(Alfred Leslie) (1866-1925) French composer. His piano pieces, such as the three Gymnopédies 1888, are precise and tinged with melancholy, and parody romantic expression with surreal commentary. His esthetic of ironic simplicity, as in the Messe des pauvres/Poor People’s Mass 1895, acted as a nationalist antidote to the perceived excesses of German Romanticism.
Mentor of the group of composers Les Six, he promoted the concept of musique d’ameublement (“furniture music”), anticipating the impact of radio. His Parade for orchestra 1917 includes a typewriter, and he invented a new style of film music for René Clair’s Entr’acte 1924.
Erik, eigtl. Alfred E. Leslie-S. , Honfleur bei Lisieux 1866, +Paris 1925, frz. Komponist. Mit seinem radikal sachl. Stil war S. Wortführer der Gruppe der Six und beeinflußte u.a. Strawinski; Klavierwerke ('Trois gymnopédies', 1888; 'Trois morceaux en forme de poire', 1903), Ballette ('Parade', 1917), sinfon. Drama 'Socrate' (1918), Bühnen- und Filmmusik.