Jacques Ibert - Biography

Jacques Ibert Biography


Jacques François Antoine Ibert (August 15, 1890 – February 5, 1962) was a French composer of classical music.

He studied under Paul Vidal at the Paris Conservatoire and won the Prix de Rome in 1919 for his cantata Le poète et la fée. From 1937 he was director of the French Academy in Rome, and from 1955 to 1957 directed Paris's Opéra-Comique. He died in Paris.

Ibert's music is considered to be typically quite 'light' in character, often witty, colourfully orchestrated with attractive melodies. Although he was not a member of Les Six, his music shares some characteristics with theirs. His best known work is probably the orchestral Divertissement (1930), based on his incidental music for Eugène Labiche's play, Un Chapeau de paille d'Italie (The Italian Straw Hat). Other prominent pieces include Escales (1924) for orchestra, the symphonic poem La Ballade de la geôle de Reading (based on the poem by Oscar Wilde), his concertos for flute and saxophone and Le petit âne blanc for solo piano. He composed a number of operas, L'Aiglon (The Eaglet) and the operetta Les Petites Cardinal in collaboration with Arthur Honegger. Among his film scores is the one for Orson Welles' version of Macbeth (1948).

Film music

  • Invitation to the Dance, (1956)
  • Macbeth, (1948)
  • Panique, (1946)
  • Feu Mathias Pascal, (1937)
  • Golgotha, (1935)
  • Maternite, (1934)
  • Les Cinq Gentlemen Maudits, (1933)
  • Don Quixote, (1933)
  • Un Chapeau de Paille d'Italie, (1927)


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