Magne, Michel

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Magne, Michel

Magne, Michel, composer; French; b. Lisieux, March 20, 1930; d. (suicide) Cergy-Pontase, Val d’Oise, Dec. 19, 1984. He was mainly self-taught, beginning to compose as a very young man in an ultramodern style; later took lessons with Plé-Caussade. His film score Le Pain vivant (1955) received critical acclaim, and he also experimented with electronic music. On May 26, 1955, he conducted in Paris his Symphonie humaine for 150 Performers, making use of inaudible “infrasounds” to produce a physiological reaction by powerful low frequencies. He wrote the musical score for Françoise Sagan’s ballet Le Rendez-vous manqué (1957) and many film scores.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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