Jehan Alain

Biography

Jehan-Ariste Paul Alain ([ʒɑn aʁist alɛ̃]; 3 February 1911 – 20 June 1940) was a French organist, composer and soldier. Born into a family of musicians, he learned the organ from his father and a host of other teachers, becoming a composer at 18, and composing until the outbreak of the Second World War 10 years later. His compositional style was influenced by the musical language of the earlier Claude Debussy, as well as his interest in music, dance and philosophy of the far east. At the outbreak of the Second World War, Alain became a dispatch rider in the Eighth Motorised Armour Division of the French Army; he took part in the Battle of Saumur, in which he was killed.

His younger brother was the composer, performer and musicologist Olivier Alain and his younger sister was the organist Marie-Claire Alain; the two were responsible for popularising his works.

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