WIÉNER, JEAN

WIÉNER, JEAN (1896–1982), French pianist and composer. He was born in Paris to a family of Austrian origin. He studied at the Conservatoire de Paris with A. Gédalge. After World War I he was among the first to defend jazz music in France. Between 1920 and 1924 he organized the Concerts Wiéner, which contributed to making known his friends, the French "Group of Six" (Honegger, milhaud , Auric, Poulenc, Tailleferre, Durey), as well as the works of M. de Falla, I. Stravinski, A. Schonberg, A. Berg, and A. Webern. It was in that framework that D. Milhaud conducted the first performance of Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire. Along with Clement Doucet he formed a piano duo, which gave 2,000 concerts between 1925 and 1939. His compositions were strongly influenced by American jazz, which he helped to popularize in France. Among his works are Franco-American Concerto (1922–23), piano and violin music, an operetta, and music for the cinema, theater, radio, and television. (Amnon Shiloah (2nd ed.)