Maurice Le Roux, from a line of bankers and politicians, took up music against everything expected of him. He conducted Messiaen's Turangalîla: ten movements, an enormous orchestra, ondes Martenot, and one of the most feared scores of the century. He composed for the cinema and produced classical music broadcasts. His stone has the exactness of a civil register, and not a word more.
The story
Maurice Le Roux conducted Olivier Messiaen's Turangalîla, having been his pupil: ten movements, a vast orchestra, ondes Martenot — one of the very first electronic instruments — and one of the hardest scores of the twentieth century.
Born in Paris on 6 February 1923, Maurice Le Roux was the grandson of a senator for the Vendée and the great-grandson of a minister of agriculture; he chose music. A composer of film scores, he also became a television producer for classical music, at a time when public television gave itself that mission.
He died on 19 October 1992, at sixty-nine. The stone in Division 35 has the precision of a birth certificate and nothing else: four dates to the day, his own and those of Monique Le Roux, who outlived him by twenty-three years. Not the orchestra, not the films, not Messiaen.
The grave
An inscription with the precision of a civil register, without a word of profession: “Maurice, LE ROUX, 6 février 1923 – 19 octobre 1992. Monique, LE ROUX, 5 juin 1926 – 29 mars 2015.” Four dates to the day, and a wife who outlived him by twenty-three years. Neither the orchestra, nor the film scores, nor Messiaen's Turangalîla, which he had conducted.
On site, do not miss
Four dates to the day for two names: “Maurice LE ROUX, 6 février 1923 – 19 octobre 1992. Monique LE ROUX, 5 juin 1926 – 29 mars 2015.” Nothing of the music.
Visitors' questions
Where is Maurice Le Roux's grave?
In Division 35, avenue des Acacias, sixth row. The inscription gives four dates to the day, his own and those of Monique Le Roux (1926-2015), who outlived him by twenty-three years. He died on 19 October 1992, at sixty-nine.
Camille FlersWhat did he conduct?
Olivier Messiaen's Turangalîla-Symphonie, among other things — ten movements, a vast orchestra and ondes Martenot: one of the hardest scores of the century. He was a composer of film music as well.
Pierre DervauxWhat did he do on television?
He was a producer for classical music — in the days when public television took that on as a duty, and a conductor could make a career in front of the cameras as much as in front of a desk.
Gilles MargaritisWhat family did he come from?
A family of bankers and politicians — he chose music against that inheritance. He was born in Paris in 1923.
Alexis MuzetAudio guide to Père Lachaise: the best unusual guided tour!
Discover the secrets of the most astonishing tombs
the audio guidefrom€6.99