Jean Martinon

Jean Francisque-Étienne Martinon (usually known simply as Jean Martinon (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ maʁtinɔ̃]); 10 January 1910  1 March 1976)[1] was a French conductor and composer.

Biography

Martinon was born in Lyon, where he began his education, going on to the Conservatoire de Paris to study under Albert Roussel for composition, under Charles Munch and Roger Désormière for conducting, under Vincent d'Indy for harmony, and under Jules Boucherit for violin. He served in the French army during World War II, and was taken prisoner in 1940, composing works such as Chant des captifs while incarcerated. Among his other compositions are four symphonies, four concertos, additional choral works and chamber music.[2]

After the war, Martinon was appointed conductor of the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire of Paris, and, in 1946, of the Bordeaux Philharmonic Orchestra. Other orchestras with which he was associated were the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as music director from 1963 to 1968; the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, the French National Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Radio Éireann Symphony Orchestra, the Concerts Lamoureux and Het Residentie Orkest in The Hague.

Martinon's repertoire focused on the works of early twentieth century French and Russian composers. The premieres of his violin- and cello-concerti were given by Henryk Szeryng and Pierre Fournier respectively.

He was a National Patron of Delta Omicron, an international professional music fraternity.[3]

Martinon was diagnosed with bone cancer, not long after he guest conducted the San Francisco Symphony in their first complete performances of Deryck Cooke's orchestration of Gustav Mahler's tenth symphony.[4] He died in Paris.

Compositions

References

  1. "MusicSack". Retrieved October 9, 2011.
  2. "Jean Martinon (Obituary)". The Musical Times. 117 (1599): 425. May 1976. JSTOR 959281.
  3. Delta Omicron
  4. San Francisco Chronicle

External links

Cultural offices
Preceded by
Paul Paray
Music Director, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
1957-1959
Succeeded by
Zubin Mehta
Preceded by
Eugène Bigot
Principal Conductor, Lamoureux Orchestra
1957-1961
Succeeded by
Igor Markevitch
Preceded by
Fritz Reiner
Principal Conductor, Chicago Symphony Orchestra
1963-1969
Succeeded by
Irwin Hoffman
Preceded by
Willem van Otterloo
Principal Conductor, Het Residentie Orkest
1975-1976
Succeeded by
Ferdinand Leitner
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