Jeanne Barbillion was born in Paris in 1895, the daughter of Berthe Chantepie and medical doctor Lucien Barbillion. At age eight, she became a pupil at the Schola Cantorum of Paris, where she studied the violin with Armand Parent and the piano with Berthe Duranton. A virtuosic violinist, she founded Quatuor Barbillion in the 1910s while further pursuing her composition studies at the Schola Cantorum. She studied under Vincent d’Indy, who in a 1924 issue of Le Courrier musical lauded her talents as a composer and instrumentalist, expressing particular admiration for her symphony. In 1928, she was awarded the Marmontel prize by the Société des Compositeurs de Musique for her Trio for piano, violin, and cello – a work emblematic of her love for French post-romanticism.
She presented several of her works at the Société Nationale de Musique, notably her Trio in 1927 and her Quatuor à cordes in 1936. A 1930 leaflet by Fortin – which published her Trio – described her as a Paris-based music instructor who taught violin, piano, chamber music, accompaniment, solfège, and composition. If we count the works listed in the aforementioned leaflet, those catalogued by Aaron I. Cohen in the International Encyclopedia of Women Composers (1987), and the works found in concert advertisements and reviews, it can be estimated that she produced around forty works – sixteen of which are currently available: seven mélodies, one choir piece, Provence (Bord de mer, le soir, and Fête de soleil), Impression maritime pour piano, Sonate pour violon et piano, Sonate synthétique pour violoncelle et piano, Trio avec piano, and Île de France (Deux paysages) pour flûte et piano. No trace has been found of the symphony lauded by d’Indy, nor of Deux mouvements symphoniques, de Jeanne d’Arc à Rouen pour solistes, chœur et orchestre, of quatuor à cordes, Poème d’été pour flûte, hautbois, clarinette, basson et piano, of La Tristesse de Pan pour baryton, flûte, harpe et quatuor à cordes, nor of her Sonate pour piano, and so on. Further research may be able to locate her personal archives.

– Florence Launay, based on Eva M. Maschke, Composer, Performer, Teacher: Jeanne Barbillion (1895-1992) and the Schola Cantorum de Paris, Handbook on Women's Work in Music (Oxford, Routledge, 2022) –

[Traduction en anglais : Raphaël Meyer]


Some works are found under the name “Jeanne BARBILLON” (misspelling).