Germaine Tailleferre was the sole female composer of Les Six, a loosely formed group of six composers who were active in France around the 1920s. As we hear in this short impromptu for piano, her music was radiant and filled with melodic imagination. An impromptu has the character of a simple improvisation.

Tailleferre composed a large quantity of music, from solo pieces to orchestral works. Her productive period spans nearly the entirety of the twentieth century: she died in 1983, at 91 years of age, and composed all the way to the end.

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This excerpt of music is from episode 2 of the series Mankind and Music. The five episodes are available to watch here on Konserthuset Play. Why does music exist? What happens to us when we make or listen to music? In this series, we explore answers to these questions together with musicians, listeners and researchers.