Pierre Jansen

Pierre Georges Cornil Jansen (28 February 1930 – 13 August 2015 at Saint-Pierre-Saint-Jean) was a French film scores composer. He was in particular the permanent collaborator of Claude Chabrol for whom he composed the music for many films.

Born in Roubaix, Jansen did his first musical studies at the Conservatoire de Roubaix (piano and harmony) under the direction of Alfred Desenclos. He furthered his studies at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels (piano and harmony prizes) and writing studies with André Souris (harmony, counterpoint, fugue and orchestration).

From 1952 onwards, he regularly attended classes with Olivier Messiaen and participated in the Ferienkurse für die neue Musik in Darmstadt. In 1958, a suite for piano and 18 instruments was premiered in Darmstadt, and later performed in Paris during a concert of the Domaine musical.