Maurice Ohana

Maurice Ohana (1913–1992) was born in Casablanca, Morocco, and spent his childhood and teen years in Morocco, Spain, and the French part of the Basque Country. He began his career as a pianist and studied with Alfredo Casella in Rome before settling permanently in Paris. His musical universe was shaped by rejecting the aesthetic dogmas of his time. He turned to his roots, his Mediterranean origins, classical flamenco and Andalusian cante jondo, Spanish themes and texts, African and Afro-Cuban rhythms, and ancient Greek myths. His work also echoes elements of the harmonic and rhythmic language of jazz, as well as textures of the music of Claude Debussy, Manuel de Falla, Béla Bartók, and Igor Stravinsky.