Jacques Thibaud

Jacques Thibaud, a renowned French violinist, was born in Bordeaux. He studied with Martin Marsick at the Paris Conservatory and was awarded first prize in 1896. Engaged by Édouard Colonne, he was quickly promoted to concertmaster and took Guillaume Rémy’s place in the prelude to Déluge by Saint-Saëns. This marked the beginning of a solo career in which chamber music was crucial; in 1905, he founded a trio with Pablo Casals and Alfred Cortot that would become one of the most influential chamber music ensembles of the 20th century. Eugène Ysaÿe’s advice helped him turn his attention to teaching after World War I, when Cortot established the École normale de musique de Paris. With Marguerite Long, he founded the International Violin and Piano Competition in 1943.

Chronology

After Christian Goubault

27/09/1880: Birth in Bordeaux, 5, Cours Portal, of Jacques Thibaud, 3 sons of Georges Thibaud, violin teacher, and Amélie Reverdy.
10/11/1893: Enters the class of Martin Marsick at the Paris Conservatory.
07/1895: 1st accessit in the violin competition.
28/08/1896: 1st Prize, fourth named, behind Pierre Séchiari, Pierre Monteux, Théophile Soudant.

10/1897: Joined the Concerts-Rouge, 6, rue de Tournon, in Paris, replacing Lucien Capet.
mid 1898: Enters the orchestra of the Concerts-Colonne. At the internal competition, he is appointed second concertmaster, ex-aequo with Jules Boucherit.

03/1899: Decisive success in Berlin, where the public came to hear Joseph Joachim, makes a triumph to Jacques Thibaud.

11/1900: Invited by Eugène Ysaye, he gives his first concert in Brussels (Concerts-Ysaye). Impressive success.

III-IV/1901: Tour in Germany.

26/X/1902: In Paris, Jacques Thibaud marries Marguerite Francfort, who gives him the “Baillot” (Stradivarius violin, 1709).

12/VII/1903: Birth in Sèvres of Roger, their first son.

28/10/1903 17/01/1904: Jacques and Marguerite Thibaud embark at Le Havre for the U.S.A. – Jacques Thibaud’s first tour in the U.S.A.: concerts in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Chicago, Cincinnati, Washington, with André Benoist (piano), Wetzler, Colonne, Mottl, Damrosch, Weingartner (conductors). Great success.

28/1/1904: Return to Le Havre.

27/XI/1904: First concert at the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire de Paris.

1905: First acoustic recordings. (Fonotipia). Constitution of the piano-violin-cello trio Cortot-Thibaud-Casals.

20/VII/1905: ” Member of the violin jury of the Paris Conservatory (presided for the first time by Gabriel Fauré).
18/XII/1906: First concert of the Trio in Lille.

6, 10, 14/VI/ 1907: Three sessions of the Trio, in Paris, Salle des Agriculteurs.

5, 8, 12/XI/ 1907: Complete piano trios by Beethoven (Paris, Société Philharmonique).
9/II/1908: Birth of a second son: Philippe.

16/11/1908: Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, by Cortot-Thibaud-Casals and the Orchestre des Concerts-Colonne (Châtelet, conductor: Edouard Colonne).

13, 16, 19/V/ 1908: Three sessions of the Trio, Salle des Agriculteurs. First attempts at conducting.

30/V/1908: Member of the jury of the competition for pianists and violinists under ten years old. First prizes to Yvonne Lefébure (piano) and to Jeanne Gautier (violin).

2,9/VI/1909: Two sessions of Sonatas, Salle Pleyel, with Enrique Granados.

I-II/1914: Second triumphal tour in the New World: Montreal, New York…. In Denver, Jacques and Marguerite learn of the death of “Papa Thibaud”.

X/1914: Jacques Thibaud enlists. He is assigned to General Galliéni’s General Staff as a liaison driver.

End of 1915: Seriously wounded, he is sent to the Buffon hospital in Paris.

V/1916: Discharged permanently.

VI-VII/1916: Recordings at Pathé-Frères.

6/X/1916: At the request of the Under-Secretary of Fine Arts, Jacques goes on a new propaganda tour in the U.S.A., to encourage America to support the French war effort. Jacques and Marguerite Thibaud embark in Bordeaux.

Fall 1917: The Thibauds moved to Broadway (216 West 89th St.). They bring their two sons to live with them.

16/XI/1917: Recital at the Aolian Hall in New York.

29/III/1918: Jacques and Marguerite Thibaud learn of the death of General Frankfurt, killed by a German shell in the church of Saint-Gervais in Paris.

VI/1920: Return to France.

Autumn 1920: Concerts in England. Jacques Thibaud meets Germaine Tailleferre in London, who falls in love with him.

XII/1920: Departure for the U.S.A. for the 4th time.

IV/1921: Jacques and Marguerite Thibaud return permanently to France.

6/VI/1921: First public superior courses of interpretation of Jacques Thibaud at the Ecole Normale de Musique

V/1922: Superior courses at the Ecole Normale.

17/VI/1922: Cortot and Thibaud create the Sonata by Germaine Tailleferre, dedicated to the violinist

24/VI/1922: (Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier). Gabriel Fauré attends the rehearsals of his Trio, by Cortot, Thibaud and Casals, at the Ecole Normale de Musique.

22/X/1922 – 2/V/1923: Great tour through Canada and the U.S.A., with Alfred Cortot.

II/1923: Letter from Glazunov to Jacques Thibaud: he is offered the chair of professor of the superior violin class at the Leningrad Conservatory, replacing Leopold Auer. Tasso Janopoulo becomes Jacques Thibaud’s touring accompanist.

30/V-16/VI/1923: Six public courses of interpretation at the Ecole Normale de Musique.

29/VI/1923: Cortot-Thibaud-Casals play Ravel’s Trio (Théâtre des Champs-Elysées).

22/X/1923: In Hayes (England), Cortot and Thibaud record for the first time Franck’s Sonata (“His Master’s Voice”).

22/XII/1923-II/1924: Tour (6th) in the United States.

III-IV/1924: Tour in Tunisia and Morocco.

21/X – 13/XI/1924: Concerts and recordings in England.

17 and 19/IV/1925: Two concerts of the Trio in Barcelona. At the second one, Eugène Ysaye conducts Cortot, Thibaud, Casals, the Pablo Casals Orchestra, in Beethoven’s Triple Concerto.

12/VI/1925: First public performance of the String Quartet opus 121, by Gabriel Fauré, by Jacques Thibaud, Robert Krettly, Maurice Vieux and André Hekking (Conservatory hall).

VII/1925: Jacques Thibaud receives the Légion d’Honneur (Chevalier).

23/XI/1925: First electric recordings in London. –

23/XII/1925-III/1926: New tour in the U.S.A. (7th). He built a villa in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, which he named “Zortzico” after a popular Basque five-beat dance.

2-16/VI/1926: Jacques Thibaud attends Eugène Ysaye’s interpretation classes at the Ecole Normale.

11/VI/1926: He writes the preface to the French version of Carl Flesch’s The Art of the Violin.

17/VI/1926: At the Opéra, in the presence of Ysaye, Jacques Thibaud premieres the Second Sonata “Obsession”, for solo violin, which the Belgian musician dedicated to him.

5-6/VII/1926: In London, Cortot, Thibaud and Casals record trios by Schubert and Beethoven.

VI/1927: Advanced courses at the Ecole Normale.

20-23/VI/ 1927: Recordings in London of the Haydn and Mendelssohn Trios, of the First Sonata of Fauré, Op 13.

Summer 1927: First vacation in “Zortzico”.

11/XII/1927: Jacques Thibaud creates the Fantaisie basque by Gabriel Pierné (Concerts-Colonne, under the direction of the composer).

I-VII/1928: First world tour by the west: U.S.A. (where he meets Charlie Cha plin, Charles Boyer, Douglas Fairbanks Jr.), Hawaii, the Philippines, 5 concerts in Tokyo (26-30/V), China, Indochina, Colombo, India.

9/XI/1928: Jacques Thibaud plays for the first time with the Paris Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ernest Ansermet.

15/XI-12/XII/1928: Triumphal tour and recordings (Schumann’s 1st Trio, Bee thoven’s “A l’Archiduc”), in England, with the Trio.

10-11/V/ 1929: In Barcelona, recording of Brahms’ Double Concerto with Jacques Thibaud and Pablo Casals, the Pablo Casals Orchestra being conducted by Alfred Cortot.

21-31/V/ 1929: Performance course at the Ecole Normale.

2/X-27/XII/1929: Tour (8) in the U.S. and Canada with Alfred Cortot.

V-VI/1930: First tour in South America, with Tasso Janopoulo.

24/VIII/1930: Ravel plays with Jacques Thibaud his Sonata in G major for piano and violin, in Biarritz, the same day that the city of Ciboure pays tribute to the composer.

28/II/1931: Eugène Ysaye offers Jacques Thibaud the manuscript of the Sonata by G. Lekeu.

12/V/1931: Death of Eugène Ysaye. Vincent d’Indy and Jacques Thibaud represent France at the National Funeral of Ysaye in Brussels.

8/VI/1931: Jacques Thibaud dedicates to Ysaye his first advanced course at the Ecole Normale de Musique.

20/VI/1931: Conducts Exil d’Ysaye in the concert hall of the Ecole Normale.

10/1/1932: Conducts the Paris Symphony Orchestra: 5th Symphony of Beethoven. Exil d’Ysaye, Symphonie Cévenole by d’Indy, Symphonic Variations by Franck (soloist: Cortot).

III-V/1932: Tour (9) in the U.S.A. He announces that he will not come back there before three years.

6-27/VI/ 1932: Advanced courses at the Ecole Normale. He is promoted Officer of the Legion of Honor.

4/VI/1933: With Enesco and Flesch, Jacques Thibaud pays tribute to Martin Marsick, in Jupille (Belgium).
Refuses to play in Germany as long as the racial laws last.
Interpretation course at the Ecole Normale.

V/1934: Course at the Ecole Normale.
Jacques Thibaud is interested in musical cinema. He creates for this purpose the “Compagnie des Grands Artistes Internationaux”.

end V-5/X/ 1935: Second tour in South America, with Tasso Janopoulo.

end 1935: The press is invited to see three “cinephonies” in Lyon and Paris: Fauré’s Les Berceaux, a melody sung by Ninon Vallin, Monpou’s Jeunes filles au jardin, danced by Clothilde Sakharoff (piano: M. Tagliaferro), Szymanowski’s La Fontaine d’Aréthuse, by Jacques Thibaud and Tasso Janopoulo.

I/1936: Projection publique à Paris (Aubert-Palace) des «cinéphonies» distribuées par la «Compagnie des Grands Artistes Internationaux».

IV-12/VIII/ 1936: Second tour du monde, par l’est: U.R.S.S., Japon (où il rencontre de nouveau Charlie Chaplin), Manille….

25/VII/1936: Premier Concours triennal de Violon fondé par Jacques Thibaud, à Bordeaux.

III/IV/1937: Membre du jury de violon du 1er Concours International Ysaye, Fondation Reine Elisabeth de Belgique.

24/VI/1938: Concert Thibaud, violon – Enesco, piano, salle Pleyel.
Jacques Thibaud rédige la Préface de Paganini le Magicien, de Renée de Saussine.

10/XI/1938: Concert Bruno Walter (piano) – Jacques Thibaud, à l’Opéra.

8/1/1939: Au Châtelet, Jacques Thibaud célèbre le 40e anniversaire de ses débuts comme violon solo des Concerts-Colonne.

27/II, 13 et 27/III/1939: Trois séances «pédagogiques» (La Sonate pour piano et violon), salle Gaveau, par Marguerite Long et Jacques Thibaud.

4/V/1939: Second Concours «Jacques Thibaud» à Bordeaux.

10/V/1940: Enregistrement à Paris du 2e Quatuor de Fauré.

3/V/1940: Son fils aîné, Roger, est porté disparu à Haraucourt, près de Sedan.
Fondation de l’Ecole Marguerite Long Jacques Thibaud, 46, rue Molitor, à Paris.

X/1941: Ouverture des cours à l’Ecole Marguerite Long Jacques Thibaud.

5-26/VI/ 1942: Quatre cours de «haut enseignement », salle Gaveau.

7/VI/1942: Concert à Bordeaux pour commémorer le 50° anniversaire de son premier concert dans sa ville natale.

XI/1943: Premier Concours National Marguerite Long Jacques Thibaud (Paris, salle Gaveau). Premier Prix Long: Samson François. Premier Prix Thibaud: Michèle Auclair.

IX/1946: Membre du jury de violon du Concours International d’Exécution Musicale de Genève.

2-5/XII/1946: Second Concours devenu international Marguerite Long – Jacques Thibaud. Vingt-trois nations sont représentées. Pre mier Prix Long: Hedi Schneider (Hongrie). Premier Prix Thibaud: Arnold Eidus (U.S.A.)

XII/1946-11/1947: Tournée (10e) de concerts aux Etats-Unis et au Canada. Jacques Thibaud n’était pas allé dans le Nouveau-Monde depuis 1932.

VI/1947: Membre du jury du 3e Concours International de Genève.

VI/1949: 3e Concours International Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud. Deux premiers Prix pour le piano (Aldo Ciccolini, Ventsislav Yankoff) et, à la surprise générale, pas de premier Prix pour le violon (second Prix: Christian Ferras).

XII/1949 – II/1950: Dernière tournée aux Etats-Unis.

6/III/1950: Pour le 50 Anniversaire de son premier concert en Belgique, Jacques Thibaud joue à Bruxelles, en présence de la reine Elisabeth.
Est promu Commandeur de la Légion d’Honneur.

VII/1952: Donne des cours à l’Académie Chigiana de Sienne.

18/1/1953: Dernier enregistrement public avec le concours de la Radio-Télévision Française de Jacques Thibaud: Concerto de Brahms, avec l’Orchestre Pasdeloup placé sous la direction de Jean Fournet.

10-20/IV/ 1953: Pour la première fois, des candidats russes participent au Concours International Marguerite Long Jacques Thibaud. Premier Prix de violon: Nelly Chkolnikova. Premier Prix de piano non décerné, mais deux second Prix: Evgeny Malinin, Philippe Entremont.

26/VI/1953: Jacques Thibaud dirige David Oistrakh et l’Orchestre de la Société des Concerts, au Palais de Chaillot.

21/VIII/1953: Dernier récital de Jacques Thibaud, à Biar ritz (avec Tasso Janopoulo).

24/VIII/1953: Jacques Thibaud dirige pour la dernière fois (Biarritz). Soliste: Luben Yordanoff.

1er/IX/1953: A 23 h 33, l’avion Constellation T.A. 22 percute le Mont Cemet, à une quinzaine de kilomètres au sud de Barcelonnette. Quarante-deux victimes dont Jacques Thibaud, René Herbin, son accompagnateur et Mme Roger Thibaud.
Hommage à Jacques Thibaud et à René Herbin en l’église de la Madeleine.