a student of Noël Gallon, Dupré, and Max d’Ollone, but her name is not among those in d’Ollone’s class list for that year.

116 Marcel Dupré, “Notes de concours et examens d’orgue au Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique: 1922–1956,” BnF Music Dept., Rés. Vm. dos. 56 (1–3), dos. 2, 14.

117 Demessieux, “Mémorandum des trois années de Classe d’Orgue” in “Almanach et listes des œuvres jouées,” AM 4S13; “1939, 10^ème Séance, Mercredi 10 mai, Orgue,” AJ37, 535, 257–258.

118 “1939, 10^ème Séance, Mercredi 10 mai, Orgue,” AJ37, 535, 257.

119 This paragraph is based on Marcel Dupré, “Notes de concours et examens d’orgue au Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique: 1922–1956,” BnF Music Dept., Rés. Vm. dos. 56 (1–3), dos. 2, 14, and “1939, 31 mai, Concours d’Orgue et Improvisation,” AN, AJ37, 557, 192–194.

120 AN, AJ37, 557, 193–94.

121 Trieu-Colleney 1977, 116.

122 Translation of these two sentences into idiomatic English does not capture the full meaning. [L]a croisière 1938–1939—referring to that academic year as “the 1938–1939 cruise”—is consistent with Demessieux’s quip in the June or July 1937 letter quoted above that, in preparation for the grueling harmony competition, she brought along a deckchair. [N]e boirai pas le bouillon, which literally means “won’t drink the broth,” conveys a double entendre appropriate both to the last days of a cruise—as in “Let’s hope I won’t fall in the water”—and the closing days of the academic year—as in “Let’s hope I won’t fail to do well in the competitions.” (I am grateful to Stacey Brown for these observations.)

123 This paragraph is based on “Concours de Fugue, 19 juin 1939,” AN, AJ37, 557, 255-260.

124 “Concours du Conservatoire,” Le Monde Musical (July 1939), 205.

125 Trieu-Colleney 1977, 116.

126 Pierre Maillard-Verger turned 29 in December 1939.

127 Demessieux was using sarcasm here. She knew Grunenwald as Dupré’s official supply organist at St-Sulpice and hinted that she agreed with audience members who had questioned whether his cantata deserved a “first Second Prize” by wryly renaming it “an organ prize.”

128 According to the list of Rome Prize winners given in Julia Lu and Alexandre Dratwicki, eds., Le Concours du prix de Rome de musique (1803–1968) (Lyon: Symétrie, 2011), 846, no “second Second Prize” was awarded in 1939. Therefore, Demessieux’s mention that Gallois-Montbrun won such a prize is likely the result of misunderstanding the announcement of awards. In the next two sentences, she accounted for three more candidates, making a total of six finalists for the Rome Prize, which accords with the practice of the time.

129 Lu and Dratwicki 2011, 846, notes that the text set by all candidates for the 1939 Rome competition was “La farce du mari fondu” (literally, “Farce of the ‘Melted’ Husband”). As suggested to me by Stacey Brown, “melted,” i.e., “fondu,” was possibly a play on the word “refondu,” which means “rebuilt” or “refashioned”—as in broken down and built back up according to one’s wishes. Given the humorous nature of the text, Demessieux’s description of Sancan’s cantata as “very spiritual” is difficult to make sense of.

130 Presumably Demessieux meant that she and fellow Conservatory student Jacqueline Pangnier played before musicians who were members of the Académie des Beaux-Arts, one of five academies within the Institut de France.

131 A Paris suburb.

132 Jeanne Demessieux: Journal (1934–1946), L’Orgue, Nos. 287–288 (2009): 65.

133 Ibid., 60–61.

134 According to Michael Murray, Marcel Dupré: The Work of a Master Organist (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1985), 169–74, and Marcel Dupré, Recollections, trans. and ed. Ralph Kneeream (Melville, N.Y.: Belwin-Mills, 1975), 137, Dupré left France in June 1939 to perform in Australia for the first time (twenty-five recitals), then, for the eighth time in the United States (sixty recitals).

135 Trieu-Colleney 1977, 116–17.

136 Fontainebleau is the site of a royal palace, the Château de Fontainebleau, one wing of which housed, then as now, the American Conservatory (Conservatoire américain de Fontainebleau). Demessieux’s prediction that the Paris Conservatory would move to the palace was wrong, as it turned out. However, according to Murray 1985, 172, “[u]nder threat of bombardment, the Paris Conservatory removed some of the priceless relics in its museum to Fontainebleau, where the American Conservatory had closed.”

137 This paragraph is based on <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoney_War#:~:text=The%20Phoney%20War%20(French%3A%20Dr%C3%B4le,invaded%20Germany’s%20Saar%20district.>, accessed Mar. 8, 2024.

138 Trieu-Colleney 1977, 117.

139 In addition to the names listed by Demessieux on Nov. 5, 1939, more students appeared in the organ class later that autumn. According to AN, AJ37, 521, “Examens Semestriel 1940, Orgue,” as well as Girod and Demessieux, students examined in January 1940 included returning students Geneviève Poirier-Denis (in her fifth year), Denise Raffy (in her third year), and a new student, the Canadian Françoise Aubut, but not Laboureur (“on leave due to war”).

140 Touring North America during the outbreak of World War II, Dupré and his wife made an eventful return to France, arriving home in Meudon on Jan. 9, 1940 (Murray 1985, 174–77).

141 By École supérieure de musique, Demessieux likely meant Paris’s École normale de musique. According to Roger Nichols, The Harlequin Years: Music in Paris 1917–1929 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002), 187–88, it was founded in 1919 by Alfred Cortot and music critic Auguste Mangeot as an alternative to the Paris Conservatory. It is not clear why Noël Gallon would be meeting Demessieux there.

142 This paragraph is based on “[1939–1940] Classe de Composition Musicale, M^r Henri Busser,” AN, AJ37, 503; and “Examens Semestriels 1940, Composition, Classe de M^r Henri Busser,” AN, AJ37, 521.

143 “Barques Célestes”: chœur pour trois voix de femmes avec orchestra; a fair copy, a working copy, a piano-vocal score, and parts are preserved in RHCL, 22.012 Demessieux, J. 1. Diverse manuscripten.

144 “Examen de Janvier 1940, Classe Composition Musicale. M^r Henri Busser”: “Nouveaux Élèves,” AN, AJ37, 521.

145 Demessieux, “Mémorandum des trois années de Classe d’Orgue” in “Almanach et listes des œuvres jouées” in AM 4S13; and “Études Musicales, Examens Semestriels, Années 1936 à—”: “Vendredi 10 mai 1940, 7^e Séance, Orgue,” AN, AJ37, 535.

146 “Études Musicales, Examens Semestriels, Années 1936 à—”: “Vendredi 10 mai 1940, 7^e Séance, Orgue,” AN, AJ37, 535.

147 Demessieux, “Mémorandum des trois années de Classe d’Orgue” in “Almanach et listes des œuvres jouées,” AM 4S13.

148 “Classe d’Orgue, M^r Marcel Dupré, Concours et Récompenses,” AN, AJ37, 503.

149 As noted at <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardennes>, accessed Mar. 8, 2024, the Ardennes is an area of dense forests and rugged terrain, principally in Belgium and Luxembourg, reaching into France and Germany.

150 Julian Jackson, France: The Dark Years, 1940–1944 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), 118.

151 Ibid., 119.

152 Trieu-Colleney 1977, 117.

153 Jackson 2001, 119.

154 Ibid., 120.

155 Marcel Dupré, Recollections, trans. and ed. Ralph Kneeream (Melville, N.Y.: Belwin-Mills, 1975), 109.

156 Trieu-Colleney 1977, 117.

157 This paragraph is based on “Concours de Composition, lundi 23 septembre 1940,” AN, AJ37, 521.

158 Mss. of these two compositions are preserved in RHCL, 22.012 Demessieux, J. 1. Diverse manuscripten: Suite pour piano, 16 pp., undated; “Soudainement . . .”, 6 pp., last page signed and dated “14 mai 1940—Paris.”

159 Demessieux’s First Mention in the 1940 Composition competition is noted in a document entitled “Concours de 1941, Composition Musicale,” AN, AJ37, 537.

160 “Classe de Composition Musicale, Henri Busser,” AN, AJ37, 504.

161 Hélène Plouffe and Andrew Mcintosh, “Aubut, Françoise” in The Canadian Encyclopedia, July 17, 2015 <https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/francoise-aubut>, accessed Mar. 8, 2024.

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