Jean Martinon

Martinon was born in Lyon, where he began his education, going on to the Conservatoire de Paris to study under Albert Roussel for composition, under Charles Munch and Roger Désormière for conducting, under Vincent d'Indy for harmony, and under Jules Boucherit for violin.

He served in the French army during World War II, and was taken prisoner in 1940, composing works such as Chant des captifs while incarcerated.

On Martinon's first visit to Dublin in March 1946, his interpretation of Claude Debussy's La Mer (the Irish premiere of the work) was described as ‘a musical event of real importance’.

[3] The success of that first concert led Radio Éireann (the Irish public broadcasting service) to engage him in the following year to assist in the selection of musicians and the general organisation of the newly constituted Radio Éireann Symphony Orchestra.

Martinon's repertoire focused on the works of early twentieth-century French and Russian composers.