Georges Taconet

French composer Georges Taconet was a native of the region of Normandy and his career is closely tied to the city of La Havre, where most of his works were first heard and published. Taconet began to compose avidly while a teenager, and studied with René Vierne (Louis' brother) and theorist Paul Fauchet. Taconet published little of his work before he joined the French Army at the outbreak of World War I; while in uniform, Taconet befriended composer André Caplet. Several of his most impressive efforts, such as the song Les Sources (1916), date from the early years of the First World War. In the 1920s, Taconet began to gain performances of his works at Le Havre and shared a bill with Arthur Honegger there in 1923; from 1924 his works were heard with some regularity in Paris through the early '30s. In song recitals, Taconet himself usually performed the piano accompaniments, appearing with mezzo-soprano Germaine Cernay, a famed singer who died in 1943. Taconet also accompanied violinist Blanche Vinay-Leconte at her private musical salons in Le Havre throughout the Second World War; just before the war ended Taconet seems to have given up performing, though his composing activity may have continued somewhat longer.
Taconet's worklist runs to 91 opus numbers, and more than two-thirds of the total consists of songs; he also composed chamber music, piano pieces (including a sonata), sacred works, and a small amount of orchestral music. The songs are comparable to the works of Henri Duparc, and Taconet employed many of the same texts as Duparc, though these pieces were composed considerably later and encompass the influence of French impressionism in a conspicuous way. Taconet's works are difficult to date as he did not add dates to his manuscripts, though the earliest pieces begin in 1907 and the late ones may run through to the immediate post-World War II period. ~ Uncle Dave Lewis, All Music Guide