Andre Lezin
Andre Lezin was born on 31 March 1908 in Nantes (France). He studied music at the Nantes conservatory, where he received early praise during his piano studies and ultimately obtained the “1er prix de conservatoire.” After completing his education, he worked professionally as an accompanying pianist and occasionally as a conductor for various ensembles, generally on short-term engagements or for specific productions rather than in permanent positions. His activity brought him into theatrical and cabaret environments; in 1943 he conducted the ensemble for the revue "L’Ange aux nues" at the Paris cabaret L’Ange rouge. Alongside these engagements, he developed a parallel career as a composer and arranger.
From the mid-1930s onward, Andre Lezin composed a large number of works primarily intended for practical performance in popular entertainment contexts. His output consisted mainly of vocal songs and instrumental dance music written in styles such as musette waltz, tango, bolero, rumba, samba, mambo, fox-trot, polka, and later rock-and-roll-influenced pieces. These compositions were generally published as sheet music for voice and piano, accordion ensembles, or dance orchestra arrangements and were sometimes issued under editions bearing his own name, indicating activity as an independent music publisher. Archival catalogues of the Bibliothèque nationale de France preserve numerous scores dating from the 1930s through the early 1960s, documenting continuous compositional activity across several decades.
Andre Lezin died in 1964.
In my possession are four autograph manuscripts of songs by Andre Lezin. All four compositions belong to a song cycle titled "Six chants basques", which Andre Lezin published privately in 1940. All songs are Basque folksongs which were harmonised by Andre Lezin and translated into French by Paul Vignal. These works were created in 1938 according to the manuscripts. The four songs in my possession are:
- L'Ecuelle (in Basque: Kaiku)
- Bien aimee, ou etes-vous? (Maitia, nun zira)
- Jolie Heritire (Prima Eijerra)
- Mon etoile aimee (Ene izar maitia)
