Pianist, conductor and composer Martial Solal died on December 12, 2024 at the age of 97. Here is Martial Solal’s unpublished Proust questionnaire, collected by Franck Médioni, with whom he wrote his autobiography “Ma vie sur un tabouret” (trad. note: My life on a stool) (Actes Sud, 2008),
My main character trait?
Perseverance. Never giving up on a goal, even when it’s deemed unattainable. Living with illusions is preferable to living without illusions.
My favorite quality in a man?
Lucidity. Maybe because I often lack it. Above all, I find it hard to see only the bad in someone. I prefer to give the bad guys a second chance.
My favorite quality in a woman?
Beauty, Body and Soul. I find women more pleasing to the eye than men, but that’s probably a male point of view.
What do I appreciate most in my friends?
I like them to like me. I need love. I like that they like music and understand it. I find it very hard to feel close to people for whom music is secondary.
My main flaw?
A certain blindness to the outside world. I have other faults, but I selfishly keep the list for those closest to me.
What’s my favorite thing to do?
Ever since I can remember, television. And music, which I find hard to classify as an “occupation”. Music is a full-time job, whereas I more easily associate the word occupation with what you do when you’re not busy. Relaxation, in short.
My dream of happiness?
I’m swimming in happiness. I don’t have any dreams of happiness, other than to last. The trouble is, every day is a day less of happiness.
What would be my greatest misfortune?
Losing those I love. I know, it’s trite. But it’s so true. And I have nothing better to offer.
What would I like to be?
A little less ignored by some. It’s also so true. And a little false too, because it’s pure vanity, and has now become completely useless. In A bout de Souffle, Jean-Pierre Melville, playing the role of an intellectual who was asked what his goal in life was, replied: “To become immortal, and then… to die“.
The country I’d like to live in?
Chatou. Chatou in France. Chatou in Yvelines. Wherever Anna lives. But especially if she lives in Chatou.
My favorite color?
Blue. Red. Yellow. And black and white for certain films.
My favorite flower?
Rose. Any color. Or, in a pinch, Phalaenopsis.
My favorite bird?
The smallest bird possible, one whose droppings on my car would be almost invisible. Or a bird so huge it would only be interested in trucks weighing more than fifteen tons.
My favorite prose writers?
Isaac Bashevis Singer, Alain Gerber, San Antonio, Charles Dickens, Albert Cohen, Louis-Ferdinand Céline (despite his little flaw!…), Gustave Flaubert and many, many, many others… and a few more.
My favorite poets?
Charles Baudelaire. I don’t know many. I’ll ask my wife.
My hero in fiction?
Bérurier, Alexandre Benoît for the ladies. The hilarious one, so well narrated by Frédéric Dard.
My heroines in fiction?
Madame Bovary, for her naivety. Naive people have something more than others: naivety.
My favorite composers?
Too easy of a question. I open the history of music and read at random: Ravel, Bach, Chopin, Debussy, Stravinsky, Bartok, Messiaen, Liszt, Hodeir, a few others and… even Solal. (Love yourself, the sky will love you…)
My favorite painters?
Rembrandt, Renoir, Picasso, Magritte, and so many others… There are too many to mention. I also love the outsiders. There are even more of them.
My real-life heroes?
Computer scientists. Real musicians. Mathematicians. To each his own.
My heroines in history?
None yet. I’ll see later.
My favorite names?
Dupont (the most neutral) or any unpronounceable name.
Preferably without vowels. Also very neutral.
What do I hate most of all?
Ignorance, the cause of all errors and tragedies.
Ignorance is the condensation of ignoble (despicable) and rancid, unappetizing words.
Which historical characters do I despise most?
All those who deceived people into waging war. Those who have advocated revolutions with the sole aim of putting themselves in power. Waiting for the next revolution. So useless.
The military feat I admire most?
For personal reasons, the Allied landing in Algiers in 1942, which, in a way, probably saved my life. For the rest, neither the word military nor the word martial is part of my everyday vocabulary.
The reform I admire most?
All those that improve life, as long as they’re not demagogic, and especially the one concerning the abolition of military service in France. I hope it becomes a model. I would even have liked to be reformed. It would have spared me military service. In general, I like reforms. There’s so much that can be improved!
The gift of nature I’d like to have?
Immortality. Or the possibility of choosing whether or not to become one. I wouldn’t mind changing my skin either, especially since mine is starting to wrinkle. I love to lighten up.
How would I like to die?
It’s impossible to answer a question that includes “I’d like to die”. Except, of course, in bed, sleeping, and not at all on stage, performing, even with my eyes closed.
Current state of mind?
I’m in a good place. I’m a happy man because I’ve loved my wife for forty years, and the feeling’s mutual. For me, the secret of well-being is to love and be loved. But I’m on my guard, because there’s a Tonkinese proverb that says: “In love, the first forty years are the easiest, and the trouble doesn’t start until the forty-first.
My most indulgent faults?
Naivety and spelling mistakes.
My motto?
I was going to say the Euro (Trad note: Motto is devise in Fr and it means also currency)… I hesitate between two: Help yourself, the sky will help you. But to apply it, you have to believe in heaven…
Order, more order, always order. That’s my father’s motto. Order isn’t just about stacking files neatly in a drawer, it’s about putting your thoughts in order, finding the way out of the labyrinth created by each problem. What interests me most is the search for truth, in every field. Impossible mission…
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