Maurice Jaubert

Full biography Maurice Jaubert

Maurice Jaubert (3 January 1900 - 19 June 1940) was a prominent French composer who scored some of the most important films of the early sound era in France. He wrote his first stage music in 1925 for Calderon's El Magico Prodigioso. Jaubert is primarily known for his film scores, which include many of the films of Jean Vigo such as L'Atalante (1934) and Zero for Conduct (1933), and Marcel Carné's Hotel du Nord (1938) and Le jour se lève (1939). He was considered to be a pioneer of film music, and his scores are characterized by their lyricism, originality, and sensitivity to the underlying themes of the films he worked on.

Jaubert worked extensively with Jean Vigo in the early 1930s, composing the music for several of Vigo's films. Their collaboration resulted in some of the most memorable and influential film scores of the era. Jaubert's music for L'Atalante is particularly notable for its use of leitmotif and its integration with the sound effects of the film.

Jaubert's success in the film industry was cut short by his untimely death in 1940 during the Battle of France. Despite his relatively short career, he left an indelible mark on French film music and is remembered as one of the most important figures in the history of French cinema.