by Caiti Beth McKinney
Hello everyone!
For our April edition, I want to introduce you to a composer with whom I only recently became acquainted: Anne-Marie Simon, or as she is more widely known, Claude Arrieu. Born in Paris in 1903, Arrieu became a student at the Conservatoire de Paris in 1924 where she studied piano and composition with famous teachers such as Paul Dukas. There seems to be little agreement on why Arrieu chose to adopt a pen name, but a certain possibility is that her mother was also a composer who went by several different pen names, including Cecile Paul Simon, Guy Portal, and John Rovens. The second possibility is that all of these pen names use traditionally male first names, although Claude was occasionally a woman’s name as well. While this is speculation, it is quite possible to see how the choice to adopt male names could have been attempts to avoid the sexism rampant in the composition world during the 19th and early 20th centuries. While she is, unfortunately, not well-known today, she achieved a high level of success in her career prior to her death in 1990. Her extensive catalogue includes twelve operas, film and radio music, as well as chamber and solo works.
Arrieu wrote several pieces that feature the horn, including (as of now) an unrecorded piece for solo horn and piano entitled Le Coeur Volant. Since it is available to purchase, I hope someone will take up the challenge and get us a recording! More well-known is her Wind Quintet, written in 1955, which exemplifies the French neo-classicism popular during this period. In the movements of this work, the listener can hear elements pulled from jazz, Impressionist composers like Debussy and Ravel, and much more. Check out a recording and enjoy!
