Germaine Tailleferre Stamp 1992

The first composers to appear on postage stamps were in Austria in 1922. Since then, they have become one of the most common music-themed stamps. around the world. However, few stamps feature women composers. One of these was the West German stamp of Clara Schumann from 1986. This post is about another important female composer, the French musician Germaine Tailleferre.

Composers occupy a special place in western culture alongside philosophers, writers, and artists. Meanwhile, other musicians are merely thought to interpret the musical ideas of composers. This is not entirely correct, but has become a common view in western culture. In this way, Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky have become household names alongside da Vinci, Michelangelo, Shakespeare, and Kant. It’s no wonder, then, that countries celebrate the achievements of these favorite-son composers on postage stamps. They function to show the world, and the local population, of the sophistication and creative genius of the inhabitants of the country.

For all these reasons, then, women composers have been largely overlooked in music history. The composer as a heroic figure has not been adaptable to female composers, who have existed at every stage of European music. Similarly, women composers have not often been viewed as national heroes and appeared on stamps.

Germaine Tailleferre

Marcelle Germaine Taillefesse was born in 1892. She began her music studies with her mother and later was accepted into the Paris Conservatory. Yet, her father refused to support her studies. She changed her last name to Tailleferre to spite him.

At the conservatory, her skills as both a pianist and composer were recognized with many awards. She quickly fell into a group with fellow musicians Francis Poulenc, Darius Milhaud, Louis Durey, George Auric, and Arthur Honegger. These composers became known as Les Six, of which Tailleferre was the only woman. In the 1920s, she wrote many of her greatest pieces and established herself as a composer. In 1923, she befriended the eminent French composer Maurice Ravel who influenced and encouraged her compositions.

She was able to escape wartime France and relocated to the United States, waiting out the violence in Philadelphia. She returned to Paris following the War, where she composed until her death in 1983. Tailleferre was a prolific composer who wrote solo pieces for piano, chamber ensembles, and orchestra. Her compositions also included film scores and ballets. Unlike many women composers, Tailleferre was celebrated in her lifetime and there are many schools and streets named after her.

The Stamp

The postage stamp featuring Germaine Tailleferre was created in 1992. It was part of a set of five stamps featuring French composers. Each stamp features a black and white close photo portrait of the composer, with splashes of bold colors.