Born on January 10, 1910 in Lyon, the French conductor and composer, Jean Martinon entered the Lyon and Paris conservatoires to study the violin. At Lyon, his teacher was Maurice Foundray and at the Paris Conservatory, he studied violin technique with Jules Boucherit. While at the Paris conservatory, Martinon took composition with Albert Roussel and Vincent d’Indy. After completing the composition courses, he studied conducting with Charles Munch and Désormière. He graduated from the Paris Conservatory in 1928, winning a premier prix.
Martinon’s familiarity with conducting started in France, followed by various appointments in Europe, the Middle East, and the United States. In 1946, he embarked on a conducting career directing the Concerts du Conservatoire in Paris and the Bordeaux Symphony. The successful debut with the LPO led to his appointment as associate conductor of the orchestra in 1947. From 1947-1950 Martinon directed the Radio Eireann orchestra, Dublin and in 1951, he returned to Paris to conduct the Concerts Lamoureux until 1957. From 1957-1959, Martinon conducted the Israel Philharmonic. His appointment as the next conductor of the Düsseldorf Symphony occurred in 1959. Martinon was in Düsseldorf until 1963 when the Chicago Symphony Orchestra selected him as their music director, a position he held until 1968. During that same year, he returned to France to direct the French National Radio Orchestra and served as the principal conductor of the Hague Residentie–Orkest from 1974 until shortly before his death in 1976.
Martinon’s extensive experience as a composer led to his approach to conducting. The Symphoniette pour orchestre á cordes, piano, harpe et timbales, op. 16, from 1935, is one of three first attempts at composition. After enlisting in the war, Martinon’s imprisonment in a German camp, Stalag IX A, resulted in several new compositions, Psaume 136, le Chant des Captifs, Musique d’Exil, Sonatina No.3, Sonatina No. 4 for wind instruments, and various choral works. In 1946, the city of Paris awarded a prize to his composition le Chant des Captifs. After the war, other notable compositions include Symphonie no. 3 (Irlandaise), the Concerto no. 2 pour violin et orchestre, op. 5, dedicated to Szeryng, and the Concerto pour cello et orchestre, op. 52, composed for Pierre Fournier. For the stage Martinon composed two works, the ballet Ambohimanga ou la Cité Bleue and in 1949 the opera Hécube with a libretto by Serge Moreux. Symphony no.4 Altitudes was the outcome of a commission from the Chicago Symphony to commemorate its 75th anniversary.
Martinon had recently taken on a position at the Paris Conservatory to teach conducting when he died from a serious illness on March 1, 1976.
From the guide to the Jean Martinon papers, 1923-1994, (Music Library)
Biographical Sketch
1918 September 22
Born in Zelazowa Wola, Poland
1923
Begins studying piano and hamony with his mother
1926
Studys violin with Maurice Frenkel (student of Leopold Auer)
1927
1928
Continues violin study in Berlin with Willy Hess
1928
1932
Studies with Carl Flesch in Berlin and Baden-Baden at the suggestion of Bronislaw Huberman
1933
Gives first public performances in Warsaw, Bucharest, Vienna and Paris
1934
1939
Studies composition in Paris with Nadia Boulanger; also studies the Humanities (i.e., Ancient History, Philology, and Philosophy); becomes acquainted with Georges Enesco, Igor Stravinsky, Maurice Ravel and other prominent musicians in Paris
1935
Decorated with the Order of "Cultural Merit" by the Queen Mother of Romania
1936 November
Enters Paris Conservatory, studying with Gabriel Bouillon; brief study with Jacques Thibaud
1937 June
Graduates with First Prize from the Paris Conservatory
1939
Moves to London; joins Polish government in exile; appointed translator and liaison officer to General Sikorski, the Prime Minister of the Polish Government-in-exile
1939
1942
Performs over 300 concerts for Allied troops, hospitals, POW centers, etc.
1942
Serves as translator for General Sikorski's trip to Mexico to seek sanctuary for Polish refugees
1943 November 24
Makes Carnegie Hall debut; gives Polish Relief recital
1943
Invited to reorganize string department at the National University of Mexico
1945
Appointed director of the string department at the National University of Mexico
1946
Becomes a Mexican citizen
1954
Meets and plays for Artur Rubinstein, who encourages him to resume his concert career; Rubinstein introduces Szeryng to Sol Hurok
1955
1957
Awarded Grand Prix du Disque
1957
Makes a twenty-city United States concert tour
1960
Becomes Mexican Cultural Ambassador
1960
1961
Awarded Grand Prix du Disque
1963
Receives Médaille d'Argent de la Ville de Paris and Edison Award; becomes Officier d'Ordre des Arts et Lettres, Paris
1965
Named Citizen of Honor, Richmond, Virginia
1966 August
Henryk Szeryng Festival of Music is held in Mexico City
1966
Appointed honorary director of the Conservatory of Music in Mexico City; decorated as Commander of the Order of the Finnish Lion in Helsinki for his promotion of the music of Sibelius
1967
1969
Awarded Grand Prix du Disque
1969
Designated honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music, London
1970
Appointed special music adviser to the Mexican delegation at UNESCO; receives citation from city of Philadelphia; awarded "Key to the City of Kansas City"
1971 May
Receives "Wiener Floetenuhr" award and an "Edison" for a recording of Mozart violin concertos
1971 September
Performs a "Salute to the Kennedy Center" on behalf of Mexico, and is named a "founder artist of the center"
1971 October
Gives first performance since Paganini's time of rediscovered Violin concerto no. 3 with the London Symphony Orchestra, under Alexander Gibson, coinciding with the release of the first recording of the work
1972 January
Plays recital for UNICEF at Teatro Real in Madrid in presence of H.R.H. Princess Sofia of Spain and is presented with Alfonso El Sabio Cross
1972
Receives the insignia of France's Légion d'Honneur
1972 December
Donates his Stradivarius violin to the City of Jerusalem to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the State of Israel. The violin is to be loaned, for playing and performing, to outstanding young Israeli violinists
1973 June
Named Honorary Citizen of Alicante (Spain)
1974 January
Donates his Guarnerius "Sanctae Theresiae" violin to Mexican President Luis Echeverria to be used by gifted young Mexican violinists, preferably leaders of the Mexican National Symphony Orchestra
1974
Receives citations from the city and county of Los Angeles
1975
Named Citizen of Honor, San Luis Potosí
1978
1988
Teaches for two months of the year at the National University of Mexico; travels on a diplomatic passport as Mexican Cultural Ambassador
1978 July 18
Named Citizen of Honor, city of Prades, for Festival of Prades; receives Citation from the city of Miami, Florida
1981
Named Citizen of Honor, Poznan (Poland)
1982
Receives Citation from the city of Kansas City
1983
Celebrates "Golden Jubilee," for 50th year on the concert stage; sixty-concert tour; many special events, awards and citations
1984 January 6
Marries Waltraud Büscher
1985
Designated Officier de l'Ordre de St. Charles, Monaco; awarded "Key to the city of San Diego"
1985 May
Receives Scroll of Honor from Israel Philharmonic
1985 December
Named Officier de Légion d'Honneur
1986 March 20
Appointed "Sagamore of the Wabash" in Indianapolis
1987
Awarded Croix d’Or du Mérite de la République Populaire Polonaise
1988 February
Designated Honorary Fellow, Israel Cancer Association
1988 March 3
Dies in Kassel, West Germany of a cerebral hemorrhage
From the guide to the Henryk Szeryng Collection, 1933-1988, (bulk 1960-1988), (Music Division Library of Congress)