Georges Auric

Georges Auric (1899-1983), French composer and member of Les Six, born in Lodève. He received his musical education at the Paris Conservatoire and the Schola Cantorum. Auric was the youngest of Les Six, a group of French modernist composers who revolted against the influence of established French composers such as Claude Debussy and Vincent d'Indy (see Six, Les). Auric's music for the comedy ballet Les fâcheux (The Bores), by the 17th-century dramatist Molière, was his first work to gain critical acclaim. He provided music for several films made by the French poet Jean Cocteau, including Le sang d'un poète (Blood of a Poet, 1930), La belle et la bête (Beauty and the Beast, 1935), and Orphée (Orpheus, 1949). Among the American films with music by Auric are Moulin Rouge (1953) and Roman Holiday (1953). From 1962 to 1968 Auric was general administrator of the Paris Opéra.