The Mind Benders

Georges Auric was a French composer, born in Lodève, Hérault. He was a child prodigy and at age 15 he had his first compositions... published. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Georges Caussade, and under the composer Vincent d'Indy at the Schola Cantorum. Before he turned 20 he had orchestrated and written incidental music for several ballets and stage productions. As a young student of at the Paris Conservatory in 1920, and, considered avant-garde, Auric became part of Satie and Cocteau's famous group Les Six, and was friends with the artist Jean Hugo. His participation led to writing settings of poetry and other texts as songs and musicals. In 1921, Cocteau asked him to write the music for his ballet, Les mariés de la tour Eiffel. He found himself short of time, so he asked his fellow composers of Les Six to contribute some music. All except Louis Durey agreed. During this time, he wrote his one act opera Sous le masque . , is lost. It was also in 1927 that he contributed the Rondeau for the children's ballet L'éventail de Jeanne, a collaboration between ten French composers.
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