Elsa Barraine, born in 1910 to a pianist mother and a cellist father, quickly entered the Conservatoire de Paris, where she studied under composer Paul Dukas. Throughout her career, she composed nearly 150 works including operas, ballets, cantatas, symphonies, and chamber music.
Despite her potential for more compositions, Barraine’s political involvement against Nazism led her to temporarily step away from her artistic pursuits. She expressed her stance in various pieces. In a 1948 interview for the show “Amitiés littéraires des musiciens,” she stated, “The rise of Hitler to power in 1933 made me snap out of my reverie. And I plunged immediately into a fierce struggle against racism.”
In 1938, she joined the French Communist Party, and in 1940, she joined the resistance. She co-founded the National Front of Musicians with conductor Roger Desormière and composer Louis Durey, advocating for artists to perform banned works during concerts. After the Liberation, Barraine collaborated with filmmakers and theater actors such as Jacques Demy.
Today, Barraine is remembered as a strong, committed personality and a highly talented composer.
