Maurice Ohana facts for kids

Maurice Ohana (born June 12, 1913 – died November 13, 1992) was a French composer. He wrote many different kinds of music. This included pieces for choirs and string quartets. He also composed music for a special ten-string guitar and operas.

Maurice Ohana: A Life in Music

Early Life and New Beginnings

Maurice Ohana was born in Casablanca, Morocco, on June 12, 1913. At that time, Morocco was under French control. His father came from Andalusia in Spain and was born in Gibraltar, a British territory. This meant Maurice was a British citizen from birth. His mother also had Spanish roots from Andalusia.

Maurice first studied architecture. But he soon decided to follow his passion for music instead. He began his musical journey as a pianist. He went to Rome to study music with a teacher named Alfredo Casella. In 1946, he moved back to France.

Creating New Sounds

Around 1946, Maurice Ohana started a group called "Groupe Zodiaque." This group wanted to challenge old ideas about music. Ohana's own music was greatly inspired by the sounds of the Mediterranean region. He especially loved the folk music of Andalusia, particularly a style called cante jondo. This style uses deep, emotional singing. In 1976, Maurice Ohana became a French citizen.

His Unique Musical Works

Maurice Ohana wrote many different types of music. He composed pieces for choirs, like Office des Oracles and Avoaha. He also wrote three string quartets, which are pieces for four string instruments.

He created two special suites for a ten-string guitar. These were called Si le jour paraît... and Cadran lunaire. He also wrote a piece for a regular six-string guitar called Tiento. Ohana even wrote operas, which are plays set to music. Two of his operas were Syllabaire pour Phèdre and La Célestine.

Exploring Microtonality

Ohana was known for using something called microtonality in his music. This means he used musical notes that are smaller than the usual half-steps on a piano. Think of it like using tiny steps between the regular notes. For example, he used third-tones and quarter-tones in pieces like Le Tombeau de Debussy. He got this idea from the cante jondo folk music, which also uses these tiny musical steps.

Maurice Ohana did not often write for very large symphony orchestras. Some of his works for orchestra include Synaxis and Livre des Prodiges. He also wrote two cello concertos, one piano concerto, and a guitar concerto. A concerto is a piece for a solo instrument with an orchestra. His guitar concerto was written for the famous guitarist Narciso Yepes.

Maurice Ohana passed away in Paris in 1992, at the age of 79.

See also

In Spanish: Maurice Ohana para niños