Marcel Stern (4 October 1909 – 2 August 1989) was a French composer and violinist.

Life

Born in Paris, Stern studied at 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 ...

and won the Premier Grand Prix de Rome in 1936 with the

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...

''Gisèle''. After his stay at the

Villa Medici The Villa Medici () is a sixteenth-century Italian Mannerist villa and an architectural complex with 7-hectare Italian garden, contiguous with the more extensive Borghese gardens, on the Pincian Hill next to Trinità dei Monti in the historic ...

in Rome, the Société Nationale performed his Divertissement for Orchestra in Paris in 1939. The Second World War interrupted his musical career, but during this time he composed the ''Symphony "La Libération"'', which was premiered on the radio in 1945 and by the

Concerts Colonne The Colonne Orchestra is a French symphony orchestra, founded in 1873 by the violinist and conductor Édouard Colonne. History While leader of the Opéra de Paris orchestra, Édouard Colonne was engaged by the publisher Georges Hartmann to lead ...

in 1948 at the

Théâtre du Châtelet The Théâtre du Châtelet () is a theatre and opera house, located in the place du Châtelet in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. One of two theatres (the other being the Théâtre de la Ville) built on the site of a ''châtelet'', a ...

under the direction of

Paul Paray Paul Marie-Adolphe Charles Paray (French: ɔl paʁɛ 24 May 1886 – 10 October 1979) was a French conductor, organist and composer. After winning France's top musical award, the Prix de Rome, he fought in the First World War and was a prisone ...

. Among his other works are the ''Deux pièces pour flûte seule: Bucolique, Iberica'' (1964) and the ''Concerto pour piano et orchestre'' (1968). He also composed several transcriptions of works by other composers for violin and orchestra, including George Enescu's First Romanian Rhapsody.

Compositions

Classical works (selection)

*1935: Cantata ''Le Château endormi'' (deuxième Second Grand Prix de Rome) *1936: Cantata ''Gisèle'' (Premier Grand Prix de Rome) *1939: ''Divertissement'' for small orchestra *1945: Symphony ''La Libération'' in E *1964: ''Bucolique'' and ''Iberica'', two pieces for

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

solo *1968: Concerto for piano and orchestra (YouTube)

Cinema

Marcel Stern also distinguished himself in the field of

film music A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

. Thus, from 1946 to 1963, he was responsible for the scores of fourteen French films (two, however, being French-Italian co-productions). * 1946: ''

The Faceless Enemy ''The Faceless Enemy'' (French: ''L'ennemi sans visage'') is a 1946 French crime film directed by Robert-Paul Dagan and Maurice Cammage and starring Louise Carletti, Frank Villard and Jean Tissier. It was based on the novel of the same title by ...

'' by Robert-Paul Dagan and

Maurice Cammage Maurice Cammage is a French film director and dialoguist, born in 1882 and died on 15 April 1946 in Paris. Filmography * 1932 : '' Vive la classe'' * 1932 : '' Un beau jour de noces'' * 1932 : '' La Terreur de la pampa'' (script and dialogues ...

* 1947: '' Not guilty'' by

Henri Decoin Henri Decoin (18 March 1890 – 4 July 1969) was a French film director and screenwriter, who directed more than 50 films between 1933 and 1964. He was also a swimmer who won the national title in 1911 and held the national record in the 500 ...

* 1948: '' Night Express'' by Marcel Blistène * 1949: '' Vient de paraître'' by

Jacques Houssin Jacques Houssin (19 September 1902 – 8 May 1979) was a French film director and screenwriter. Filmography Director * '' Plein aux as'' (1933) * ''Odette'' (1935) * '' The Happy Road'' (1936) * '' Rendez-vous Champs-Élysées'' (1937) ...

* 1950: '' Le Grand Cirque'' by

Georges Péclet Prosper Désiré "Georges" Péclet (27 July 1897 – 11 January 1974) was a French actor, director, and screenwriter. Career Between 1919 and 1957, Péclet played in ninety-five films (including several short films). He was an assistant directo ...

* 1951: ''

Avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a Grade (slope), slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be triggered spontaneously, by factors such as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, othe ...

'' by

Raymond Segard Raymond is a male given name of Germanic origin. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic ᚱᚨᚷ� ...

* 1952: '' Love Is Not a Sin'' by Claude Cariven *1955: '' Men in White'' by

Ralph Habib Ralph Habib (Paris, 29 June 1912 – Paris, 27 June 1969) was a French film director of Lebanese people, Lebanese origin. He started his film career with Pathé. He later worked as assistant director notably Jean Dréville and Jean-Paul Le Chanoi ...

Similarly, à propos Ralph Habib, the IMDb above also mentions '' Law of the Streets'' (1956), mistakenly attributing the music to

Joseph Kosma Joseph Kosma (22 October 19057 August 1969) was a Hungarian composer who immigrated to France. Biography Kosma was born József Kozma in Budapest, where his parents taught stenography and typing. He had a brother, Ákos. A maternal relative wa ...

and Marcel Stern, while it is due to

Émile Stern Émile Stern (28 April 1913 – 14 January 1997), best known under his artistic pseudonym Emil Stern, was a French composer, pianist and conductor of Romanian descent. He was born in Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List o ...

(which is confirmed by th
notice of this film
on ''

Ciné-Ressources ''Ciné-Ressources'' is a union catalogue of the libraries and archives of French cinema, created on 22 August 2007 and managed by the Cinémathèque française. Initiated by the in collaboration with the , it provides access to more than 200,0 ...

''). * 1956: '' In the Manner of Sherlock Holmes'' by Henri Lepage * 1957: '' Fernand clochard'' by Pierre Chevalier * 1958: '' Le Septième Ciel'' by Raymond Bernard (Franco-Italian film) * 1960: ''

Thunder in the Blood ''Thunder in the Blood'' (French: ''Colère froide'') is a 1960 French mystery crime film directed by André Haguet and Jean-Paul Sassy and starring Estella Blain, Harold Kay and Pierre-Jean Vaillard. Bessy & Chirat p.432 The film's sets we ...

'' by

André Haguet André Haguet (; 9 November 1900 - 20 August 1973) was a French screenwriter and film director. Selected filmography * '' The Weaker Sex'' (1933) * '' The Faceless Voice'' (1933) * '' Mandrin'' (1947) * '' Dark Sunday'' (1948) * '' The Passenge ...

and Jean-Paul Sassy * 1962: ''

Rencontres ''Rencontres'' (English title: ''Meetings'') is a 1962 French language motion picture drama directed by Philippe Agostini who co-wrote screenplay with Odette Joyeux and Bertram L. Lonsdale. Synopsis The film depicts the holiday love affair in w ...

'' by

Philippe Agostini Philippe Agostini was a French cinematographer, director and screenwriter born 11 August 1910 in Paris (France), died 20 October 2001. He was married to Odette Joyeux until the end of her life. Biography Founder of École Louis-Lumière (sit ...

(Franco-Italian film) * 1963: '' La Soupe aux poulets'' by Philippe Agostini

References

External links

Marcel Stern
on musimem.com
Marcel Stern
on Ciné ressources
Marcel Stern
on IMDb {{DEFAULTSORT:Stern, Marcel 1909 births 1989 deaths Composers from Paris Conservatoire de Paris alumni French classical composers French male classical composers 20th-century French composers Prix de Rome for composition French film score composers French male film score composers 20th-century French male musicians French male classical violinists 20th-century French violinists