Marguerite Monnot's songs have toured the world, starting with those she composed for Édith Piaf.
On the other hand, only a few exegesis measure the dimension of its course.
It is for this reason that Christophe Girard, now independent Paris adviser, proposed that his name be given to a street in the capital.
“Tributes to musicians who have embodied the universalism of Paris are rare,”
he says.
"Artists are irreplaceable beacons who enlighten us"
he added, presenting to the Council what in technical language is called a "
wish
".
To read also: Bécaud, Johnny, Piaf ... seen from behind the scenes of the Olympia
It was understood, since unanimously, minus one abstention, his proposal was adopted.
In June, a commission will choose the route that will salute the memory of a creator of popular songs who, at the origin, had many assets, to become a glory of classical music.
A child prodigy of the piano
From the age of eight, considered a child prodigy, she played Mozart, Liszt and Chopin in front of packed halls.
One evening, after having heard it, Camille Saint-Saens, declared
"I have just heard the best pianist that exists, the future great of tomorrow".
At 16, after refusing to be one of the official musicians of the Court of Spain, she entered the Paris Conservatory.
She became the protégé of Alfred Cortot, founder of the École Normale de Musique, and Nadia Boulanger, one of the most illustrious teachers of the 20th century, taught her the basics of composition.
She recommends that he run for the Prix de Rome.
She imagines him already entering the prestigious Villa Medicis.
Marguerite Monnot will not follow this advice.
Thanks to the TSF, she discovered variety music, and decided to take this path instead.
In 1937, she composed
My Legionnaire
for Marie Dubas.
"
La Môme
" records it in turn and meets the musician.
A professional and friendly love at first sight!
This is how the first female “
composer-performer
”
couple
in the history of song was born.
In 25 years, the two women will create a hundred songs, starting with
The Hymn to Love
and
Milord
.
The score of
Milord
, Edith Piaf's hit song composed by Marguerite Monnot.
Collection Gregoire / Bridgeman images
Edith and Marguerite meet to work, around a piano, at any time of the day or night.
A few minutes are sometimes enough for the musician to add a melody to the words Piaf has just written in a school notebook.
One day in 1947, she discovered a text that Edith intended for a young performer, Marianne Michel.
She composes, almost instantly, a melody, writes the score, then specifies that she will not sign it
.
“I don't want to, she
exclaims!
This is nonsense, it will never work!
".
She gives these notes to Louiguy, Edith's accompanist on the stage.
He thanks her without imagining that this gesture will make his fortune.
This song that Piaf will finally decide to keep to herself is "
La vie en rose
".
At the same time, Marguerite Monnot works with many others.
In this list, appear Boris Vian, René de Obaldia, Claude Nougaro- whom she supported in her beginnings, and Alexandre Breffort.
In the mid-1950s, with the latter, she signed
Irma the Sweet
, a musical that toured the world before becoming, in Hollywood, a successful film.
"
Her talent helped me to become Piaf
"
Marguerite Monnot earns a lot of money.
In theory.
Unable to discuss a contract or to correctly declare a melody to Sacem, she receives modest sums, unrelated to the hearing of her melodies, but never complains about it.
Allergic to everything related to everyday material, she is also terribly distracted.
She is able to go to Piaf by bicycle, before returning home by taxi, forgetting the existence of her bicycle.
It happens, very frequently, to disembark with friends the day before or the day after the day on which she was invited.
She can also greet the waiter of a restaurant by throwing him "
thank you darling
" because she confused him with Paul Péri, her husband.
The day after her disappearance, following an acute peritonitis, on October 11, 1961, at the age of 58, Edith declared “
She did not live on Earth, but a world full of blue, clean and beautiful things. . The angels, I see them as Marguerite. She was my best friend, she will remain the woman I love the most in the world. His talent helped me to become Piaf
”
