Composer. Considered one of the outstanding Swiss composers of the 20th Century. His finest music, which assimilated serialist techniques into an essentially tonal language, was created during and after World War II. The son of a Calvinist minister, Martin was born in Geneva and privately studied piano and composition while taking science courses at the university there. Ernest Ansermet conducted the premiere of his first major piece, "Les Dithyrambes" (1918) for chorus and orchestra. Following a period in Italy, he returned to Geneva in 1926 and taught at its Conservatory, the Jaques-Dalcroze Institute, and the Technicum Moderne de Musique. He was also founding director of the city's Chamber Music Society and, from 1942 to 1946, President of the Association of Swiss Musicians. Martin was slow in arriving at a mature style, partly because his teaching and other duties left him little time to compose. Although he had a lifelong champion in Ansermet, who performed many of his works, it was not until 1944, when he was 53, that he won international recognition with the "Petite Symphonie Concertante" and the oratorio "In Terra Pax". After the war Martin moved to Amsterdam and in 1957 he settled in Naarden, Holland, where he devoted the rest of his life to writing and occasionally conducting his music. His other important compositions are a Mass (1926), the Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 (1934, 1969), a Symphony (1937), the vocal cycle "Six Monologues from 'Everyman'" (after Hoffmansthal, 1944), the oratorios "Le vin herbe" (1942), "Golgotha" (1948), and "The Mystery of the Nativity" (1959), the Concerto for Seven Wind Instruments (1949), and a Requiem (1972).
Composer. Considered one of the outstanding Swiss composers of the 20th Century. His finest music, which assimilated serialist techniques into an essentially tonal language, was created during and after World War II. The son of a Calvinist minister, Martin was born in Geneva and privately studied piano and composition while taking science courses at the university there. Ernest Ansermet conducted the premiere of his first major piece, "Les Dithyrambes" (1918) for chorus and orchestra. Following a period in Italy, he returned to Geneva in 1926 and taught at its Conservatory, the Jaques-Dalcroze Institute, and the Technicum Moderne de Musique. He was also founding director of the city's Chamber Music Society and, from 1942 to 1946, President of the Association of Swiss Musicians. Martin was slow in arriving at a mature style, partly because his teaching and other duties left him little time to compose. Although he had a lifelong champion in Ansermet, who performed many of his works, it was not until 1944, when he was 53, that he won international recognition with the "Petite Symphonie Concertante" and the oratorio "In Terra Pax". After the war Martin moved to Amsterdam and in 1957 he settled in Naarden, Holland, where he devoted the rest of his life to writing and occasionally conducting his music. His other important compositions are a Mass (1926), the Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 (1934, 1969), a Symphony (1937), the vocal cycle "Six Monologues from 'Everyman'" (after Hoffmansthal, 1944), the oratorios "Le vin herbe" (1942), "Golgotha" (1948), and "The Mystery of the Nativity" (1959), the Concerto for Seven Wind Instruments (1949), and a Requiem (1972).
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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