Marius Constant

Romanian-born, Paris-based avant-garde composer and conductor, a student of Nadia Boulanger and Olivier Messiaen. His "Étrange No. 3" and "Milieu No. 2" (for electric guitar, bongo, saxophone and French horns) were famously spliced together to create the iconic theme for Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone (1959). The pieces were originally commissioned by CBS orchestrator Lud Gluskin in the late 1950's. They remained unused until the second season of the "Twilight Zone" when they were employed as a replacement for Bernard Herrmann's rather more subtle original theme, a combination of strings, harp, flute and brass (which CBS considered as 'too downbeat'). Since the company had acquired all rights to Constant's work, he received neither screen credit nor royalties. It was not until much later that he came to realize the amazing popular success of the pieces he had sold 'for a few hundred dollars' to the CBS Music Library. Constant's other compositions include "24 Preludes for Orchestra" (1959), a Piano Concerto (1957), a "Symphony for Winds" (1978), ballets, jazz, and improvisational music. Also a noted conductor, he served as musical director for Roland Petit's Paris Ballet (1956-66) and the Paris Opera Ballet (1973-78). He was awarded the title of Commandeur Légion d'honneur and inducted into the Académie des beaux-arts in December 1992.