Biography of the Day: Marius Constant

[altmariusclassic]

Marius Constant (7 February 1925, Bucharest – 15 May 2004 in Paris) was a Romanian-born French composer and conductor. Known primarily for his television soundtracks, his most widely heard score was the iconic Twilight Zone theme song.

Constant studied piano and composition at the Bucharest conservatory, receiving the George Enescu Award in 1944. In 1946 he moved to Paris, studying at the conservatory with Olivier Messiaen, Tony Aubin, Arthur Honegger and Nadia Boulanger. His compositions earned several prizes. From 1950 on he was increasingly involved with electronic music and joined Pierre Schaeffer's Groupe de Recherche de Musique Concrète.

From 1956 to 1966 Constant conducted at the Ballets de Paris, then directed by Roland Petit. To this period belong the numerous Ballet scores for Petit und Maurice Béjart, namely: Haut-voltage (1956), Contrepointe (1958), Cyrano de Bergerac (1959), Éloge de la folie (1966) and Paradis perdu (1967). For the 1957 Aix-en-Provence Festival 1957 he wrote a piano concerto, but won wider recognition for the premiere, conducted by Leonard Bernstein, of 24 Préludes pour Orchestre (1958). Turner (1961) was a tone poem inspired by the English painter William Turner.

In 1963 Constant founded the pioneering Ensemble Ars Nova. 1970 he took over the musical direction of the ORTF; from 1973 to 1978 he directed at the Paris Opera, and in 1988 and 1989 was Professor of Orchestration at the Paris Conservatory. Besides these appointments, he taught at Stanford University and in Hilversum. Later ballets include Septentrion (1975), Nana (1976) and L'ange bleu (1985). La tragédie de Carmen (1981), his adaptation of Bizet's opera for director Peter Brook, was an international success.

In 1987 he arranged the orchestral music for the ballet Les mariés de la tour Eiffel for an ensemble of 15 instruments

MARIUS CONSTANT (1925-2004)
24 Préludes pour orchestre - 14'05 (création mondiale)

Leonard Bernstein
Orchestre National de la RTF
Enregistrement public le 13 Novembre 1958, Théatre des Champs-Élysées