Charles Chaynes
French composer Charles Chaynes was born in Toulouse on 11 July 1925. He studied with Darius Milhaud and Jean Rivier at the Paris Conservatoire and won the 1951 Prix de Rome with his cantata Et l'homme se vit les portes rouvrir.
His output included operas, chamber works, concertos for trumpet, violin, clarinet, flute, piano and organ, instrumental works for trumpet, saxophone, piano, organ and guitar, and two concertos for orchestra. His concerto for organ, string orchestra, timpani and percussion was written for Marie-Claire Alain, and his Piano Concerto was first performed in 1967 by Yvonne Loriod.
From 1956 he worked as a producer at RTF (French television), from 1964 he was head of France Musique and from 1975 until 1990 he ran the Radio France service de la création musicale.
Charles Chaynes died on 24 June 2016, aged ninety.