CHARBONNIER, Janine

Janine Charbonnier, born Janine Andrée Cacheux, was a French pianist and composer and an important pioneer of algorithmic and computer-assisted composition. She was born on 8 June 1926 in Levallois-Perret, France, and died there on 28 May 2022, aged 95. The Bibliothèque nationale de France identifies her as a composer and pianist and confirms her date of birth. BnF Catalogue
She studied piano at the Conservatoire de Paris and married the art critic and radio producer Georges Charbonnier (1921–1990). In 1958, together with Pierre Barbaud, Roger Blanchard, and, according to the BnF authority record, Roland Douat, she participated in the creation of the Groupe de musique algorithmique de Paris (GMAP). The group explored methods in which compositional decisions could be generated through mathematical procedures and computer calculations. BnF Catalogue
Charbonnier was therefore involved at a remarkably early stage in the development of computer-generated music in France. GMAP worked with access to computers supplied by the Compagnie des Machines Bull, and in June 1959 the group presented algorithmically generated music at the Musée Rodin in Paris. One work associated with this period, Souvenirs entomologiques, was created collaboratively with Pierre Barbaud and Roger Blanchard using computer-assisted calculations. Larousse
Her compositions include electronic, instrumental, and theatrical works. Among those attributed to her are La Varsovienne (1965, with Roger Blanchard), Varsovie (1965, with Pierre Barbaud), Cirque, Exercice Op. 3 for wind quartet, and Prélude, Canon, Chorale for wind quartet. Wikipedia
A particularly important work is Conditionnement, created in collaboration with the writer Michel Butor. It formed part of the programme Musiques éclatées at the Festival d’Avignon on 7 August 1969, performed by the Ensemble instrumental de musique contemporaine de Paris and the composition workshop of the Groupe de recherches musicales. The BnF and Festival d’Avignon archives both document Charbonnier as the composer. BnF Catalogue
Her historical importance lies especially in her participation in the first generation of French musicians to explore the possibilities of computers as tools for musical composition, at a time when such technology was still extremely uncommon in artistic practice.