18 Facts About Georges Auric

Georges Auric was a French composer, born in Lodeve, Herault, France.

Georges Auric was considered one of Les Six, a group of artists informally associated with Jean Cocteau and Erik Satie.

Georges Auric had a long and distinguished career as a film composer.

Georges Auric began his musical career at a young age, performing a piano recital at the Societe musicale independante at the age of 14.

Georges Auric's participation led to writing settings of poetry and other texts as songs and musicals.

Georges Auric found himself short of time, so he asked his fellow composers of Les Six to contribute some music.

The music of these composers, including Georges Auric, represented the specific cultural scene of Paris at the time and rejected the international styles brought by Russian and German music, as well as the impressionism and symbolism of Debussy.

Georges Auric began writing for film in 1930 and composed the music for A Nous la Liberte in 1931, which was well received; there was general approval of Auric's score for the film.

Georges Auric became associated with leftist groups and publications, including the Association des Ecrivains et des Artistes Revolutionnaires, the Maison de la Culture, and the Federation Musicale Populaire.

Georges Auric adopted four strategies to composing; first, to participate in groups with other leftist artists; second, to reach a wider audience by writing in more genres; third, to write music aimed at a younger audience; and fourth, to express his political views more directly in his music.

The films that Georges Auric chose to score in his career as a film composer were influenced by these new-found beliefs, as well as by old associations.

Georges Auric collaborated with Jean Cocteau, his longtime associate from the days of Les Six, on eleven films.

Georges Auric composed music for a large number of films over the years, including films produced in France, England, and America.

Georges Auric continued to write classical chamber music, especially for winds, right up to his death.

Georges Auric's criticism was focused on promoting the ideals of Les Six and Cocteau, known as esprit nouveau.

Cocteau, Les Six, and Georges Auric found the music of those composers to be divorced from reality and instead preferred music that was grounded in populism.

In 1930, Georges Auric married the painter Eleanore Vilter, who died in 1982.

Georges Auric died in Paris on 23 July 1983 at the age of 84, and was interred at Montparnasse Cemetery, beside his wife.