Jean Cras, Polymath of Music and Letters

Paul-André Bempéchat studied at the Manhattan and Juilliard Schools of Music and the Sorbonne, where his mentors in piano and chamber music were Artur Balsam, Felix Galimir and Nadia Reisenberg; in musicology and comparative literature, Marie-Claire Beltrando-Patier, Pierre Brunel and Isabelle Cazeaux. A contributor to The Revised New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicans, Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, and to numerous academic and performing arts journals, Dr Bempéchat has enjoyed research and lecturing appointments at Harvard University, where he remains an Affiliate at its Center for European Studies, and at the Westminster College of the Arts of Rider University. Based in Boston and Paris, Paul-André Bempéchat sustains the career that has brought him to the Wiener Festwochen, the Caramoor Festival, Boston’s Jordan Hall, and Berlin’s Konzerthaus.

• Contents: Introduction to an introduction; Part I The Life of Jean Cras: Background; Foreground; Dualities, pluralities, synthesis; Surviving Adoré Floupette: faith, art, character; Currents - countercurrents; Opus posthumous.... Part II The Works: Struggle and Evolution: Feuille de route; Franckian engagement and disengagement: the early works (1899-1910); Individuation: Polyphème and the war years (1910-1922); The laboratory; A nod at the old sod...; Conclusion to an introduction...; Appendices; Bibliography; Index.

’La remarquable analyse de Bempéchat nous dévoile une oeuvre qui jongle avec les exotismes glanés par le compositeur lors de ses expéditions, le bretonisme qui lui était inné, et l'exégèse de son catholicisme fervent.’ France Catholique ’... an impressive undertaking... I consider that this book, more than simply a biography of a single composer and a military man, will shine even brighter once we have readjusted his position in the larger history of modern French music.’ International Journal of Tourism Science 'Le Canadien Paul-André Bempéchat, est parfaitement francophone mais c'est en anglais qu'il rédige cette somme dédiée à Jean Cras ... Tout y est, ...sa carrière marine, ... l'inventeur brilliant, l'esthète pétri d'humanisme, le musician dans son Å“uvre. ... Le portrait est vivant, Jean Cras se tient devant vous et tous les secrets de son art subtil sont démontrés.' Diapason ’Bempéchat weaves lively excerpts from the composer’s journals and correspondence into a descriptive narrative that ranges from heady to introspective, allowing glimpses of Cras’s familial devotion, aesthetic musings, wry humor, and faith derived from philosophy and experience rather than blind piety. ... Bempéchat’s book is a welcome examination of a gifted but obscure composer that will prove useful for military historians and musicologists alike.’ Journal of Military History '... a fluid accessible narrative for both historians and musicologists... This is the first major study of Cras and will stand as a good reference to all who are interested in approaching him, Bretagne composers, regionalism and nationalism, the legacy of Franck and Duparc, polymaths, and those interested in cultural activities in France.' Notes '... his absorption of nonmusical matters allows him to present an enormous amount of unexpected information without losing the reader’s interest, and when he does get to the music, he examines it so attentively that this intro