Jean Barraqué

The Profile

Jean Barraqué (1928–1973) was a French composer associated with post-war serialism and the avant-garde. His output is small and often described as intense and brooding; he destroyed many works and left a limited legacy.

Born 1928, died 1973. French composer linked with serial techniques and post-war avant-garde music. He destroyed a number of his compositions and is known for a relatively small but influential body of work including his Piano Sonata.

The available review presents Barraqué's Piano Sonata as a vast, despairing, contradictory work that mixes neoclassical gestures with dissonant modernity. The reviewer emphasizes contrasts, emotional extremes and a sense of destructive creativity. Barraqué is described as a controversial and dark figure who destroyed many works, leaving a small oeuvre.