Today’s date in 1946 marks an important moment in Parisian theatrical history with the debut performance of a legendary acting company created by husband-and-wife actors Jean-Louis Barrault and Madeleine Renaud. Their opening production was Shakespeare’s Hamlet in a French translation by André Gide, with incidental music by Swiss composer Arthur Honegger. To play Honegger’s score, Barrault hired two young musicians at the start of their careers.
The first, 21, was to play the eerie electronic sounds Honegger scored for the Ondes Martinon, evoking the elder Hamlet’s ghost. That young musician was a composition student named Pierre Boulez, who would remain associated with Barrault’s company for a decade before becoming a famous conductor and composer of avant-garde scores of his own like Le Marteau Sans Maître.
The second musician Barrault hired was a 22-year old percussionist, who brought Hamlet to a dramatic close with timpani crescendos evoking Fortinbras’ final line in the play, “Go, bid the soldiers shoot.” That young musician, Maurice Jarre, would also become a famous composer, taking quite a different career path than Boulez. Jarre devoted himself to film scoring, composing several famous ones, such as Dr. Zhivago for British film director David Lean.
Pierre Boulez (1925 - 2016) – Le Marteau Sans Maître (Orchestre Du Domaine Musical; Pierre Boulez, cond.) PCA 101
Maurice Jarre (1924 - 2009) – Lara’s Theme, from Dr. Zhivago (Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Maurice Jarre, cond.) Sony 42307