Jean Martinon
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Jean Francisque-Étienne Martinon (also known as Jean Martinon (); 10 January 19101 March 1976) was a French conductor and
composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...
.


Biography

Martinon was born in
Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
, where he began his education, going on to the
Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...
to study under
Albert Roussel Albert Charles Paul Marie Roussel (; 5 April 1869 – 23 August 1937) was a French composer. He spent seven years as a midshipman, turned to music as an adult, and became one of the most prominent French composers of the interwar period. His ...
for composition, under Charles Munch and
Roger Désormière Roger Désormière () (13 September 1898 – 25 October 1963) was a French conducting, conductor. He was an enthusiastic champion of contemporary composers, but also conducted performances of early eighteenth century French music. Life and career ...
for conducting, under
Vincent d'Indy Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy (; 27 March 18512 December 1931) was a French composer and teacher. His influence as a teacher, in particular, was considerable. He was a co-founder of the Schola Cantorum de Paris and also taught at the Pa ...
for harmony, and under Jules Boucherit for violin. He served in the French army during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, 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. After the war, Martinon was appointed conductor of the
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire The Orchestre de la Société des concerts du Conservatoire () was a symphony orchestra established in Paris in 1828. It gave its first concert on 9 March 1828 with music by Beethoven, Rossini, Meifreid, Rode and Cherubini. Administered by the phi ...
of Paris, and, in 1946, of the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine. On Martinon's first visit to Dublin in March 1946, his interpretation of
Claude Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...
's ''La Mer'' (the Irish premiere of the work) was described as ‘a musical event of real importance’. The success of that first concert led Radio Éireann (the Irish public broadcasting service) to engage him in the following year to assist in the selection of musicians and the general organisation of the newly constituted Radio Éireann Symphony Orchestra. While in Dublin Martinon encouraged the development of Our Lady's Choral Society, he conducted that choir in several important events with the radio orchestra, and he gave master classes in orchestral conducting and in composition in the Summer School of Music. Other orchestras with which he was associated were the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891, the ensemble has been based in the Symphony Center since 1904 and plays a summer season at the Ravinia F ...
as music director from 1963 to 1968; the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, the French National Orchestra, the
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (abbreviation IPO; Hebrew: התזמורת הפילהרמונית הישראלית, ''ha-Tizmoret ha-Filharmonit ha-Yisra'elit'') is a major Israeli symphony orchestra based in Tel Aviv. Its principal concert ...
, the
London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is a British orchestra based in London. One of five permanent symphony orchestras in London, the LPO was founded by the conductors Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a riv ...
, the Concerts Lamoureux and Het Residentie Orkest in
The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
. Martinon's repertoire focused on the works of early twentieth-century French and
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
n composers. The premieres of his violin and cello concertos were given by
Henryk Szeryng Henryk Bolesław Szeryng (usually pronounced ''HEN-r-ik SHEH-r-in-g'') (22 September 19183 March 1988) was a Polish- Mexican violinist. Early years He was born in Warsaw, Poland on 22 September 1918 into a wealthy Jewish family. The surname ...
and
Pierre Fournier Pierre Léon Marie Fournier (24 June 19068 January 1986) was a French cellist who was called the "aristocrat of cellists" on account of his elegant musicianship and majestic sound. Biography Pierre Fournier was born in Paris, the son of a F ...
respectively. He was a National Patron of Delta Omicron, an international professional music fraternity. Martinon was diagnosed with bone cancer not long after he guest-conducted the
San Francisco Symphony The San Francisco Symphony, founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980 the orchestra has been resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the city's Hayes Valley, San Francisco, Hayes Valley ne ...
in its first complete performances of Deryck Cooke's completion of
Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic music, Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and ...
's tenth symphony.''San Francisco Chronicle'' He died in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
.


Compositions

* Published Scores , 1935-1974 **Après ma journée faite Op.26, (1940) **Ballade du soldat incassable Op.40 No.2, (1945) **Concerto (No.1) "giocoso" pour violon et orchestre Op.18, (1937) **Concerto "lyrique" pour un quatuor a cordes solo et un orchestre de 36 musiciens, Op.38, (1962) **Concerto pour flute et orchestre, (1971) **Concerto pour quatuor de saxophones Op.38b, (1974) **Concerto pour violoncelle et orchestre, Op.52, (1967) **Concerto No.2 pour violon et orchestre, Op.51, (1963) **Divertissement pour orchestre -reduit-, (1942) **Doménon, ou, Musique pour quintette à vent, (1970) **Duo -musique en forme de sonate- pour violon et piano Op.47, (1959) **Epilogue d'un conte d'amour -berceuse- pour piano, Op.35 No.1, (1947) **Les horizons perdus pour chant et piano, (1946) **Humanité (Les Soirs) pour chant et piano Op.12, (1940) **Hymne, variations et rondo Op.56, (1961/1968) **Introduction et toccata Op.45, (1947) **Mon plus joli rêve, (1946?) **Musique d'exil, Op.31, (1941) **Ouverture pour tragédie grecque Op.47, (1951) **Paysage antérieur pour chant et piano, Op.25 No.1, (1940) **Psaume CXXXVI (Chant des captifs), Op.33, (1946) **Psaume 136 (Chant des captifs) pour chant et piano avec choeurs, Op.33, (1946) **Quatuor a cordes No.1 Op.43, (1946) **Quatuor a cordes No.2 Op.54, (1966) **Rapsodie 72 pour alto et piano, (1972) **Sonatine No.1 pour violin et piano Op.19 No.1, (1935) **Sonatine (No.1) vers. pour clarinette et piano Op.19 No.1b, (1935/1968) **Sonatine No.2 pour violin et piano Op.19 No.2, (1936) **Sonatine (No.2) vers. pour flute et piano Op.19 No.2b, (1936/1968) **Sonatine No.3 pour piano, Op.22, (1946?) **Sonatine No.4 pour trio d'anches Op.26 No.1, (1940) **Sonatine No.5 pour violon solo, Op.32 No.1, (1942) **Sonatine No.6 pour violon solo, Op.49 No.2, (1960) **Sonatine "a la lune qui s'en va" pour chant et piano, Op.10 No.3, (1946?) **Suite nocturne pour violin et piano Op.34, (1944) **Symphoniette pour orchestre à cordes, piano, harpe, et timbales, (1952) **Symphonie No.3 "Irlandaise" Op.45, (1948) **Symphonie No.4 "Altitudes" Op.53, (1965) **Trio a cordes Op.32 No.2, (1943) **Trois chansons Op.20, (1938) *Unpublished Scores , 1935-1975 **Absolve, Domine -motet- pour 4 voix d'hommes et orchestre spécial, Op.30, (1942) **Ambohimanga, ou La cité bleue -ballet radiophonique-, Op.42, (1949) **Appel de parfums -chœur- à 4 voix d'hommes, Op.28 No.2, (1941) **183eme Concerto - Parodic composition written for violinist André Proffit's 40th birthday-, (1943) **Concerto giocoso pour violon et orchestre, Op.18, (1937) **Concerto "lyrique", Op.38a, (1944) **Concerto pour alto Op.18b, (1937) **Concerto pour cello et orchestre Op.52, (1963) **Concerto pour flute et orchestre, (1971) **Concerto pour quatuor de saxophones, (1974) **Concerto No.2 pour violon et orchestre Op.51, (1958) **Déchiffrage pour hautbois, n.d. **Fanfare en rondo Op.40, (1946) **Hécube Op.46, (1949) **Hymne variation et rondo, (1961/1968) **Introduzione adagio et passacaglia Op.55, (1966) **Le lis de Saron ou le cantique de cantiques Op.48, (1952) **Motet pour quatre voix mixtes Op.28 No.4, (1940) **Octour Op.57, (1969) **Ode au soleil ne de la mort, (1945) **Prélude et toccata, Op.50, (1961) **En promenade, n.d. **Quatuor a cordes No.1 Op.43, (1946) **Rapsodie 72 pour alto et piano Op.60, (1971) **Romance bleue -rapsodie de concert- pour violon solo et orchestre, (1942) **Sonatine brève, (1965) **Sonatine pour clarinette et piano, (1972) **Suite enchainée pour 11 cordes et clavecin, (1975) **Suite nocturne pour violon et piano, Op.34, (1946) **Symphonie en ut Op.17, (1934/1936) **Symphonie No.2 "Hymne a la Vie" Op.37, (1944) **Symphonie No.3 "Irlandaise" Op.45, (1948) **Symphonie No.4 "Altitudes" (originaux) Op.53, (1965) **Symphonie No.4 "Altitudes" (corrections) Op.53, (1965) **Symphonie No.4 "Altitudes" (new coda final) Op.53, (1965) **Symphonie de voyages Op.49 No.1, (1956) **Symphoniette Op.16, (1935) **Trio a cordes Op.32 No.2, (1943) **Trois nouvelles chansons Op.36, (1968) **Vigintour No.1 Op.58, (1968) * Scores (Arrangements) , 1946-1969 **Grande fugue, (1969) **Magnificat, n.d. **Moto perpetuo, n.d. **Sérénade, (1946)


References


External links

* * Jean Martinon's Papers at the Northwestern University Music Library website.
Jean Martinon biography
at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra website. {{DEFAULTSORT:Martinon, Jean 1910 births 1976 deaths Conservatoire de Paris alumni Deutsche Grammophon artists French male classical composers French male conductors (music) French expatriates in Israel Musicians from Lyon 20th-century French conductors (music) 20th-century French classical composers 20th-century French male musicians Erato Records artists French Army personnel of World War II French prisoners of war in World War II French film score composers French male film score composers Conductors of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Music directors of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Music directors of the Orchestre National de France