AURIC, GEORGES

born Feb. 15, 1899, Lodve, Fr. died July 24, 1983, Paris French composer, best known for his film scores and ballets. In these and other works, he was among those who reacted against the Impressionism of Claude Debussy. Auric studied under Vincent d'Indy and Albert Roussel in Paris, and in 1920 the critic Henri Collet included him in Les Six, the group of young French composers under the informal patronage of Erik Satie and Jean Cocteau. He wrote music criticism for Marianne, Paris-Soir, and Nouvelles Littraires and was artistic director of the Paris Opra and Opra-Comique (196268). Auric's works are characterized by a type of musical irony, mingling popular tunes with sophisticated harmony. His most notable compositions are the ballet Les Matelots (1925; The Sailors) and his film scores for Ren Clair's nous la libert! (1931) and for the film biography of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Moulin Rouge (1952), which included the popular hit Where Is Your Heart? (The Song from Moulin Rouge). His other works include ballets produced by Sergey Diaghilev, Jean-Louis Barrault, and Cocteau, film scores, an overture for orchestra (1938), songs, and chamber music.